Emirati shoe creator on sharing his designs with the world

The garden city of Al Ain is home to Sultan Al Darmaki. But the young Emirati shoe designer is equally familiar with the fashion circles of London, where he is currently based, or Italy, where he travels in the pursuit of creating his immaculately crafted couture footwear, or even Paris, where he periodically shows his gorgeous collections.

Creative director and chairman of Darmaki, the Middle East's first homegrown international luxury footwear brand, Sultan has been a trendsetter in the UAE for daring to follow his passion and carve a career in fashion - an unconventional career choice for the scion of a high-profile Emirati business family.

Sultan has broken the mould in other ways too. He became a footwear designer while continuing with his day job in marketing and public relations. Launching his luxury brand at the peak of one of the worst economic downturns in the world in 2009, he worked 16 hours a day at two jobs to finance his start-up. He refused to exploit his family connections or help himself to his father's wealth. And in the spirit of jumping in the deep end to learn how to swim, he relocated to London last year so his designs would benefit from the wider exposure, unfazed that international competition might devour his fledgling brand.

The passion and hard work has paid off. Last year, he became the first contemporary Middle Eastern footwear designer to have his work selected to be a part of the permanent collection at London's Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), considered one of the greatest museums of art and design in the world.

Sultan's Lydia shoe was also the first entry from the UAE to be accepted by the museum, sitting alongside creations by footwear icons such as Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo. A fierce high-heeled design in hand-treated gold python leather and beige suede, it has laser-cut designs and citrine stones. Friday meets the 30-year-old designer to find out more.

Work

I always knew I wanted to be in fashion. Yet when I took the plunge there were the inevitable questions. People asked why I was designing footwear or why someone like me should want to get down and dirty in the fashion business. Having my debut collection selected to be a part of the V&A's permanent collection and the first UAE entry was undoubtedly a very emotional moment. But it also sent out a message to the naysayers that I am serious about what I am doing. The V&A is not just any institution. Regardless of whether I am the token Middle Eastern designer, if they didn't like the designs they wouldn't be going into the V&A - it is an achievement that I am most proud about.

From the start I wanted to play in the big league and learn from international brands. Being in the fashion business, it made perfect sense to relocate to London, it is a fashion capital after all and just a short flight away from Milan where my shoes are created.

People assume my family must have supported me financially to launch Darmaki. I'd like to set the record straight on that one. I chose to rough it out - I kept my day job and took on another one to finance the launch. It was a tough move but it had to be done.

One of the things I learnt early in the fashion business was to grow a thick skin. People criticise and make harsh comments, and I take that in the spirit of useful feedback for my next collection.

For my team, I've hired the best and most experienced people. When I was starting out, one of the craziest things I did was to walk into the Italian factory that manufactured shoes for Jimmy Choo and Fendi without an appointment, and convince them to be my partners. I expected them to throw me out - the look on their face was priceless, but they heard my ten-minute pitch and were on board. After tying up the best people in the business to make my shoes, I knew the quality was going to be excellent.

I believe in the philosophy of French shoe designer André Perugia, that a woman's personality is revealed in her shoes. For me, beauty in all its forms is inspiration - be it the visual arts, architecture or fashion. As a footwear designer, I take on the challenge of transforming that beauty into a wearable objet d'art. Each of my shoes features intricate details and rich materials; the innovative construction means wearing these shoes doesn't hurt (my sisters tell me this all the time).

Each season we are pretty much guided by our mood boards. I start off with working on the cut of the shoe, before the uppers and the embellishments. Then I fly to Italy, meet with the manufacturers who ensure the pieces are wearable, rather than just being pieces of art. When it comes to the look, the trick is to not slavishly follow trend forecasts, but to interpret them while maintaining the brand's signature look. From the initial sketches to the final shoes, it's a four-month long process.

Breaking into fashion was a tough and expensive journey; how we developed our brand name being a case in point. After months of brainstorming, I decided to go with Darmaki, which is also my family name. Darmaki is yet to turn in profits, that will take between three to five years, but I am happy with the outcome so far. Darmaki shoes have been worn by several stars including American actresses Michelle Rodriguez and Evan Rachel Wood.

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We are a fashion-oriented family. One of my earliest memories is of accompanying my mother on her trips to Paris, where she purchased Givenchy and Dior. We grew up with an appreciation of art and beauty, and that was instilled by my mother as well. She taught us to appreciate the art and sense of style behind a designer's creations, rather than just wearing a brand or a logo for its own sake. We were encouraged to mix high street and couture, to create our own style. My mother never forced us to like anything but because she had a passion for the arts, we imbibed it as well. My family is very creative and supportive of the arts - be it sketching, photography, fashion or dancing. Two of my sisters are talented artists and fashion designers in their own right.

Ours is a large family - I have ten siblings and two step sisters.

I started sketching women's wear when I was 11 or so and continued right into high school. When it was time to graduate from high school, I was faced with the dilemma: go to fashion school and embark on this exciting career, which may not be culturally acceptable; or play safe and choose another career that was not as creative as fashion but wouldn't be seen as against culture and tradition.

I decided I wasn't ready for fashion and studied marketing at the American University of Sharjah instead. It was creative enough, perhaps not as much as studying fashion would have been, but I did enjoy it. In fact one of the reasons Darmaki has been so successful has been the marketing and PR expertise I've gained in the past eight to ten years.

The turning point happened a few years ago. On the face of it, I was doing well working in my marketing communications role with a government entity. But I found myself feeling low spirited. This was a change from my usually optimistic outlook. Depressed and demotivated, I took a trip to Paris to revive my flagging spirits. In Paris I found myself. Talking to friends working in the fashion industry, I knew designing couture shoes was what I wanted to do. I came back to the UAE, determined to follow through with the plan. Incredibly, everything began to fall into place at once.

The best part has been the support of my family. It's very important when you are venturing into something that is so new. They have been very happy to see me happy at my work. As a designer, of course I have had my moments of self doubt and being in limbo. But I also believe people can control their lives for the most part if you have a winning attitude, seize opportunities and learn from mistakes.

In my leisure time, I love going to the theatre and seeing dance performances; flamenco is a particular favourite.

Dream

Being an international business has been a steep learning curve for me. It opens up your mind to different aspects of the business and shows you how it's done. I'm always open to advising local designers on how they can launch themselves in international markets.

Luxury is a very lucrative industry, which is why London has the British Fashion Council, a government body to regulate the industry. A body to regulate the talent we have would be good. The British Fashion Council screens the designers who will represent them internationally. They go through a tough selection process so only the best talent gets to represent London Fashion Week in a global market. There is plenty of talent here; almost every month a new fashion designer launches in Dubai. My dream is to see proper infrastructure created to support this talent and a body that is the UAE equivalent of the British Fashion Council in charge of the Dubai Fashion Week. We are diversifying the economy into different sectors and fashion still remains an untapped sector.

We are building some spectacular museums here in the UAE such as the Louvre and the Guggenheim. My dream is to see a fully rounded society here where we accept art in all its forms. You have to look beyond just the visual arts and appreciate that fashion is also art: just look at Alexander McQueen's clothes or John Galliano's runways, before his fall.