Written by:- Umme Salma
Is wearing an abaya depriving a woman from her freedom or is it a women’s right? This is a long argued debate between the western world and Islamic countries where the western world and the Feminist believe that wearing hijab and abaya is a hindrance to ones freedom and liberty. It is portrayed as a symbol of oppression and slavery of women. But this conception was proven wrong at the Sheila and Abaya Fashion show, a DSS signature event from Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE) in collaboration with The Dubai Mall, London College of Fashion and SEPHORA the official make up of the event. This four day event from 11 July-14 July compromised of three stages which showcased the collection of retailers, established designers and Emerging Talents in the field of fashion designing.
The show featured not only the amazing talent of young designers but also traditional Arabic culture. The collection consisted of “East meets West’ attitude, where our traditional middle east culture was complimented with the western abstract designs and contemporary clothing.This is what, Suhaila Gobash Director Events and Festivals Marketing Services at DEPE has to say :
“We want to portray our culture in a different and a modern style to the western world. We want to make our culture into fashion for the next generation women and make it a global style statement which reflects our traditional and religious values.”
. She added,
“Initially we targeted only UAE residents but the show was a huge success and even had foreign audience liking our show.”
This is what the winner of the “Emerging Talent Competition” Ola Saleh Al Khateeb remarked in ecstasy when asked about her experience,
“I always had the passion for fashion designing specially come up with some novelty in our traditional wear abaya. I have not done any fashion designing course before but this show has given me a platform to showcase my talent and encouraged me to represent my culture globally in the future.”
The winner of the competition was chosen by the jury consisting of top DEPE officials, noted abaya designer Amal Murad, and Natasha farook representative from the London College of Fashion. The winning designer will get an insight into the fashion industry and a chance to further hone their design skills as they will be awarded a complimentary place on one of London College of Fashion’s award-winning short courses in Dubai.
Summing it up the Sheila and Abaya fashion show was carried out with grace, dignity, pride and style.
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