Emirati women designers start Azyame programme
Fashion entrepreneurship programme organised by Irthi and London College of Fashion
Sharjah: The third edition of Azyame recently launched with the aim of supporting the next generation of Emirati women fashion designers.
The fashion entrepreneurship programme’s latest round includes 10 participants, such as Maitha Hamdan, founder of Decencia for ‘modest travel wear’ and Aysha Salem, who will be launching her label by the end of the programme.
Azyame is organised by Irthi Contemporary Craft Council (Irthi), an affiliate of NAMA Women Advancement Establishment, in partnership with London College of Fashion.
The programme started with a three-day workshop, titled ‘Developing your fashion business’. The workshop shed light on the basics of brand strategy, customer profiling, and marketing, among other topics.
Following the workshop, each participant received a series of personalised consultation sessions.
A second workshop to be held later this month will cover topics such as range planning and developing new collections. Meanwhile, individually-tailored online consultation sessions will continue throughout the year.
The third edition of Azyame is being delivered by Toby Meadows, founder and director of TNM Consultancy, who is also a visiting lecturer at the London College of Fashion.
Reem Bin Karam, director of NAMA, said: “As part of our commitment to promoting ethical and sustainable practices in the crafts sector, the programme will offer its participants guidance on developing their label using a sustainable approach that can be applied through all stages of work, from research to design, sampling and production.”
Meadows said: “I am very excited to be back in Sharjah working on the Azyame Entrepreneurship programme once again. This year we have another batch of 10 exciting local designers all looking to develop their businesses and take them to the next level.”
Azyame’s alumni over the past two editions have been supported by Irthi to showcase their collections at Paris Fashion Week 2018, a trunk-show in Sao Paulo, and a two-month pop-up store at Fenwick of Bond Street in London.