Qatari designer presents sports abayas at maiden fashion show
Several girls of Dreama Center participate in the making of the female outfit, which is the first of its kind in the Arab world
QATARI designer Alia al Suwaidi, in cooperation with Dreama Center for the Empowerment and Care of Orphans, inaugurated her first fashion show of sports abayas (gown) recently. The female outfit is the first of its kind in Qatar and the Arab world.
The entire proceeds of the fashion show will go to Dreamachildren. Suwaidi was keen to involve the girls of the centre in the project to prepare them for an independent life after graduating from Dreama.
Suwaidi is one of the volunteers of the ‘AjaweedDreama’ initiative, which seeks to encourage orphans to become enterprising and facilitate their involvement in investment projects for their development and social integration.
The fashion show that supports women’s sportcomes alongside Dreama’ssupport for customs and traditions within the AjaweedDreama initiative launched last year, with the aim of attracting community cooperation in the field of training and qualifying orphans.
The fashion show was held at Qatar National Theater in the presence of Amal bin Abdul Latifal Mannai, CEO of the Qatar Foundation for Social Work; German Ambassador to Qatar HE Hans-UdoMuzel; and Ambassador of Bangladesh to Qatar HE Ashud Ahmed.
The Dreama Center has adopted a strategy to empower orphans economically and professionally by training them on investment concepts such as feasibility study, strategic planning and organising economic projects.
Mariam bint Ali bin Nasser al Misnad, CEO of Dreama Center, said that the primary goal of these initiatives is to raise the standard of living of the target group while pushing new ideas and projects into the market.
Misnad said that projects like the sports abaya speak volumes about the enterprising Qatari girls and women, adding that it is one of the pioneering projects in the field of sports and investment.
She also thanked Qatar National Theater, the Afra Al-Marri Volunteer Center in Ajaweed and the Qatar Foundation for Social Work for supporting the fashion show.
Afra Hamad al Marri, a beautician and owner of the Afra Beauty Center and a volunteer of Ajaweed Dreama, thanked Dreama for the opportunity to support the fashion show.
Speaking about sports abaya, Alia al Suwaidi said that the idea behind it is to show that decency and customs do not contradict freedom.
She added: “I was keen to design abayas (gowns) that allow all women to play sports, as it is a basic right and not restricted to only one gender. Besides, practicing sport does not necessarily mean giving up decency. Islam is not against women playing sports. And I wanted to prove this through my designs that will soon be presented in the local market.”
She said that she always wanted to enter the world of design and fashion and to show to the world the richness of Islamic art and cultural legacy.
She pointed out that her relationship with Dreama started when she visited the centre in connection with her project with the aim of enrolling orphans in this project.