'Talent is not enough'

Painted sketches of women attired in outrageously, bold evening gowns and smoking cigarettes adorn the wall. Several chiffony gowns woven with bead work hang on a display unit in the corner. The white and blue interiors of the boutique seem ornate with its heavy window drapes in blue and gold.

A young man clad entirely in black and seated at a glass table by the window stands up to greet you. "I'm Saher Dia,'' he introduces himself. This 23-year-old Lebanese happened to be the latest entrant to the crowded haute couture designer community when he opened his Saher Dia Haute Couture boutique on Liwa Street in Abu Dhabi last month.

A student of fashion design at the College Artistique de la Mode Moderne (CAMM) in Saloumi in Lebanon, Dia is no stranger to the UAE. Having been born here, he's returned to set up base in a place brimming over with "extremely fashionable women with international tastes". Arab women are very up-to-date with their styles but they will never steer away from their love for sequined and bead work, Dia claims. A style he may not personally subscribe to.

"I'm more Thierry Mugler, I like hard looking women. I like provocative designs which are more revealing and severe,'' Dia states, pointing towards the illustrations of his designs which faintly resemble the provocative Cruella (of 101 Dalmations) look. But, he has to toe the line, this young fashion Turk admits with a sigh.

"Here, it's all soft chiffons, tulles, crepes and more ladylike outfits. More the Chanel styles,'' he expressively adds. Women here love designs with a great deal of decolletage and the wrap look,'' he explains striving to pin down the popular trends in the fashion scene.

"The work of most fashion designers here seem similar but I want to strike out on my own and create the Saher Dia look," discloses the designer, who hails from the fashion capital of the Middle East.

An admirer of Christian Dior, Valentino and Lebanese designer Eli Saab, the difference in Dia will be his usage of actual accessories on his creations. He picks up a high-necked, brown evening gown embellished in the front with a geometrical design of metal strips, stones and bead work to illustrate his point.

"I make use of such metal strips which are seen often as accessories, as necklaces or wrist bands,'' he says. Strands of pastel coloured beads and stones stand as shoulder straps, while sleeves might be made from decorative metal work. The transparent top portion of a halter necked pale chiffon seems to have been created from a blend of tulle and beads. To make his signature more forceful a landscape has been painted on a dark maroon taffeta.

His muse comes from the world around him, he claims. From the odd architectural design or the intricate motif on a plate. Or by sometimes plumbing the depths of his romantic, emotional nature.

"I've lived in Lebanon during the war and seen many people I know killed. Unfortunately, I grew up very fast and did not enjoy my childhood,'' he recounts.

Coupled with these dark turbulent memories, this young designer carries a lot of angst inside him having had a setback initially when his "personal problems" forced him to disappear from the fashion scene in Abu Dhabi two years ago. However, he has not allowed this initial hiccup to deter him.

"I've come back after a gap of two years. You need good contacts and financial backing to make it big in the fashion world. Talent is not enough. My sights are set on the international scene,'' Dia declares dreamily.

But first, he has a dream to hold a fashion show in the Emirates, dramatically calling it... the dream of Saher Dia.

"I have a lot of pain inside me. It's waiting to emerge in my forthcoming collection, which will be soon,'' he promises.