Saudi’s first fashion week

Jean Paul Gaultier and Roberto Cavalli are in Saudi Arabia this week – headlining the kingdom’s first Arab Fashion Week, an event that opened on Tuesday. Two weeks later than initially planned, the Saudi Arabian edition of Arab Fashion Week brings together designers from Europe and the Arab world over the course of four days, including the kingdom’s own Arwa Banawi and Mashael Alrajhi, the eponymous gender-inclusive label of a Saudi sheikha. “Fashion has always been an interest of Saudi Arabia,” says Princess Noura bint Faisal Al Saud, honorary president of the Arab Fashion Council in Riyadh, who joined designers, and industry insiders from Ukraine to Lebanon for the inaugural season. “It has not been something that wasn’t on the table or in the picture,” she adds. “Our fashion council is trying to bring the fashion industry in Saudi Arabia to a whole new level, a whole new industry.” Until this week, the event had been hosted exclusively by Gulf fashion capital Dubai. The Riyadh shows are not open to cameras, and attendees remain womenonly. The kingdom has witnessed rapid policy change since the June appointment of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “We are so excited today to be announcing a history and new era for the kingdom,” said Jacob Abrian, CEO of the Arab Fashion Council. A second edition of Saudi Arab Fashion Week is already scheduled for October. Dubai will host its own Arab Fashion Week, with the sixth edition set to take place from May 9 to 12.