Dubai: Dubai will set yet another precedent this month when the world’s first floating fashion week is launched on May 9 on the newly inaugurated naval hotel Queen Elizabeth II docked at Mina Rashid.
Representing the sixth edition of the Arab Fashion Week, organised by investment major MBM Holding and the Arab Fashion Council (AFC), the four-day event will be dedicated to cruise collections and feature top designers from 13 countries including Russia, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, the UK and US, Venezuela, China, Taiwan, Lebanon and Egypt, besides the UAE.
Among the top participating names are Amato Couture, Simone Racioppo, Fllumae, Nocole and Felcia and Sophia Nubes. The Arab Fashion Week will also see the launch of an eco-friendly collection - AFC Green Label - to drive home the concept “fashion sustainability”.
As Saeed Al Mutawa, CEO of MBM Holding, sees it, the event will take the fashion industry in Dubai to the next level.
“MBM will support AFC in positioning the UAE as a global sustainable nation in arts and creativity to create strong and active communities that compete internationally highlighting the UAE treasure in our human resources by supporting our talent into exporting the ‘Made in UAE’ to the world,” he said.
Jacob Abrian, chief executive officer of the AFC, said the event will help position the UAE on the international map of fashion and design and give access to foreign brands and talent to invest in the country.
AFC will also host fashion panels inviting industry players to mentor local designers in exporting their work to the international retail sector.
A fine example of the fusion of international talent is Amato, the brainchild of award-winning creative designer Furne One, who partnered with textile expert Rashid Ali, to launch the label in the UAE in 2002.
Amato claims it touched a chord with the region’s fashion elite right from its first collection even as it ushered in a “style renaissance” in the country.
