Endemage designer, Lubna al Zakwani, has a grace about her that makes people want to know more. Her ambition is clear and it has been so since her childhood in Muscat: to become a fashion designer and represent her cultural background, all the while maintaining a strong vision. “I want people to see my clothes and recognize Endemage right away,” she tells me. Since her first show at Muscat Fashion Week earlier this year, the 26-year-old Zakwani has been benefiting from great press keen to feature talented regional designers—but it is only the start of a long-term fashion mission.
ON HER DESIGN PROCESS
The Endemage client is someone that is very confident, very independent—a business woman. She is someone that is willing to stand out and when she walks into a room, she wants people to turn their heads and stare at her. She is also someone who is proud of her culture.
I always design to compliment a woman’s figure. I am pretty curvy, myself. I want to show off my body, but also hide certain things, so I always keep in mind fuller-figured women. They have a lot of things they want to show off so I try to compliment that every time I design.
When I create, I drape the outfits beforehand to make sure it looks the way I want it to and then I give them to the tailor.
A REGION THAT IS SHIFTING
Now, Saudi, the UAE, and Qatar are encouraging the local and regional designers. They don’t want Western designs as much anymore and the support we are getting is just boosting our confidence.
ARAB PRIDE
As a student at ESMOD, I wasn’t keen on Western fashions because my own culture fascinates me. In Oman, we have five different cultural outlets and it’s amazing to see that people are still holding onto that culture. Nowhere in the Khaleej will you see that in quite the same way. Also our jewelry—women still wear it and it’s beautiful so I want to highlight them because ours is a beautiful culture and we’re proud of it, so why not show it off?
I also want to branch out into the international market, because I want to show our culture. People are curious about how the Arab woman dresses and where this inspiration comes from.
ON QUALITY OF EXECUTION
Within a few years, everyone is a designer, and you think, “Where is the quality? Did you even study this? Do you know what you’re doing?” There are plenty of elements that go into designing: draping, stitching, finishing, and the materials that one uses. All this needs to be taken into consideration when making an outfit and some people don’t understand that.
I even implement uncommon fabrics in this region into my designs like velvet and the response when clients touched it was, “Oh, it’s so thin.” You know, we’re used to velvet that’s so heavy that we can’t wear it. Only people in Salalah know this velvet—it’s not been used anywhere else in the region, so it’s something new that I am introducing to the market to show that there are different local materials that you can also use.
ATTRACTING THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS
I think that the first time that my parents were really proud of me was at Muscat Fashion Week, and that was the turning point in my career. I also got a mention by the esteemed fashion journalist, Hilary Alexander, and when I saw that I thought, ‘Wow.’ that actually meant something.
Sometimes I feel anxious about all the attention. I don’t want to let anyone down and I don’t want to fail at anything.
RAMADAN RECOLLECTIONS
I do think that now, Westerners are adopting the kaftan trend and are more and more going all ethnic chic, whereas the Arab brands are going a bit more Occidental. There’s a cultural swap happening right now.
I think it stems from curiosity. We Easterners have always wanted to fit in with the West and they are the ones trying to understand our culture now. So it’s interesting to see that they’ve also started using capes, which are kind of abaya looks. It’s good for us. It’s a proud moment for us that they’re interested in our culture and what we are doing.
During Ramadan, if you want wear the kaftans and jalabiyas, then you’re just blending in, but for me it’s about standing out. I always want to stand out, so no matter what I wear, whether I focus on the cuts, the colors, or the embroidery, I make sure that I stand out.
