Dubai designer Rami Al Ali makes Haute Couture debut

This week, as some of the world's top couturiers gather for one of fashion's most exclusive events, the Paris Haute Couture Week, one Dubai designer is hoping to ride the wave of positivity sweeping the French capital. Rami Al Ali, who took his latest collection to a selective audience on the sidelines of the main shows yesterday, says he's hoping for a positive debut in this the original home of haute couture.

"It's kind of a natural growth for the brand. After Dubai and Rome, we're here in Paris, the mother of haute couture," said Al Ali before his show, which he explained was designed more like a presentation.

"We wanted it to be more of an introduction," he added. "We wanted to introduce the label key people and see where we go from here."

Al Ali, who started his label 12 years ago in Dubai, couldn't have picked a better time. Despite the threat of a weakening French economy against the backdrop of a waning European market, this year's haute couture shows come off the back of booming business for top brands. Versace, for instance, marked a triumphant return on Monday after bowing out of couture eight years ago. Dior, which continued to be dogged by who it is going to crown as its creative head, won applause for its down-to-earth collection masterminded by stand-in designer Bill Gayten. Last year, Giorgio Armani reported a 50 per cent rise in couture sales while Valentino quoted an 80 per cent rise.

The rules of couture, Al Ali said, have however changed. "It's played in a different way now. If you look at the couture shows now, almost all the pieces are wearable immediately. There are no extras, no show-offs, just straightforward, old school classic haute couture shows," he said. "Designers right now are probably in the stage where they need to speak directly to the customer without being too arty or dramatic."

‘No distractions'

"It's good, in a sense, in that there are no distractions for the client," he added. "But at the same time I think you lose a bit of the va va voom… the extravagance that one associates with haute couture."

For his presentation, Al Ali said he created an 18 piece-collection inspired by an orientalist painting.

"I wanted to bring out the feminine, sexual and indulged lifestyle that a woman [in an orientalist painting] is surrounded with," he explained. "The details are in the layering and the tiny, intricate details of the fabrics… and they have all been manipulated in a way it looks modern."

Researching the collection took him two months, he said, and creating the full collection in his Dubai atelier, another two months.

"The presentation has to be impeccable because it's not like a catwalk show. It's more difficult in that here the gowns are displayed and our guests can take as long as they want to interact with them, see them and touch and feel them," he said.

"But it's also good because they spend more time with each item and appreciate the work more. It's always exciting to see four months of hard work being born."

After Paris, it will be back to Dubai where Al Ali said he wants to focus on relaunching his prêt a porter (ready-to-wear) line later in the year.

"But let's see how this one goes first. We'll take it step by step."