Dubai Fashion Week eyes international standard

Dubai Fashion Week will be competing with the likes of London, Paris, New York and Milan in four seasons time, the man behind the event has said.

Saif Ali Khan, vice president of Concept Group, said he did not see any reason why leading fashion houses, like Gucci and Prada, would not come to Dubai for future events.

“At the moment I’m not competing with the international fashion weeks. I’m making my own space within the region. As soon as I am fully established – four seasons from now – I will be definitely be going ahead and inviting these big brands, and I don’t see any reason why they won’t come to Dubai to exhibit their collections,” he told Arabian Business.

More than 45 designers will exhibit their autumn-winter 2010 collections at the next Dubai Fashion Week, which runs from April 3-7. It is the largest Dubai Fashion Week show to date and will be broadcast for the first time on Fashion TV Arabia.

Head buyers from department stores Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue and Debenhams, are set to attend to look for new lines for their flagship stores in New York and London, Khan said.

“Dubai Fashion Week, when it was conceptualised it was a very small, local event when we invited designers locally. Now over a period of time we’ve grown to include designers from the region, and this time we have gone international,” Khan said.

However, despite grand ambitions the event will remain a place for local designers to showcase their work and hook up with fashion buyers and boutique owners, Khan said.

“Local designers need a platform and need to be put in the limelight. So we have taken it as our responsibility to project this local talent to the world.

“People mistake Dubai Fashion Week for being just a glamour and fashion event. Yes it is that, but ultimately behind the scenes it’s all to do with business. The basic idea of all this is to generate and attract more business for the region, and for the country.”

Dubai is already attracting international attention as a fashion destination, with Brit brand Burberry Prorsum including the emirate in a live link destination from it’s London Fashion Week show last month.

“We are creating the hype for Dubai Fashion Week and I don’t see too much time before reaching that place. One thing Dubai is known for is its speed,” Khan said.