Dubai: The UAE’s wannabe designers are getting some serious attention — a new mentoring programme will help startups take wings. The Dubai Design & Fashion Council is taking on between 20 to 30 aspirants to be placed in an internship programme that will last five months.
The Mentorship Programme targets design entrepreneurs — and not just limited to those aiming for glory in couture — “through the early stages of a new venture”. They aspirants can use the platform to “harness their potential” by focusing on specific areas they wish to develop, as well as strengthening their overall business acumen.
The region’s design space is doing quite well by the looks of it — the “Mena Design Outlook” released by DDFC along with the design cluster d3 reckons the industry is now valued at $100 million (Dh3.67 billion) after growing at twice the pace globally over the last four years.
But for design-focused startups, the initial phase can be particularly daunting. This is what the DDFC Mentorship Programme hopes to lessen.
Apart from fashion, the other categories that the programme will absorb are related to architecture, product-, interior- and graphic design. “However, with the design industry experiencing significant change - and with the borders between design disciplines becoming increasingly blurred — we often see the different areas of design extending into each other,” said Dr Amina Al Rustamani, Chairperson of DDFC. “Therefore, we expect to see a degree of overlap in terms of the applicants’ core focus.
“It is important to note that each design pillar is fundamentally important to the growth of Dubai’s design industry, and emerging designers from each discipline will be considered equally for both programmes through the open call.
“Of course, this will not only benefit individual designers, but the design and start-up ecosystem in Dubai as a whole.”
And limiting the programme to five months apiece is done with an intent — this allows more for focused sessions with their chosen mentors. And these will also stretch beyond just the creative pursuits and take in aspects of business planning and strategy, finance, sales and marketing, production and innovation.
During the programme, designers will be paired with mentors with whom they will work to define objectives based on each aspirant’s key identified challenges. “It is important that the candidate evaluates where their weaknesses lie to benefit fully from the advice and guidance of their mentor,” said Dr Amina. “It will then be the responsibility of the mentor to drive the Programme and define the best approach towards the designer’s needs.” (Designers can, if they want, reapply for other disciplines after they have completed the initial Programme for additional insight.) The mentors, DDFC board members being among them, who have signed up straddle different industries – there is Gassan Harfouche, Group CEO of the Middle East Communications Network (MCN); Farida Al Awadi, President, Association of Professional Interior Designers in UAE and Managing Director, Cinmar Design; as well as Dr Amina.
“DDFC is also partnering with key stakeholders in the industry to provide designers with the opportunity to access some of the brightest minds and experts across different disciplines through the Programme,” said Dr Amina.
On whether the Programme could be extended to include funding in design startups, Dr Amina said: “The focus of the DDFC Mentorship and Internship Programmes is on career acceleration and talent development for designers. At present, these are the areas we believe support is most required in.”
For fashion designers, it’s a question of mixing physical retail with virtual
For UAE’s fashion and design startups, a brick-and-mortar presence has often proved difficult to stitch together, especially when rents take out much of their available funds.
Some designers have responded by trying to make a mark online and take it forward from there. Others still see merit in mixing the physical with online.
The way it works is relatively simple — “There are boutiques aimed at helping newcomers by providing them with rental space in-store,” said Awatif Al Jabry, and Emirati fashion designer. “These boutiques are well-known and have a large following on social media platforms, Instagram being the most active. So, marketing the brand comes with the package.
“Once a brand has gained popularity, the only option available is to move to the more desired locations, one such being the Dubai Design District (d3).”
Future locations could also turn out to be hotpots for designers — both starting out and already established — such as the Night Souq on Deira Islands.
“Any retail business requires space where the footfall are plenty and at the right price,” said Srividhya Rathnam, founder of Atelier Fashion, which specializes in ethnic jewellery, mostly sold online. “Getting the right mix is a challenge. New developments such as Deira Islands will provide the much needed push for business.
“As for now, online sales is our core model — one which does not require expensive real estate nor high fixed costs of having trained sales teams. It calls for other skill sets like understanding customer needs. Through social media/digital selling we are definitely able to reach a wider audience.”
