Summer Superstylin’

Ever wondered why the designers we celebrate everyday get to where they are and yet your sister, brother or cousin seem to be able to do the same stuff with nothing more than your grandmother’s old sewing machine?

Well, in short, it’s because the celebrated types are talented, they learn at the right fashion schools, they crave attention and they know the right people. A good example is this “British invasion” people often talk about in fashion circles with designers such as John Galliano and Alexander McQueen. It’s not coincidence that these guys began emerging at a time when a British editor, Anna Wintour, started running the most powerful fashion title in the world – Amercian Vogue. Galliano’s reign at Dior, in particular, initially had a lot to do with his connection with Wintour. And we haven’t even mentioned Christopher Bailey at Burberry, who’s still only 36. He was plucked from art college in 1994 by Tom Ford who was running Gucci at the time.

In the end, however, it’s all about the marketing. The more people that see and hear about you and your collections then the more likely it is one of those people will be a buyer, or and editor et al. Herein lies the value of an event like Dubai International Fashion Week, which had its second edition last month at the One and Only Mirage.

A mixed group of designers presented a vast array of unbridled collections. And this was certainly refreshing because contrary to what many might think about the free-thinking, design-what-you-want world of fashion, there are loads of unsaid rules at the big fashion weeks. How else do the big designers on different continents release clothes every season that stick loosely to a theme? Armani’s collections, for instance, usually set the tone for the season and while this has a lot to do with the fact that Armani is a fashion genius; some of it is because the doyens of the fashion industry realized a long time ago they could make more money if there was some uniformity.

At the DIFW there were no such rules. There were different colours, themes and styles trotted out left, right and centre and some of it you certainly wouldn’t see anywhere else. The Islamic clothing, including modern hijabs and thobes, garnered the biggest accolades. Many believe this is where the future lies for fashion in the Gulf – modern, but conservative “Islamic” clothing that can help bridge gaps between traditional values and cultures for the younger generation in particular. Comfort was also a huge theme in this clothing as well, as it should be, and this garnered serious attention, especially from the female contingent.

One designer who had an especially different and highly interesting show at the DIFW this season was 24-year-old Aiisha Ramadan. Aiisha is of Lebanese decent but has lived most of her life in the UAE and this show was her first – and Nokia ensured it would be a memorable one.Nokia’s finely tuned PR machine heard of Aiisha talents earlier this year and, rather than have a fashion designer inspire a phone like Samsung and Motorola have done with Armani and D&G – Nokia decided for the completely opposite approach on a local scale. So Aiisha was charged with designing a collection around the new Prism 7900 and 7500 fashion phones to coincide with their release in this region.

She put the entire collection together in just weeks from her studio in Sharjah and family apartment which she admitted was “crammed” with clothes. She also managed to build the collection while working full time with one of the biggest news agencies in the Middle East.

“This was the biggest show of my career. I’m making my originals but I wouldn’t say I’ve made a big splash with them before with a show like this,” a visibly excited Aiisha prior to her show. Aiisha’s high-end ready-to-wear range is available at Frost on the Palm Stripe in Dubai and for more information about her clothes look up www.aiisha.com.

Lomar also delivered a striking show as he trotted out around 25 men dressed in humble, but highly stylized thobes. His thobes were made from different materials with lots of details, such as extra pockets, and leather stitched into the shoulders.

At large, however, the fashion at the DIFW reflected the hundreds of different nationalities and styles that exist in the Gulf region. Industry doyen Walid Atallah kicked the week off with a typically glamorous presentation that showed why he is so popular with royalty and other clients that desire haute couture and/or high end silk and chiffon dresses and gowns.

Mille Rostock, the Scandanvian who has spent many years in the Gulf, really marketed her show and the result was that her collection played to packed house – full of supporters, some buyers and editors.

“The good thing about these shows was that we could compare to the first event and it was nice that some people remember me from the first show,” said Rostock. “There were more buyers this time as well, although I can only speak for myself.”

There was around the same amount of shows as the autumn/winter edition of DIFW last April, but this show attracted more international talent, including Kithe Brewster from New York who showed his own collection and was at every show helping with the models and different collections.
“We had a good mix this time of local and international talent – a very big mix which is unique and something that’s really different compared to other fashion shows. We had a lot of clothes for Arabic women and men, but we also had Indian Saris and some western clothing and all of them were different. When you have a situation like this then you also get lots of variations on colours, fabrics and cuts,” said Rostock.

“This is good thing too because we have so many different cultures and people here in Dubai and the fashion is reflecting that.”

The DIFW certainly offered something different, but there were areas that will dramatically improve as the contractors and other support staff get accustomed to what’s required in a show involving so many different styles. There were a core group of around 10 male and female models, for instance, who were as good as you would see anywhere. There were some, however, who had clearly not seen a catwalk before and confusion on the runway distracts from the clothes.

The DIFW, which is owned by the Concept Group, has already stirred some interest within the region. In fact two weeks prior to this DIFW and not long after the inaugural Middle East Film Festival in Abu Dhabi (as opposed to the Dubai International Film Festival) investors in that emirate announced a fashion week.
Maven Corporate Ltd announced Abu Dhabi Fashion Week was “created…to develop in the United Arab Emirates a new centre for the fashion industry in the region”. Maven also said it had formed an alliance with Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (the organizers of Milan Fashion Week). The initial press release said, “the launch of the Abu Dhabi Fashion Week will bring together regional and international businessmen along with top international designers, models and VIP’s, for a week long extravaganza of fashion.”

Abu Dhabi’s week is due to start at the Emirates Palace Hotel from November 15-18 and has some government backing, reportedly from the hotel itself and ALDAR properties.