Saturday, 16 April 2011
A new generation of highly talented designers from the UAE and other countries continue to impress the fashion world. (File photo)
Gleaming black sheer-fabric billows as models on catwalks across cities such as New York, London and Paris pose in an unlikely garment: the abaya.
These are abayas from the unknown: structured and unstructured mostly in the traditional black. There are abayas in the Iranian style, in the Iraqi style, the Egyptian style and more. Some are unspeakably sophisticated with bright trims in reds and yellows with sashes to match. Some are asymmetrical. And one ends in a tulip shape at the ankle.
These are abayas from the unknown: structured and unstructured mostly in the traditional black. There are abayas in the Iranian style, in the Iraqi style, the Egyptian style and more. Some are unspeakably sophisticated with bright trims in reds and yellows with sashes to match. Some are asymmetrical. And one ends in a tulip shape at the ankle.
There are abayas that are embellished with Swarovski crystals and with beads, pearls, and satin flowers. Some have panels of fine, intricate embroidery around their bell sleeves. Dramatic new styles, fabrics and elements are being introduced to the world’s most traditional garment.
It is now a far cry from its former, austere self. The transformation is complete; and has brought along with it an embarrassment of riches.
There is serious effort being taken by top designers to glamorize the long, black over-garment worn by millions of Arab women. And the abaya has finally caught the eye of some well-known names: French houses Nina Ricci and Jean Claude; Italy’s Blumarine and Alberta Feretti; Australian Martin Grant and American designer Carolina Herrera.
A British designer offers an outfit which combines a hooded abaya with a matching niqab (a face veil), in eye catching pink over loose pants, printed with an ornate English floral motif.
A new generation of highly talented designers such as Elie Saab, Robert Abi Nader Abed Mahfouz, Walid Attalah, Essa from the UAE and others continue to impress the fashion world with their fusion of modern and Muslim-inspired elements.
At a fashion show in Paris, Dania Tarhini, who is Lebanese and the General Manager of Saks Fifth Avenue, Saudi Arabia told Agence-France Presse: “I realized that women in Saudi Arabia wear designer brands but have to cover up with a black abaya. I wanted them to be able to wear it with pleasure, not just as an obligation.”
Some abayas sell for as much as $10,000. A Dubai-based company sells abayas costing between $1,500 and $10,000. And a client who spends $6,500 or more has the privilege of copyrighting her personal abaya design.
The journey has not been an easy one. Ms. Tarhini says it has been difficult to get western designers on board.
“At first the designers were not that enthusiastic, they didn’t really understand, they couldn’t imagine how to make a designer abaya,” she said. “So I sent them abayas, explained that the concept was to link fashion with culture. I said that the same women who wear their designer evening gowns will wear their abayas.”
Upcoming designer from Portugal Felipe Oliveira Baptista, one of the dozen taking part in the Paris couture shows starting early July 2011, said that updating the traditional abaya had been a challenge.
“It was interesting to work on a garment that has very specific rules,” he said. Abayas traditionally are black, body covering and floor-length. His was a patchwork of three different black fabrics, cut to lengthen the body.
To see a woman wearing of these creations, Lord Byron’s words come to mind:
“She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes.”
(Umita Venkataraman of Al Arabiya can be reached via email at: Umita.venkataraman@mbc.net)
It is now a far cry from its former, austere self. The transformation is complete; and has brought along with it an embarrassment of riches.
There is serious effort being taken by top designers to glamorize the long, black over-garment worn by millions of Arab women. And the abaya has finally caught the eye of some well-known names: French houses Nina Ricci and Jean Claude; Italy’s Blumarine and Alberta Feretti; Australian Martin Grant and American designer Carolina Herrera.
A British designer offers an outfit which combines a hooded abaya with a matching niqab (a face veil), in eye catching pink over loose pants, printed with an ornate English floral motif.
A new generation of highly talented designers such as Elie Saab, Robert Abi Nader Abed Mahfouz, Walid Attalah, Essa from the UAE and others continue to impress the fashion world with their fusion of modern and Muslim-inspired elements.
At a fashion show in Paris, Dania Tarhini, who is Lebanese and the General Manager of Saks Fifth Avenue, Saudi Arabia told Agence-France Presse: “I realized that women in Saudi Arabia wear designer brands but have to cover up with a black abaya. I wanted them to be able to wear it with pleasure, not just as an obligation.”
Some abayas sell for as much as $10,000. A Dubai-based company sells abayas costing between $1,500 and $10,000. And a client who spends $6,500 or more has the privilege of copyrighting her personal abaya design.
The journey has not been an easy one. Ms. Tarhini says it has been difficult to get western designers on board.
“At first the designers were not that enthusiastic, they didn’t really understand, they couldn’t imagine how to make a designer abaya,” she said. “So I sent them abayas, explained that the concept was to link fashion with culture. I said that the same women who wear their designer evening gowns will wear their abayas.”
Upcoming designer from Portugal Felipe Oliveira Baptista, one of the dozen taking part in the Paris couture shows starting early July 2011, said that updating the traditional abaya had been a challenge.
“It was interesting to work on a garment that has very specific rules,” he said. Abayas traditionally are black, body covering and floor-length. His was a patchwork of three different black fabrics, cut to lengthen the body.
To see a woman wearing of these creations, Lord Byron’s words come to mind:
“She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes.”
(Umita Venkataraman of Al Arabiya can be reached via email at: Umita.venkataraman@mbc.net)
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