Following Paris Haute Couture week, press and buyers got on a plane to Rome to attend the shows and presentations at AltaRoma—Italy’s “driving force” behind Italian haute couture. Designer Rani Zakhem( from Lebanon and Sheikha Hend Al Qassemi from the UAE both showed on schedule. Style.com/Arabia takes a closer look at our regional designers’ couture offerings in the Eternal City.
RANI ZAKHEM
The Lebanese designer who was raised in Kenya and beholds a background in interior architecture and a fashion degree from Parsons has been designing for an international clientele since 2009 from his home base in Beirut. For his Spring 2015 Haute Couture runway show during AltaRoma, Zakhem showcased a collection with fluid silhouettes crafted with silk chiffon in a palette of crimson red, luminous blue, bronze, and exotic cat prints. The collection, titled “Imprints of Africa,” was intended as a journey back in time to his childhood experiences growing up in Nairobi.
HEND FQ
Sheikha Hend Faisal Al Qassemi, of the royal family of Sharjah, launched her luxury clothing line, HEND FQ, at the exclusive Waldorf Cavalieri Hotel in Rome. The Emirati princess has launched several businesses reflecting her cultural and fashionable interests, including Velvet magazine of which she is also Editor in Chief, but this latest venture is perhaps her most personal. Sheikha Al Qassemi, who cites Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn as style icons, displayed a collection of rich fabrics featuring detailed embroideries and beading in a color palette of pastels. The modest silhouettes featured romantic full skirts and were shown to a packed audience of VIPs.
