Saudi designer Reem Al Kanhal has garnered a loyal following by introducing designs that propose new shapes on traditional dress. Here, she reveals her third collection exclusively to Style.com/Arabia for review.
Watching Reem Al Kanhal present her trans-seasonal 2015 collection, one can’t help but notice that the delicate, pixie features serve as a sharp contrast to her unyielding nature. Indeed, since beginning her career, Al Kanhal has ardently pursued her gut instincts, and her increasingly refined design acumen and diligence (she produced this collection herself along with one seamstress) have not failed her.
During Fashion Forward Season Two, Style.com/Arabia commended Al Kanhal’s capacity to create a contemporary signature that touches on some of our more intimate emotions and noted that if she proved to have the stamina, she could very well be “one of the design pillars on which this region will build an industry.” This latest collection is an indication that Al Kanhal is slowly but surely building that very foundation.
Window to the Soul invites us to explore traditional Saudi dress with a twist. Take the vertically striped cotton skirts and shirts, reminiscent of Bedouin tents, or the yellow or orange yarn stitched in a voluminous fringe to a crop top or A-line dress—“taking us back to the embellishments added to the interiors of the tents,” explained Al Kanhal. Closer inspection of the garments, which alternated between voluminous and slender silhouettes, revealed many handmade elements, including piping that was beautifully executed on a blush coat.
Where her modern twist made a cultural statement, however, was with the reveal of “Burqa midriffs”—the Burqa is a garment that Al Kanhal is fiercely proud of and she wants to invite people, both from the region and abroad, to consider it in a different light. The designer also showed that she could implement some tongue-in-cheek fun to a collection. One double-lined sweater featured the illustration of a camel donning a tarboosh. “Audrey Hepburn, in that same hat, was on my mood board,” explained Al Kanhal, her eyes dancing.
Photos by: Mariahjelena Kordzadze
By Caterina Minthe
