Shining armour

Arab women have always understood a style principle that took the rest of the world years to figure out: black is best. But even as the average avant-garde fashion editor’s closet is now almost exclusively wall-to-wall noir, Arab women are reinterpreting the classic abaya. In the hands of designers such as Abeer Al Suwaidi, the black cloak usually worn over daywear, for reasons both cultural and religious, has morphed into a form of self-expression.
 
Spikes, harnesses, chains, feathers, metal disks, external shoulder pads, bright colours: all these and more find a place in her designs. Ush Boutique, her multi-brand store off Al Wasl Road in Dubai is a magnet for women from all over the Gulf for the range of unusual merchandise on offer. Fitted abayas, skinny abayas, short abayas and other delights all find a place in the store; some are her own creations, retailed under the eponymous Abeer Al Suwaidi brand, others are by designers from around the region.

“I see fashion as a way of expressing my character,” she says, talking to GN Focus at her Dubai boutique. “For a long time, I couldn’t find an abaya that expressed Abeer. That’s how I started designing, to express my individuality.”

She has dressed the part this morning, in a fitted garment that is belted at the front. In shape, it borrows from the jalabiya, the kaftan-like maxi dress that is most usually seen in bright colours and embellished with heavy embroidery — but in cut and form it is unquestionably an abaya, although rather tighter than usual.

What she’s wearing seems almost tame compared to some of the elaborate pieces on her racks. One memorable collection brings to mind Alexander McQueen, with shoulder pads and studs and spikes, almost like a suit of armour. “How we suffer for fashion,” Abeer zings back when I remark on the sheer weight of these rock-chick stunners. “With abayas like these, no one can miss you. They give you power. You can tell the lady’s character from the outside, even if she’s wearing black.” Another stunning garment is just slightly nipped in at the waist, its structure emphasised by three bands in red, yellow and green, evoking Bob Marley and the Rastafarian movement.

“It’s the Abu Dhabi effect,” Abeer laughs as her staff proceed to pull out pieces that incorporate, variously, corsets, lapels, quilted edges, animal prints, crystals or gilded feathers. I find it hard to understand how a sequinned harness, designed to be worn over the abaya, could reflect the capital, but it seems the inspiration is rather less obvious.

Abeer was born in Connecticut but her family, originally from Dubai, moved to Abu Dhabi when she was a child and it is her childhood there, she says, that informs her work. “Abu Dhabi is quieter and slower than Dubai, but it is a true community, where you really do make friends with people of different nationalities,” she says. Because of the smaller population, ethnic groups don’t stick together as much, she explains, so there is wider exposure to various cultures. “It’s a very open-minded place, with people interacting to a greater extent, sharing each other’s culture and visiting their houses. That cultural mix has been a huge influence on my work.”

Having spent the last decade establishing her brands, Abeer now wants to take her brands to her customers. “I’m going back to Abu Dhabi,” she says. By the end of the year, she plans to open a branch of Ush in the capital.

Like her present store, it will also be a multi-brand boutique, stocking both her own Abeer Al Suwaidi label as well as abayas from other designers. “Because it’s Abu Dhabi, our lines there will be more classical, but each Ush store, wherever it is, will always have a different collection.” While much remains to be finalised, she says the store should open within the year. A Qatar boutique will follow before she considers venturing further afield.

For now, her clothes are available at Bloomingdale’s and at Symphony in The Dubai Mall. While a custom-made piece can cost as much as Dh8,000, most are priced around the Dh2,800 mark, with the plainer ones available at Dh1,500. Plain abayas, I ask? She’s quick to respond: “We do normal also.”

Abeer keeps an eye on international trends and will often use seasonal colours, but the final result is always an indication of her ideas at the time. Black still remains the basis, Abeer says, but that’s about it. “Black is the only rule. That’s what makes it a challenge.”

In response to requests from customers, she now plans to make a foray into wedding dresses and evening gowns. “I had a customer come in recently asking if I could design a strange wedding gown for her,” she laughs. “So yes, my gowns will be quirky and different.”

But surely the very purpose of wearing an abaya is not to draw attention to oneself, I say. In Desperate in Dubai, the novel that has rocketed to the top of bestseller lists in recent months, an Emirati young woman called Lady Luxe struggles to reunite her wild side with the traditional role society expects her to conform to. How does Abeer reconcile the conservative with the fashionable?

“I do get criticism,” she says straightaway. “From strangers, from family — but I respect that completely. Any change is never taken well, but that’s okay for me. That’s why we cater to everybody at Ush; so if two sisters come to the store, one may want the rock ‘n’ roll vibe, another may buy the abaya embroidered with flowers.”
She sees her work as art, “and art can often be misunderstood,” she adds. “Even Bob Marley was part of something bigger.” When I ask why the Rastafarian flag appears on one of her garments, she brings it back to self-expression. “I like reggae, that’s who I am. Some people take it, understand it and support it — even those who cover their face with a niqab. And others won’t accept it at all.”

As she learned growing up, all views are valid.