Yesterday, Editor in Chief of Vogue Italia, Franca Sozzani, in collaboration with Mohamed Alabbar, Founder and Chairman of real estate giant Emaar Properties, highlighted the fashion industry’s interest in the Middle East (and vice versa) by creating a shopping festival and talent showcase in Dubai for the second year.
Vogue Italia took over The Dubai Mall with the Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience and presented a runway show featuring eight up-and-coming designers who were selected by Sozzani and her Senior Fashion Editor, Sara Maino.
International press were flown in for the occasion while VIPs, such as HRH Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al-Saud, Roberto Cavalli, Afef Jnifen, Latifa Al Arfaoui, and Maya Diab, sat front row to take in the talent showcase, which opened with Italian designer, Stella Jean, whose signature is ethnic prints. Her Spring 2015 collection, inspired by Haiti, was followed by abaya and ready-to-wear designers Bushra Badri and Amira Al Khaja from No.3 Design. The Emirati brand presented a collection of clean lines inspired by demure Khaleeji silhouettes and a clever mix of influences from around the world. The show continued with Lamia Asudari from Saudi Arabia and her rockabilly and ribbon prints collection, as seen at Fashion Forward Season 4 earlier this year; Australian designer Christopher Esber then featured glamorous draped dresses in an autumnal palette, which will please lovers of ultra-feminine pieces; next came the South Korean designer Jackie JS Lee, also known as J. JS Lee, who shows on-schedule at London Fashion Week; Indian sisters Tina and Nikita Sutradhar, runners-up of the LVMH prize and who already have a fan in Karl Lagerfeld, showed their colorful and modern spin on daywear; while the Italian designer Salvatore Piccione, from Piccione.Piccione, and the UAE’s own Madiyah Al Sharqi closed the show, with rich eveningwear silhouettes—with prints and crystals from the Italian Piccione and lace and embroideries from the Fujairah princess.
Following the runway show, masses of shoppers and VFDE attendees visited the mall’s in-store activities. Among the highlights were: accessory designer Shourouk Raheim, at Sauce boutique for the unveiling of her collection created with Zayan the Label; a photo-op with Caroline Issa and The Sartorialist’s Scott Schuman at Symphony; and a private concert by South African songstress Lira at Level Shoe District.
Click on the gallery above to see the full photo coverage of the event.
—Sofia Guellaty
