With Fashion Forward unveiling its fourth season today and Dubai Design District having shared its new master plan at Cityscape Global last month, Dubai is putting itself on the path of being a design capital rivalling London and New York.
Very often I am asked, what is the worth of design? Over the years I’ve come to realise it’s not just the price tag or the label or even the lure of a covetous original. Art and Design — architecture, product, fashion — together form a resource book of sorts, documenting a civilisation’s unique place in history, celebrating its people, their aspirations and the best of technological achievements of the times. This global resource book is also the jumping board for the future. Hence, nurturing one’s creative pool becomes a priority even bigger.
In its new master plan for Dubai Design District (d3), TECOM dedicates 21 million square feet of prime real estate — set right opposite Downtown Dubai — to the region’s growing design, fashion, art and luxury sectors over the next decade.
“From the very start we have worked with leading global figures as well as local talent from across the spectrum of the creative industries to ensure we can provide the right facilities and infrastructure suitable for both international brands and emerging regional designers” said Dr Amina Al Rustamani, Group CEO of TECOM.
d3 aims to cross-pollinate local brands with established international labels to hopefully create a unique design vocabulary and collaborations. Towards that more than 550 brands have expressed interest in the development since its offical unveiling last year, with some top-end international luxury brands vying for prime sites at the district.
For you and me, d3 literally translates into a multi-level design-led experience. The ground levels aim to house designer showrooms and designer recreational spaces including luxury, boutique hotels etc along with congregational spaces, restaurants and public squares. The higher floor plates will house design oriented corporate offices, ateliers and educational institutes. Blurring the conventional lines between work and play seems a gamble TECOM is willing to take at its prime creative zone.
According to Lindsay Miller, managing director of d3, nurturing young and emerging talent is a top priority for d3. “We want to foster the future growth potential of the region’s creative industry and emerging local designers are at the heart of this endeavour.”
A partnership with Fashion Forward (FFWD) is one of the plans d3 has to turn the region’s creativity into a successful business model.
“d3 is an integral part of Dubai and the Middle East’s growing creative industry,” says Bong Guerrero, founder and CEO of FFWD. As strategic partners of FFWD, d3 has enabled a global dialogue with the best in business, right here in Dubai.
“While our industry is in this growth phase, it is imperative for us to absorb as much advice and information as possible from industry experts,” explains Guerrero. “With ‘d3 Fashion Talks’ we’ve had the likes of Steven Kolb, the CEO of the Council of Fashion Designers of America inspiring the regional fashion community.”
One of the UAE’s leading fashion designers, Furne One credits FFWD and d3 for giving his brand a detailed understanding of the ins and outs of the global fashion industry, while Zareena, who closes day two of FFWD, feels an entity like d3 is necessary for our market because “creative industries are and will always be different than the other industries. Here creativity drives business, rather than the other way around.”
Aiming to rival the international design capitals - all of whom enjoying their cult status built over decades of organic market evolution - TECOM had put its bet on implementing state-of-the-art infrastructure and contemporary facilities, which are, in today’s age, possible only in a purpose-built development.
The succes of d3 will translate into Dubai’s creative class - which, apart from a handful cases, still struggles to be taken seriously - being seen as a consistent player on the world stage. Towards that promise, the district which is expected to house approximately 4000 creators and 10,000 workers is on track for its first phase launch in the first quarter of 2015.
Pratyush Sarup edits the design site www.designcarrot.net. You can follow the site on twitter @DesignCarrot
