If you run into the photographer, director and designer Mr Cheb Moha in Dubai, you will probably find him sporting one of his “uniforms”. He doesn’t follow an exact formula, but he’s led primarily by comfort. He recently integrated a pair of forest green Bally Hike sweatpants into his rotation and found they fitted the bill. As we sit in his home in the neighbourhood of Al Quoz, he hops online to order a second pair because he likes how they’re “so spacious and easy to wear”.

Moha’s work calls for such freedom in movement. His work, and the fact that he lived out of a suitcase for seven years. “I had to find a way to express myself,” he says. “I was very limited. I had to let go of the idea of acquiring clothes.” He adapted his wardrobe to his lifestyle.

The creative force, who now calls Dubai home, didn’t settle in the Gulf city until two years ago. His lack of a permanent residence had no bearing on his impact in the region though, both in the realms of fashion and photography.

He first made his way to Dubai (via Kuwait) to cement a collaboration between Shabab, his lifestyle label, and a creative agency. Since then, he’s grown Shabab, alongside his longtime collaborator, Chndy, and twin sister, Ms Zaineb Hasoon, to become the region’s most coveted label, with a deeply engaged community that spans Morocco to Saudi Arabia. Its locally made stock constantly sells out. If you spend some time in Dubai, you’re bound to bump into someone wearing one of its bowling shirts or carrying its lavender puffer tote bag, both with a “Shabab” emblem in Arabic.

Over the past decade, the designer and photographer has defined an approach to documenting the Middle East and Northern Africa. In the process, he has inspired a slew of other Arab creatives who have followed with their own interpretations of their home turfs. His affinity for documentary-style photography is evident in the campaigns and magazine covers he shoots. He featured local Tunisian artists as part of a global Carhartt campaign. More recently, he directed a Dior film featuring the Yemeni boxer Mr Aadam Hamed.

But back to those Bally Hike sweats. On the day we meet, he has paired them with one of his many white T-shirts and a navy Shabab half-zip drill top. He has swapped the black socks he tried on for a white pair and throws on a pair of white Salomon XT-6s. He is most satisfied with his selections when he has to change a flat tyre later that afternoon. “To me, comfort is important,” he says. “Comfort and function.”

Even if it’s a scorching 40°C and humid in the summertime, Moha will often add a jacket or a vest. One of his friends jokes that his “internal thermostat is broken”. To Moha, it’s almost a form of satire. Sometimes, he breaks out of character and commits to another exaggerated form of himself.

“I like to contradict myself,” he says. “It’s part of the evolution of my style. I have to break out of uniform so I can kind of bring in more aspects to it. No form is just as important as form.”

You have as much chance of running into him wearing a white T-shirt and sweatpants as you have running into him wearing an oversized Balenciaga coat or a vintage graphic T-shirt and “obnoxious trainers”, as he puts it.

“I’m here at my home studio, which is also my living room,” says Moha. “This is where I practise my art, which is drawing palm trees, as you can see in the background. I’m wearing a piece from KAPITAL. This is the cult-famous bandana motif that’s on a woven padded shell gilet. I’ve paired it with Acne Studios jeans, which I used to wear regularly 10 years ago. I stopped because I was going through an anti-denim phase. It feels good to revisit how comfortable they are. I’m reintegrating them into my pants rotation. The look feels completed with these Balenciaga boots.”

“This is something I could wear camping. I thought it would be humorous to wear this Balenciaga puffer jacket because it’s super oversized. I feel like it’s a bit odd. It’s almost like a sleeping bag. If I was in AlUla [in Saudi Arabia], this is what I’d wear. It’s the ultimate cosy fit. There is no way I’d get cold in this. I could wear it in the desert, I could wear it in Canadian winters. I paired it with the knee-high Rick Owens sneakers, which look like hiking boots, but aren’t. Rick Owens makes some of my favourite footwear. I own five or six pairs.”

“I’m a huge fan of KAPITAL. I appreciate Kiro Hirata [the brand’s designer] and [founder] Toshikiyo Hirata and that it’s a family-run business. I love their attention to detail and how much time is spent on making the clothing, especially the denim. I’m wearing this to my favourite flower shop, Goshá, which I visit quite frequently, especially for special occasions. I was here on Valentine’s Day to pick up flowers for my mom and twin sister. It’s all very colourful. I really like the interpretation of the bandana print into a quilted jacket. It’s very bohemian chic. You can dress it up or down. I could wear this out or running errands.”

“I like to carry bags because I’m usually hopping from one place to another. I’ll leave the house in the morning and don’t come back until late, so I like to have all my things with me to avoid having to go back home. This is what I’d wear on a daily basis. These are the classic Rick Owens sneakers. I like that they gave them a twist with thicker shoe laces this season, which elevates them. This was outside 3Fils, a restaurant I go to frequently. It was recently named the best restaurant in the Middle East, but I was coming here way before.”