Designers call for overhaul of Dubai Fashion Week

The third annual Dubai Fashion Week (DFW) kicks off on Sunday, but designers and buyers have complained that the event does not generate enough business for them.

While the buyers at the London Fashion Week in September last year placed $19.8 million in orders, the company behind Dubai’s fashion week, Concept Events, said it does not know how much was sold at the Dubai event.

One designer, Aiisha Ramadan, said she did not sell anything at all.

“The exhibition was hidden and hardly advertised and rarely visited, it was more like a decent PR event,” she said.

The co-owner of Ayesha Depala, a Dubai based designer brand, said DFW needed to carve out a niche for itself if it wanted to attract international buyers.

“The fashion week here is neither prêt a porter, neither haute couture, neither ethnic… There is no identity,” he said.

“Therefore it becomes very hard to attract buyers from around the world, because they are not going to come here to see one or two shows, they are going to want to see eight or ten.”

One of last year’s biggest buyers, Samara Punjabi from lifestyle boutique Bauhaus, said she had not been told about this year’s event.

“I don’t even know who is participating, which is quite bad, because I am a buyer,” she said.

Others echoed her views. “I have been once or twice and it was disorganised, and I have decided not to go back,” said Seza Aslanian, the owner of independent boutique Desert Rose in Wafi City.

But one of this year’s most high profile designers, Hassan Sheheryar of HSY, a fashion house traditionally known for its bridal wear, said he had no trouble doing business at DFW.

“Dubai, regardless of its financial crisis at the moment, still holds a much stronger position than most other cities,” he said.

Rohit C Sabikhi, director of fashion at Concept Events, which organises DFW, also defended the event, emphasising that the industry was young.

Most designers in the region were still producing haute couture, or custom made clothing, while buyers were looking for garments that are prêt a porter, or mass produced, he pointed out.

“It will definitely take time…It depends on when the participation from designers from the industry starts to grow,” he said.

Sabokhi refuted claims that there had not been enough marketing of the event.

All registered buyers has been sent press releases about the participating designers and a buyers’ docket including all details about show venues and where to register, he said.

DFW will be held in the Godolphin Ballroom of Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai from April 5th to April 9th.

Entries include Walid Atallah, Reem Ali Beljafla, HSY, Hatem Alakeel, Amal Murad, Salma Khan and Mariam Al Mazro.

For more on the Dubai Fashion Week, pick up the April 5 issue of Arabian Business magazine.