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| Presented in Partnership with Microsoft Streamed Live Exclusively on Facebook & Instagram |
| Dubai, 29 March 2021, Arab Fashion Week Women’s, presented in partnership with Microsoft, has kicked off yesterday showcasing runway shows, presentations, and Council’s Red Talks from regional and international designers, live-streamed exclusively on Facebook Inc platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Below are the Day One highlights: MAYA DIAB The Fashion Week opened with Maya Diab’s latest release, “High Heels” in celebration of naming her last season the Fashion Icon of the Arab World. |
| AMATO The social media’s most followed Miss Universe titleholder Pia Wurtzbach is the star of the latest fashion film of the acclaimed Dubai label AMATO Couture.Former Miss Universe, Pia Wurtzbach, opened the avant-garde creations of fellow Filipino Dubai based couturier, Furne One, the creative mind behind Maison Amato Couture who is a favourite fashion label of Hollywood celebrities such as Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj to name just a few. The 5-minute fashion film titled ‘Inner Sanctum’ which means a very private and holy place is a sartorial homage to AMATO’s quest to life. The film is all about a woman’s journey to life; distracted by her inner good and evil but eventually finding her own strength and confronting her own fears to face the uncertain world. Furne One expounded, “The film has a lot of symbolisms and should not be treated literally. Herself/body is her Inner Sanctum. It’s a story of a journey of a woman seeking for inner freedom while living in the middle of an uncertain world being influenced by her own good and bad thoughts but at the end finding her true self and facing her own fears.” Pia featured a full black collection which includes over-the-top ruffled gowns with soft laces, leather finishing and flowy ostrich faux feathers. |
| GERMANIER *PARIS FASHION WEEK/FHCM MEMBERPresented on the Arab Fashion Week official calendar by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode the organization behind Paris Fashion Week. Heralded for his sustainable approach to fashion. 2018 marks the debut of Central Saint Martins graduate Kevin Germanier’s eponymous label: Germanier. The focus is on luxury upcycled fabrics with arresting details, such as discarded beads that the designer found during a work placement in Hong Kong, a prize for winning the Redress Award in 2015. Germanier eschews the homespun connotations for which eco-friendly fashion is known and instead draws inspiration from a futuristic vision of utopia. Look out for sculptural jackets, glitter-strewn dresses, and sharply spliced skirts. Germaniers’ garments have been worn by many international celebrities including Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Kristen Stewart, Björk, or Sunmi. Germanier’s business has also be named 30 under 30 by Forbes in 2020 in the category Europe – Arts and Culture participated in the LVMH prize as a semi-finalist in 2019 and the ANDAM Prize in 2018. Germanier presented a collection titled “The beads are back” featuring denim, blazers, tank tops, and skirt suits revisited in vibrant colors, from eye-popping gradients and marabout trims to sequins and panels of multicolored beads running along the shoulders of mesh tops and strung into colorful chunky straps for upcycled handbags, and even the bobbly thick-gauge garter stitches nodded to the origins of the brand. |
| BAV TAILOR *SUSTAINABLE BRAND x AFC GREEN LABEL The British sustainable designer, BAV TAiLOR, who has become a fixed name on the Arab Fashion Week and London Fashion Week’s calendar, is part of the Arab Fashion Council’s sustainable mission, AFC Green Label, an initiative to support designer who keeps sustainability at the heart of their creativity, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Bav Tailor presented “SATTVA” a collection revealing the balance and integrity of Bav Tailor’s pure inner essence where truth facilitates the evolution of her desirable hygge vision of quintessential creations that embody free-spiritedness with an aesthetic of nonchalant empowerment, fearless of experimenting captivating new paths to self-discovery. This new season, the holistic sphere of BAV TAiLOR, continues to consolidate its manifesto towards supporting global craftsmanship, diversity, and slow fashion. With the amalgamation of key pieces presented in the Kushmanda SS21 collection, the Conscious Luxury brand evolves into a new equilibrium of presenting two collections per year that intertwine in narration, allowing space and time for each soulful creation to breath and be respected within a balanced system – embedding a spirit of slow movement towards conscious design, production, consuming and well-being. Sattva FW21/22 – a consolidated collection creating pieces with purpose, rather than with the mindset of superfluous. The Top, the Tailleur, the Coat, the Evening Piece, the Wellness Outfit, and the Knit Comforts. A perfect wardrobe of archetypal silhouettes and sharp tailoring presented in sustainably innovative materials such as the Lokya Kimono Coat – an adaptation of the iconic Dvaita Kimono Coat, first launched during BAV TAiLOR’s debut collection. Inspired by Japanese tradition and the travels of Bav during that period, the construction was based on the concept of dualism and free-spiritedness, the essence of all Bav’s mindful pieces. For this new Sattva season, the concept of dualism continues through gender-neutral pieces and materials that have been infused with a second life, transforming them with a new conscious identity. |
| FRANCESCA LIBERATORE *SUSTAINABLE BRAND x AFC GREEN LABELThe Italian sustainable designer, Francesca Liberatore, who is a member of the Milan Fashion Week calendar, has taken part in the Arab Fashion Council’s sustainable mission, AFC Green Label, an initiative to support designer who keeps sustainability at the heart of their creativity, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Due to the difficult time Italy is passing through during the pandemic, the Italian designer has innovated a fully digital fashion show on digital models, in a theater, in tribute to Sanremo’s controversy. A decision reached after profound reflection: “I am very determined, and until a few days ago I had done my best to ensure that the machine would start up majestically and smoothly actually from a theater with strong partners. I had thought this event could bolster culture, by switching on the lights and showing a community of intentions, but today, in the face of the Sanremo controversy, a moral problem has arisen for me. First of all, I believe that I must sympathize with those who, at this time of the pandemic, are not allowed to exercise their passion in their places of work.” The designer, who has always been in search of artistic synergies that have led her to explore different cultural worlds from cinema to art auctions, from music to photography, with her personal portfolio of studies and professional experience to the Moulin Rouge, has constantly melded her art with that of noteworthy experiences. The search for unusual and innovative concepts has allowed her to discover fresh nuances. There in the great hall of the theatre, Francesca Liberatore presented the film J-Kolombina-R, anticipating the new trend for film-shows by many months, which has characterized recent fashion weeks around the world. |
| J A P PETELICKAPolish designer, Justyna Petelicka, embraced her passion and created her own fashion brand JAP Petelicka after many years of experience in media and journalism. In 2019 the Polish Academy of Fashion awarded Justyna with the Golden Statue for artistic achievements in fashion; and her work has been featured in many renowned magazines worldwide such as L’Officiel, Vogue Italia, Elle, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, and Harper’s Bazaar. JAP Pelelicka, presented a collection with the philosophy to create beautiful clothes for self-confident women featuring unique-cut and sewn gowns from high-quality materials. The evening gowns are hand-sewn in unique, single patterns that are decorated with hand-painted details, hand-shaded tulle, artistic embroidery, and haute couture appliques. JAP creates collections that focus on formal, elegant evening styles along with Bridal pieces. To help save the green planet, the brand only uses fabrics that come from reliable, environment-friendly sources, and ensures they were produced in proper, ethical conditions. |
| COUNCIL’S RED TALKSThe first day Council’s Red Talks featured the head of buying at Harvey Nichols Istanbul and Doha, BANU CELIKMEN, in conversation with Jacob Abrian, Founder & CEO, Arab Fashion Council. The discussion treated topics related to the buying journey and buyers’ approach toward selecting emerging designers, giving advice on designers’ best practices and approaches to position their brand on a global level. |