UAE | Leisure
Haute under water
Models all set to strut their stuff in Atlantis aquarium but there's a minor concern — the sharks might eat away the bridal train
- By Muby Asger, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 December 8, 2011
- Image Credit: XPRESS/Francois Nel
- Water idea: Ten professional divers have already begun rehearsals for the unique fashion show being held at the Atlantis on December 8.
Dubai: Fashion will be plumbing new depths when the students of American University of the Emirates (AUE) launch their debut collection at Atlantis today.
The collection, which features eight cocktail dresses, an abaya, and a bridal gown, will be modelled underwater at the hotel's 11-million litre aquarium by 10 professional divers.
Conceptualised by Dr Franziska Apprich, Assistant Professor at the AUE College of Media and Mass Communications, the fashion show will be the first of its kind in the region. "For an idea to work, it has to be exceptional, like nothing else that exists. Otherwise it's not worth pursuing," says Apprich.
It was that desire to be unique that has led to today's underwater fashion show.
Set amongst thousands of fish, including sharks, the show will feature 10 professional divers from Atlantis modelling dresses which will then be sold online through Sukar.com for a limited period until December 21.
While fabulous in concept, the logistics behind putting an event such as this together were mind-boggling.
Keeping it tight
For starters, the fabric had to be light enough not to drag the models down. The colours had to work under the surface of the water, gravity had to be defied and, of course, the all-important issue of the sharks feeding on the dresses.
"While everything else is under control, there's no saying how the fish will react to the show," says Apprich. "My absolute worst nightmare is that the sharks may start eating away at the bridal train. Fingers crossed that the marine life reacts well to our designs, we still had to contend with the issue of weightlessness in the water.
"Since these are all dresses, we had to sew heavy weights into the hems of the dresses so that they don't float over the models' heads during the showing. Plus, each dress had to be designed so that the model's mask and oxygen tank fit comfortably into the back. Moreover, colours were an issue too, since certain hues such as reds and pinks show up as brown when under water."
To combat colour codes, Apprich and her team of 20 Emirati designers worked with colours such as bright yellow, white and green, all of which appear more vibrant when under water.
The show, which is scheduled to begin at 4.30pm on Thursday, December 8, will take place at the Ambassador Lagoon in the Atlantis Hotel on Palm Jumeirah, and will be free for all to attend.
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