Amal Al Mulla is a petite young lady who comes across as polite, warm, fresh, and engaging—the same qualities can be found in her eponymous line. Style.com/Arabia speaks with the Bahraini designer to learn more about her Spring 2015 collection, which highlights the traditional piña fabric, and leaves a feminine, ethereal impression.
ON CREATIVITY CONSIDERED TO BE SOMETHING OF VALUE
I was born and raised in Bahrain but I’m also half Filipino. Growing up, my family taught me the importance of art and how valuable it is. Creativity and imagination are part of the essence of life, so art was embedded in me since my childhood. I’ve been exposed to design since such a young age, and I knew that I wanted to pursue this [fashion design] ever since I was a little kid.
ON THE FASHION INDUSTRY IN BAHRAIN
I was looking for a platform to build my ideas into reality and I found fashion to be “it.” It has been a bit difficult to do this in Bahrain, however, because the fashion industry is very small, especially compared to Dubai. In Bahrain, it’s still picking up. It’s a very slow transition here. The people are closed to the idea of fashion per se. It’s very difficult for them to open up to things—they hold onto tradition rather than moving forward. But things are picking up, slowly.
ON HER SPRING 2015 COLLECTION
Making a collection is a long process. My brand is very experimental. There’s always a particular storyline that I try to escape to as a designer. My spring 2015 collection revolves around little fragments of nature and the nostalgic feeling of joy and beauty that is brought to the human spirit; sitting amidst life in its purest form and surrounded by nothing but the simplicity of botanicals and greens. It is a very airy and organic collection, which is why I incorporated piña fabric.
ON CREATING “MADE IN BAHRAIN” CLOTHES WITH “MADE IN THE PHILIPPINES” FABRICS
Everything is produced here in Bahrain. But I try to search for unusual fabrics abroad. For this particular collection, I traveled to the Philippines to get this piña fabric. It is made out of pineapple fiber; it is weaved, dried, and then scraped. That’s actually the natural color—an ecru; but you can dye it whatever color you want. Since I always focus on monochromatic color palettes, I decided to keep the natural ecru color, and then I had it dyed in a black shade. This fabric is a traditional fabric used for wedding gowns or any traditional party, and is meant to be embroidered—so I really wanted to incorporate that, but then bring it to the Middle East and Westernize it a bit.
ON DUALITY
I always like to incorporate a “versus” element to my designs, so there’s always this structure vs. fluidity; texture vs. transparency; and femininity vs. masculinity. I also like to experiment with lines and patterns.
ON MIDDLE EASTERN BUYERS SUPPORTING EMERGING LOCAL BRANDS
If you asked me this question two years ago, when I started the brand, I would say it was very difficult for me to get in touch with buyers. But now, buyers are more supportive than they used to be. A lot of them are picking up regional designers, which is excellent. I’m very grateful for being picked up by Cream; it opened up a lot of opportunities.
