Kids ramp it up

Dubai's most stylish children took to the catwalk at Kids Fashion Week for a show by UAE national designer Somaya.

The fashion week, organised by Dubai Summer Surprises, opened on Friday at Dubai Festival City with the Ras Al Khaimah-based designer's collection, featuring colourful party dresses and trendy casual wear for little girls and teenagers.

The garments were embellished with intricate embroidery, sequins, ruffles, ribbons, mirrors, lace and coloured beads.

They were accessorised with matching hairbands, jewellery, bags, hats and veils.

"Every outfit is handmade and I pay a lot of attention to details and finish," said Somaya, who launched her label, Little Princess, a few years ago. "I decided to specialise in custom-made children's garments because there is no competition in this area and plenty of scope to innovate and grow," she added.

Delightful

Somaya's creations were beautiful, but what made the show truly delightful were the models. Ranging from 6 to 16 years, most of them were stepping on the catwalk for the first time. But they had the charm, poise and confidence of professional models.

They struck stylish poses, danced in perfect sync with the music, blew kisses at the audience and clearly enjoyed showing off the clothes on the ramp.

"It was great fun. I was not nervous at all because we have done many rehearsals," said 9-year-old UAE national Raya. Her friend Judy was excited about the opportunity to dress up. "I enjoyed putting on make-up and wearing this nice gown and jewellery. I really liked my ring with a flower just like the one on my dress," said Judy.

Looking pretty in a white lace dress with colourful appliqué flowers was Somaya's daughter Meera. "I love the dresses my mother designs for me and have modelled many times for her shows. But I enjoyed this one because the music was good and we had to dance and there were so many children in the audience," said the 8-year-old, who walked on the ramp with her sister Haya, 3.

Rehearsing

The young models are all members of the Modhesh Friends Club and were selected for Kids Fashion Week on the basis of their performance in an in-house fashion show organised by the club. They have been rehearsing their moves with choreographers Meetu and Pooja for the last two weeks.

"We have choreographed several major shows in India but doing 14 shows with children was quite a challenge. We enjoyed it because the children are so enthusiastic and eager to learn. We have tried to make the shows fun and funky and DJ Sash has helped us with music that the children are familiar with and enjoy," said Meetu.

Make your own designs

Several fashion-related workshops have also been organised as part of Kids Fashion Week. Children and adults can try their hand at fabric painting, designing and making handbags, and creating designer jewellery and hair ornaments under expert guidance.

The workshops are held daily between 6pm and 9pm and the best creations of the day in each workshop will win exciting prizes and be displayed in the mall. One final winner from amongst the daily winners in each category will be announced on August 16.

Don't miss it

The fifth edition of Kids Fashion Week will continue at Dubai Festival City until August 16.

There will be two shows daily at 7.30pm and 8.15pm.

The shows will feature the spring/summer 07 collections from 12 well-known international children's wear brands.
For the first time, two UAE based designers, Somaya and Christina Chamas, are also showcasing their collections at the event.