The UAE’s passion for fashion

1994: Opening of Giorgio Armani’s first boutique in the Middle East. The Dubai store, operated by the Al Tayer Group, sets a precedent: It is the first high-end fashion brand to arrive under the franchise format.

Previously, luxury brands had only been available in multi-brand stores.

1999: Gucci – the byword for modern Italian style – opens its flagship store at Dubai’s Emirates Towers.

2003: ‘Sex and the City’ fans breathe a sigh of relief: Jimmy Choo – where all good Carrie wannabes go to buy their shoes – opens its first Middle East store, at Dubai’s Emirates Towers.

2003: Bottega Veneta, the premium Italian goods specialist, opens its first UAE store.

2003: Dubai’s ‘Jumeriah Janes’ are delighted: The first dedicated Armani Junior store opens in the district’s Mercato Mall.

February 2004: The first Prestige exhibition, the annual trade fair for high-end fashion and lifestyle brands, is held in Dubai.

March 2004: Luxury wool and cashmere by Italian supplier Loro Piana comes to Dubai, represented by Al Tayer.

October 2004: The 80,000 sq. ft. Saks Fifth Avenue opens at Dubai’s BurJuman mall. 80% of the brands it stocks are new to the UAE.

August 2005: Mall of the Emirates, the largest shopping mall outside North America, opens in Dubai.

October 2005: Reiss, the UK’s high street fashion label that won the prestigious British retailer of the year award in 2003, opens its first store in the Middle East, at Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates.

November 2005: Sharjah’s Sahara Centre announces the opening of new stores: Calliope, an Italian brand for ladies fashion; Via Rossi for ladies’ shoe fashion; Sacoche for haute couture ladies’ handbags.

December 2005: Giorgio Armani delivers the opening address at Modern Luxury 2005, Dubai’s annual luxury fashion conference.

March 2006: Harvey Nichols opens a store in Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates, its largest outside the UK and carrying over 100 luxury brands. It is operated by the Al Tayer Group.

March 2006: Abu Dhabi Mall launches Spring and Summer designer collections at its Fashion Week 2006 event. The mall saw 31 new outlets between March and April 2006, including Armani, Reiss, Diesel and Adidas.

May 2006: Tommy Hilfiger opens its first retail store in the region at Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates. It plans to open 25 stores throughout the Gulf in the next five years. Dubai-based Apparel Group has the distribution rights for the brand.

October 2006: Clothing brand Joe Bloggs opens its first stand-alone outlet at Dubai’s Ibn Battuta Mall, the first of 51 planned for the GCC over the next five years.

November 2006: Ted Baker, the quirky British fashion brand, opens its first store in the Middle East. Located at Dubai’s BurJuman Mall, it is the first of nineteen stores in the region. The brand has a partnership with Singapore-listed RSH Limited, a pan-Asian distributor and retailer.

2008: Possible arrival of Harrods in Dubai. In October 2006 it was reported that a deal to open a branch of the UK’s luxury department store, owned by Mohamed Al Fayed, was 99% confirmed. However a spokesman for the company recently said that there are ‘no definite plans to take the Harrods brand to Dubai, or indeed anywhere else in the world, at this time’.

2008: Emaar’s Dubai Mall - the largest shopping centre on the planet, spanning over 12 million sq. ft. - is set to open. Home to almost every major fashion brand in the world, it will include an 850,000 sq. ft. ‘fashion island’ and show arena. As its website exclaims: ‘The Dubai Mall is set to become the next fashion capital of the world.’

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