Dubai Fashion Week's producer — who's created runway shows for everyone from Diesel to Alice Temperley — takes time out from her preparations to chat with tabloid!
How did you get involved with Dubai Fashion Week?
I work on all the fashion weeks worldwide, including Lakme
Fashion Week in India. From working on that event I met and
worked together with [DFW director] Rohit Sabikhi who then
asked me to work on Dubai Fashion Week. I was so excited to come and be part of it so I said yes straight away.
What does the producer of a fashion week do?
Everything and so much that guests never see! It involves
working in advance with the designer, understanding their creative inspirations and then translating that into the show presentation through visuals, music, the look when the first model comes out, and lighting.
Then there is the stuff which is never seen — running order of the outfits, models, fast outfit changes, calling the lighting and music cues, so much goes into a show — it's very full on, live and you've got to be calm.
You've worked on fashion weeks all over the world. How does DFW compare?
It's very exciting as it's a young but a fast-growing marketplace.
It's so inspiring to see regional designers doing their own
design and style. Dubai needed a fashion week for industry to get together and it's really interesting to see how it will develop over the next few seasons.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of DFW?
I have worked on a few newly established fashion weeks and
from experience I have learnt that the people taking part — the media, the sponsors, the buyers, the designers — all have to work together to make it happen.
If it wasn't here it wouldn't create employment, business sales, sponsorship relationships, media content and also exposure for designers, so its very important that the industry rallies around it.
What changes have been made this time around?
Change is crucial to the development and look of the event.
We have changed the colour of the set, added passes for industry guests and more parties too.
We now have models from Europe. It's good to have new models for the designers, good for the models and also adds to that change in the look of the shows.
Anything else new can we expect at DFW?
Lots! Everyday there will be different shows of the best local
designers, different colours and shapes, make up and hair
trends, great music and the who's who of people to see!
