Celebrating regional fashion at Dubai Design Week

Continuing to push the boundaries of innovative design, the 2019 edition of Dubai Design Week celebrates even more regional talent

How long does it take to build a design festival and bring together the best creatives from the region and beyond? According to Dubai Design Week, it takes four years and an immense amount work. The efforts are paying off as each year it gets bigger and better with many designers viewing it as a leading space to showcase their masterpieces.

Held under the patronage of HH Sheikha Latifa Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, Dubai Design Week is the largest creative festival in the Middle East. The six-day programme is made up of events covering a range of design disciplines including architecture, product, furniture, interior and graphic design.

The fifth edition of the largest creative festival in the Middle East will be celebrated with a varied programme of over 200 events, highlighting the design identity of the UAE and wider region

Grab your creative cap, and join us at the Dubai Design District with our guide to some key events, exhibitions and talks.

Ones to watch

Downtown Editions is Downtown Design’s dedicated showcase of bespoke and limitededition design by established and emerging designers. Taking place between 12 – 15 November, this year’s event will offer the next generation of participating designers the opportunity to get discovered by the largest annual gathering of design professionals that takes place in the region. Exhibiting designers will include Kuwaiti Meshary AlNassar, who will show a collection of sculptural marble lights inspired by his family home, UAEbased Tashkeel, who will unveil the 2019 cohort of Tanween designers and Sharjah-based Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council who will present pieces of traditional and modern crafts from across the UAE. Aljoud Lootah will also present a numbered, limited-edition collection of objects inspired by the Emirati wooden dowry chest, the Mandoos, while the region’s equestrian culture will be represented in a collection by Emirati designer Hajar Abdallah, who makes her designer debut. Designer Ghassan Salameh will curate two exhibitions which focus on regional design. Is retail experience still relevant?

This is the question that the panel of experts will explore on 13 November. Rabih Geha (Rabih Geha Architects), Doug Shaw (CallisonRTKL), Denise Neri (Aesop) and Natalie Holland (Chalhoub Group) will tackle the issues facing stores as more customers gravitate online and see how business can creatively re-engage with their shoppers once more.

Celebrating regional talent

Translated as ‘doors’ in Arabic, Abwab is an architectural installation that offers a platform for design talent from across the Middle East. In its fifth edition the designers selected from India, the Eastern Provinces of Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon will be challenged to recreate the local classrooms of their cultures through the “ways of learning” theme. Make sure to stop by “WAL(L)TZ” installation by LebanesePolish sisters Tessa Sakhi and Tara Sakhi, of multidisciplinary Beirut based architecture and design studio T SAKHI Architects. They are setting up an interactive wall portraying the socio-political barriers in society through a psychological and physiological journey.

In his shoes

The maestro of one of the most recognised shoe brands, Christian Louboutin will be in Dubai for a special talk ahead of a major exhibition in February 2020 at the Palais de la Porte Dorée in Paris that will showcasea selection of the most precious works from his personal collection as well as collaborations with artists. The celebrated shoe designer will be sharing what inspires his rich artistic universe on 13 November.

Silver lining

Budding jewellery designers have a unique opportunity to meet with the jewellery designer, Oytun Camcigil and explore an array of modern and ethnic silver jewellery hand-made by the designer herself. Learn what inspires her, and the intricate work behind the pieces on display. She combines tribal Middle Eastern, Ottoman, and Turkoman pieces with modern elements to create unique works of art. As a former architect, Camcigil uses symmetry and balance to bring traditional elements into a more contemporary style while maintaining their cultural relevance and integrity. Her work is mostly made up of traditional silver pieces combined with semi-precious stones.

Installation for the gram

The Maze is a dynamic installation from Dubai-based firm Nyxo. The concept explores the domains of interactive surfaces with a sculptural quality. It is an interface that is constantly reconfigured by the visitors as they rotate the plates and change the configuration – basically you can transform the shiny wall into a 3D dynamic puzzle, ready for the next person to try and solve.