If there was any doubt about what the UAE’s home-grown fashion talent can offer, one needs to only look at the showcases on the third day of Fashion Forward, the new bi-annual event that came to a close on Sunday night.
And how diverse they were. With none other than CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) CEO Steven Kolb in attendance, the strong showing should leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that ours is a unique blend of contrasting flair that is waiting to be mined.
Day 3 started off with Emerging Talent winners Amalie Beljafla and Soraya Al Ali, offering what could possibly be one of the best ready-to-wear collections in the entire event. The Dubai-born, London-based Emirati duo’s artistic gift came alive via their label Tresors Sauvages featuring beautiful embroidery on sophisticated designs that any woman would covet. Then Lebanese designer Dina JSR went strips and straps in her architecture-inspired collection that impressed with her knowledge and mix of fabrics.
Entrepreneur-turned-designer Zayan Gandour brought fun to the house afterwards as her models in tulle skirts danced and high-fived each other wearing statement T-shirts bearing slogans such as ‘Bringing Satwa Back’ and ‘Satwa Rocks’.
But things took a dramatic turn later as Katy Perry and Heidi Klum’s favourite designer Furne One (pronounced on-ay) pondered over the difference between good and evil in a show that was both theatrical and daring before the glamorous Indian designer Ayesha Depala closed the event with a collection that stayed firmly in her territory of pretty, wearable and always feminine.
Tresors Sauvages
Founded only last year, the background of the two ladies behind this London-based label is interesting: Amalie Beljafla is an Emirati-Norwegian currently studying illustration at Central St Martins while Soraya Al Ali is an Emirati-Iranian and training to be a lawyer in the UK. Yet together, they bring to their clothes such fluid translations of their talents that the result is striking and distinctive, where art meets fashion in a flight of fancy. Inspired by the endangered flamingos of the UAE, embroidery is the hallmark of their collection as patterns are stitched as feathers in graduating colours to great result. The pair played with bold prints too, staying with their theme and pasting it on strong shoulders and lines. A highlight was an orange dress that was fully embroidered and that graduated to navy blue at the bottom. Having won their slot after being selected from a list of designers who competed in the Emerging Talent segment of Fashion Forward, theirs is definitely a label to watch.
Dina JSR
It’s only when you watch closely, and you notice the mixture of crepe and lace and leather and satin in all kinds of patterns and strips, that Lebanese designer Dina JSR’s background in jewellery design becomes apparent. From afar, the end result is striking, no doubt. And sexy. But a little more inspection will show you how she has artfully blended her skills within her designs: A red crepe dress will feature interlocking leather strips in a pattern or a lace will create subtle layers placed on patterned leather strips, like glass windows on a skyscraper. The collection, after all, is called Architectural Precision.
Zayan
The Zayan girl is one happy bunny. I mean, who wouldn’t be in a pretty tulle skirt with polka dots topped with statement t-shirts that read ‘Qamzi is my Homie’ or ‘Satwa Rocks’? While bringing fun to the catwalk, with models swinging to the beat, there was also serious fashion as Zayan Gandour, in her first fashion show, proved she’s really come of age. Featuring a generous use of metallics, whether it’s in the trims on the arm of a top, which made them look like bangles when mixed with lace, or on a brocade dress, or even on a waterfall hem, it was all very effective. Her suits were strong yet playful as hints of metallic peeked from the linings of a skirt. But Zayan’s piece de resistance was a three-tone dress with poufy shoulders, black at the back, pale nude on the front and decadent brocade on the side paired with a glorious belt.
Amato
A few days before his show, Furne One wondered if he was burning out. Between designing for Katy Perry’s tour and for the cast of Heidi Klum’s Germany’s Next Top Model while also dressing Nicki Minaj, he said the past year has been so hectic, in a good way, all he wanted to do this year was take a break. But then Fashion Forward came calling, and he said he couldn’t resist. And on Sunday night, if he was overworked, he showed no sign of fatigue.
Probing the lines between good and evil, One’s collection for his Amato featured liberal religious references as models walked out with nun’s habit-inspired headgear and crowns of thorns. The first set was all black, to signify bad, depending on how you view it, but each featuring dramatic dresses in One’s signature 3D embroidery blending with patterns carved in wood. The eccentricity was even in the footwear, some with the heels missing (Lady Gaga, are you watching this?), and continued with the second set of models, all in white. This time, they grew wings and some had halos for headgears. Pale nudes also mixed with copper and rich gold textures formed intricate patterns that you could hardly peel your eyes away from them.
One has a penchant for theatrics. And his finale, a Mary Antoinette-meets-Leonardo Da Vinci’s Madonna, walked out to a collective gasp in the packed venue, holding a crown. Sat atop it was his latest fragrance, Amato Oro. Cheeky fellow.
Ayesha Depala
When this Indian designer walked out to the stage to take her bow at the end of her show, someone in the audience quipped that her designs would look great on the glamorous designer herself. And that has always been the appeal of Ayesha Depala: Very practical, easy on the eye and yet sophisticated and chic. With a conservative palette, sticking to a lot of pale nudes, pastels and whites, Depala trod familiar ground as she draped her models in soft silhouettes that were sensual as they were feminine. A mix of formal and casual saw ruffled shoulderless tops paired with leather trousers and jumpsuits with drapes and lots of capes on long and short dresses. But all finished off with great attention to detail and impeccable tailoring.
