Bollywood stars and Emirati princesses came out to play on the second day of the fashion week-style showcase Fashion Forward (FFWD) at the Madinat Arena in Dubai.
While the first catwalk show of the day in the afternoon featured Indian designer Hema Kaul, who brought Bollywood actresses Sophie Chaudhry and Neha Dhupia to her front row, the evening ended on a high with shows by Shaikha Madiyah Al Sharqi — the daughter of His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Ruler of Fujairah and Member of the Supreme Council — who introduced her feminine touch to the catwalk via her eponymous evening wear label and Lebanese designer Charbel Zoe, whose show was provocative as it was high on glamour.
The second day also saw shows by Saudi Arabia’s Reem Al Kanhal, Dubai-based Lebanese designer Dima Ayad and Toujouri — the Doha-based label by Palestinian designer Lama Al Moatassem.
Madiyah Al Sharqi
Perhaps because she’s a princess, Shaikha Madiyah Al Sharqi spring-summer 2014 was one regal collection — soft, feminine playful and very wearable. This young designer infuses her clothes with a level of panache that’s both apparent and also unseen.
Playing with jacquard, lace and a generous helping of embroidery, Shaikha Madiyah mixed elements and fabrics as she turned back in time to the 18th century France, which she said was her latest obsession.
“I always tend to go to different eras and this time Mary Antoinette is my muse,” she said.
She also got very monastic, taking elements from nuns habits and giving it her own structured spin. Tube skirts came with lace insertions while some were overlayed with them, the mixture creating a simple yet effective result.
“This collection is me trying to find my place and create my own identity,” she said. “There’s never a specific theme or inspiration. And that’s how I always like it to be.”
Shaikha Madiyah also said she is aware a lot of people think she’s had an easy run thanks to her social status. And she will be the first to tell you, it’s helped along the way.
“In some ways, it is true, especially with budgets and resources,” she said. “But I am not spoon fed. I want to prove that I am serious about this and that it’s not just a hobby I’d move from once I’m bored. It’s a passion and I want to make it a successful business, all on my own.”
“I am just like any other working woman,” she said after her show.
Charbel Zoe Couture
It got very seductive and very sexy at the last show on the second night of FFWD when Lebanese designer Charbel Zoe sent his shimmering models down the catwalk. Having just returned from a red carpet event in LA for the closing season of hit reality show Shahs of Sunset, which follows the lives of rich Iranian Americans in Beverly Hills, it was clear where this designer’s inspiration lay.
Short, skimpy and tight, Zoe’s creations wouldn’t look a thread out of place on a Lebanese pop diva such as Haifa Wehbe, who has incidentally worn his clothes.
Despite the sexiness and glamour, the beauty of his work is best seen up close, where the details and intricacies of each dress come alive.
Inspired by tropical flowers and fishes, he played with his silhouettes, lining them with a myriad of shapes and patterns using metals, pins and crystals in an awesome show of handicraft.
All held together by pale nude sheer, the result is, again, sexy and provocative, all the more effective as Lady Gaga’s Applause played in the background.
Hema Kaul
Designer Hema Kaul loves the hit TV series Sex And The City and idolises Carrie Bradshaw’s style. She made it obvious by taking more than one strand from Bradshaw’s wardrobe. High-waisted skirts made from Italian organza with a dramatic pouf and paired with cropped sleeveless tops showing a bit of flesh were introduced.
“Cropped tops are easy to carry off if they show the right amount of flesh. Remember, there’s no navel display here which can be unflattering,” said Kaul on the sidelines.
Pencil skirts with lace overlay and cropped tops, worn splendidly by Bollywood actress Sophie Chaudhry, who sat in the front row, and by models walking the runway, clung to all the right places.
Though pencil skirts could be considered a trend from yesterday, Kaul gave it a modern spin tops made from transparent sleeves. The hemlines for the dresses kept varying which showed the beginnings of identity crisis.
While the black one shouldered dress was painfully short, she got it right when it came to the skirts that went past the knee and fell short off the ankle. Dresses made from shiny material didn’t have the desired effect as some bunched up in an unflattering way.
My favourite were the blue tailored pants and cropped top with sleeves. Short dresses in nude with lace overlay would easy fall under the category of easy sexy.
“You know what I love about the dress I am wearing. It’s sexy without being too obvious about it. I am wearing a short dress underneath the net overlay, so people can see it if they take a closer look at it,” said Neha Dhupia, one of the front row guests of Kaul.
Her collection was consistently safe and ladylike, if you discount the short hemlines.
(Manjusha Radhakrishnan, Senior Reporter, contributed to this article)
