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29 March 2024

Fashion weekend wants to put Dubai on the map

Bollywood starlets Kangana and Celina will pretty up trade show. (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Keith J Fernandez

Fashion designers from India, Africa and the wider Middle East descend on Dubai this weekend in search of new markets and improved business prospects. The occasion is Dubai Fashion Fiesta 2010, one of the official events of the Dubai Summer Surprises 2010.

Running until Saturday at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the trade event will see over 20 designers send collections down the ramp. John Matthew, Managing Director of organisers Emirates Vision Events, hopes his event will eventually serve as a platform for designers and buyers from around the world to reach regional markets – and vice versa.
 
“Dubai is heading towards becoming the next fashion hub of the world,” he says, adding that international buyers can expect a majority of couture pieces, with everything from Arabic garments to ethnic Indian wear on offer – much like Dubai itself.
 
A sprinkling of top names from across the Arabian Sea are are involved, most notably the Bollywood designer Rocky S, while the UAE is ably represented by local labels Amato Couture and Alia Couture. Six designers from Nigeria Fashion Week are also showing.
 
“Normally, buyers form other countries do not come to Dubai for the fashion trade, but in the last few years of the Dubai Fashion Fiesta, we have started getting a positive response from buyers in Europe and other regions,” he adds.
 
Despite promoting his event as trade-only – its tag line is “The Business of Fashion” – Mathew is hard put to provide a clear, nuts-and-bolts picture of how designers who attended last year fared.
 
“It is very difficult,” he says. “The success rate of the designers participation last year was 85 per cent. A couple of designers managed a permanent tie-up with boutiques here to have their brands in the store, a number of them went back with bulk orders and some even managed to find investors and sponsors. There were 15 per cent of the designers who did not have any break in this market.”
 
Looking ahead, he says the recession will certainly influence business – and indeed, it has already affected the show’s composition. “The market is definitely affected [but] the scope of business for UAE designers seems more positive in the present situation which is the reason we have more UAE designers taking part,” he says.
 
“Business for overseas designers is not as bright this year due to the price tag that comes with importing the goods,” he says.
 
CELEBRITY MODELS
 
Several Bollywood C-listers are expected to show up, both stepping onto the ramp as well as to pretty up the audience. Actors Emraan Hashmi and Kangana Ranaut will join the previously announced Celina Jaitley and sisters Riya and Raima Sen.
 
Jaitley walks for designer Archana Kochhar.
 
Today’s shows feature the collections of Amato Couture and Archana Kapoor, while Arabella, Alia Couture and designers from Nigeria Fashion Week present their work tomorrow. Saturday will see Nazin Akter, KT Brown, Amber & Firoz and Rocky S.