DUBAI FASHION WEEK FW24/25 | DAY 4: DIMA AYAD

PHOTO CREDIT | Fashion Network

Dubai Fashion Week (DFW) kicked off Fashion Month. Known as the region’s definitive fashion fixture co-founded by Dubai Design District (d3) and Arab Fashion Council (AFC), continued its fourth day of shows.

DFW Member Dima Ayad's Autumn/Winter '24 collection took attendees back to the 90s.  Warm, earthy tones dominated the catwalk, drawing inspiration from a rich colour palette iconic of the era. The collection combined shades of rich chocolate, caramel tones, and subtle terracotta with brilliant metallic accents for pieces that balance modernity and nostalgia, sophistication and glamour.  

See the full runway here.

DUBAI FASHION WEEK FW24/25 | DAY 3: RIVA

PHOTO CREDIT | Fashion Network

Dubai Fashion Week (DFW) kicked off Fashion Month. Known as the region’s definitive fashion fixture co-founded by Dubai Design District (d3) and Arab Fashion Council (AFC), continued its third day of shows.

With but a couple of months to go, Riva launched its highly anticipated Ramadan Collection 2024 on day two. The collection featured light, comfortable, rich linen pieces contrasting against sheer, intricately printed organza, inspiring a full house with pieces that balanced luxury with simplicity and structure with fluid designs. Featuring a range of outfits, from stylish daily pieces to elegant eveningwear, Riva’s Ramadan capsule embraced the spirit of the month through metallic hues and silver and gold embroiders and honoured the modern woman by fusing traditional designs with contemporary cuts and details. The collection's focal points included delicate floral prints, optical geometrics, and ethnic motifs, while crystal embroideries and lace appliques added a sophisticated touch.

See the full runway here.

DUBAI FASHION WEEK FW24/25 | DAY 2: MICHAEL CINCO

PHOTO CREDIT | Kendam

Dubai Fashion Week (DFW) kicked off Fashion Month. Known as the region’s definitive fashion fixture co-founded by Dubai Design District (d3) and Arab Fashion Council (AFC), continued its second day of shows.

Iconic couturier Filipino designer, Michael Cinco showcased stunning looks of mens and womenswear on the second night. He presented an array of cultures, countries and more in his looks. The fabrications alone were expertly blended, printed, layered, pleated, and adorned with intricate embroidery, telling a story of harmony and royalty. A spectrum of colours took over the runway, from delicate blueish-grey gradients transitioning into deep blacks to vibrant hues of violets, aquatic blues and brilliant reds.

See the full runway here.

DUBAI FASHION WEEK FW24/25 | DAY 2: HUMARIFF

PHOTO CREDIT | Fashion Network

Dubai Fashion Week (DFW) kicked off Fashion Month. Known as the region’s definitive fashion fixture co-founded by Dubai Design District (d3) and Arab Fashion Council (AFC), continued their second day of shows.

Humariff’s collection was created collaboratively by Tamam Humariff and students from the Humariff Academy, Amina Nariman and Zara Khodei. Inspired by mirages in the desert, the unique pieces captured the beauty of nature through different seasons with blooming flowers, rhinestones, beads, and sequins. The exchangeable three-dimensional flowers served as prints, appliqués, and individual accessories.

See the full runway here.

DUBAI FASHION WEEK FW24/25 | DAY 2: ANAYA

PHOTO CREDIT | Fashion Network

Dubai Fashion Week (DFW) kicked off Fashion Month. Known as the region’s definitive fashion fixture co-founded by Dubai Design District (d3) and Arab Fashion Council (AFC), continued their second day of shows.

Anaya’s "La Nuit" collection made bold statements with their tailoring and modern-day power-woman looks! The inspiration came from postwar glam of the 1950s with icons like Dovima, Audrey Hepburn. Typically this brand is known to lean towards pastels but a number of the pieces shown in this collection were monochramtic featuring black, ff-white, nudes, botanical greens, and vibrant reds. The draping, corsets, lace, exaggerated sleeves, and more allowed us to be transported.

See the full presentation here.

DUBAI FASHION WEEK FW24/25 | DAY 2: MRS. KEEPA X SOTHEBY'S

PHOTO CREDIT | Fashion Network

Dubai Fashion Week (DFW) kicked off Fashion Month. Known as the region’s definitive fashion fixture co-founded by Dubai Design District (d3) and Arab Fashion Council (AFC), continued with their second day of shows.

DFW Member Mrs. Keepa celebrated the launch of the eponymous Mrs. Keepa Studio-Couture SS 24 collection in collaboration with the renowned auction house Sotheby’s Dubai. The ‘Inhale Collection’ featured avant-garde designs inspired by the shapes, textures, and movements of underwater creatures, from ethereal Sea Lilies to the fluid dance of Sea Nettles, and explores the theme of escapism.

See the full presentation here.

DUBAI FASHION WEEK FW24/25 | DAY 1: RIZMAN RUZAINI

PHOTO CREDIT | Kendam

Dubai Fashion Week (DFW) kicked off Fashion Month. Known as the region’s definitive fashion fixture co-founded by Dubai Design District (d3) and Arab Fashion Council (AFC), they opened last night with Rizman Ruzaini’s show.

We loved the merge of opulence meets modernity that hit the runway! The collection paid homage to Mughal Empire's grandeur, drawing inspiration from Empress Mehrunissa's timeless elegance. The runway showcased 61 meticulously crafted pieces, each a harmonious fusion of traditional cuts and contemporary twists, reflecting the brand's identity. With dhotis, kurtas, sherwani-salwar, and kurta-pajamas, the collection skillfully infuses these classics with a modern twist, embodying the distinctive identity of Rizman Ruzaini. The accessories that were showcased includes brooches, belts, and phenomenal exquisite neck adornments as well. The color palette had metallics of gold, bronze, silver, irridescent blue, and the house’s signature black. Fabrications of lame, sequined tweed, gossamer liquid satin, and custom mesh tulle was also presented.

You can see the full runway show.

FOOTWEAR.FASHION.LIFESTYLE | SOUL DXB

There are a number of events that are taking place in the first few days of December as we begin to close out your year. From music festivals Art Basel Miami and more. Sole DXB takes place in Dubai Dec 7th - 9th and focuses on Fashion, Footwear and Lifestyle by merging a number of brands and musicians together for a fun experience. Sole DXB is helmed by Hussain Moloobhoy (began his career at Saatchi London and moves to the Middle East and joined Saatchi and Saatchi Dubai where her served as its Creative Director - he took a sabbatical to explore global designs and fashion industries which led him to create a creative agency), Joshua Cox (serves as Co-Founder of Sole DXB to create a platform to help revive culture and inspire the urban fashion industry of the region), Kris Balarite (with a focus on creative design and advertising as well as freelancing with sports brand consulting, he serves as a Co-Founder of Sole DXB and is the brand creative director for the first ever basketball concept store in the Middle East known as Conquer) and Rajat Malhotra (in addition to being a partner in the Sole DXB, Rajat established a media and telecom business where he served as a CEO as well as partnering with Sunny Rahbar as a Co-Founder of the Third Line Gallery which has allowed curated exhibitions in NYC's gallery Stellar Rays).

With their creative backgrounds, we wanted to know more about what Sole DXB is as it has taken place for a number of years and is constantly focused on specific cultures that are being presented. With its mixture of art, sports, music and footwear, we took some time to find out more about this event.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Summarize in your own words what Sole DXB is?

SOLE DXB: VERY. DOPE. A celebration of hip-hop culture that has been so integral to our lives. We're simply creating an event that we, as people, wold want to go to. Just so seems there's a lot of others like us too...

AM: What is the decision behind celebrating various cultures at various points of your event from Amercan Hip Hop one year, British Hip Hop and this year, Japanese contemporary design?

SD: Culture is global, its nuance local, our individual upbringings widespread. As partners, we all grew up across different cities all around the world, but moved to Dubai eventually. During that process, Dubai had so much to offer, but there were parts of our past lives that we missed and we didn't feel that we should have to get on a place everytime we wanted to experience it. Last year, we looked at how the scene goes down in London. For many it was the year of grime, so we brought out champions of UK sounds like Skept, Stormzy, Little Simz, and Chipmunk. The year before it was very much a look at how the orginators of hip-hop, the US, did things. So we brought in legends like Mobb Deep and DMC (of Run DMC). We consider ever event an education through experience for our consumers. This year. we've looked East, especially at the real design finesse from Japan. So we're bringing out (Fragment founder and) icon Hiroshi Fujiwara to give a talk. Then we have brands like Visvim, Wacko Maria, Neihgborhood and Undercover showcasing their wares. Beyond that, there's some real godfathers of the industry coming down - we have Mass Appeal offering an exclusive international screening of (yet to be shown) Word is Bond. And that's before we even talk music (read: Kano, Pusha T, Goldlink, IAMDDB and more ...).

AM: What are the pillars of DXB offerings that attendees come to expect regradless of the theme running within the year?

SD: The best in beats, kicks, design, food and vibes, all under a big blue sky in the sun. As Bobbito Garcia, our longterm guest and friend said, "there really is nothing else like it in the world." We pride ourselves on a humble and open atmosphere. The days are smooth, the parties are bumping.

AM: What is the Dubai Design District (d3) and why has this partnership been integral to your event?

SD: Dubai Design District is our home, and moreover, the city's destination singularly dedicated to to design. It's the chosen home for the region's growing collective of creatives, artists and designers - and an institution we are very proud to work with. We have been partnered with Dubai Design District for three years now, and recently signed a further three-year contract to mark our mutual respect, and furthermore, agreement to nurture the Middle East's creative culture together. If the last 3 years have been about building our brand and establishing a global presence, the next 3 years will be about nurturing and fostering regional talent We will serve as a platform to showcase our stories to the rest of the world and to connect our international visitors to the community here d3 are central to all of this.

AM: You have a number of amazing entertainers and brands that are participating this year, who are you excited about?

SD: NxWorries (presented by PUMA), King Push, Kano, Teyana Taylor (presented by Reebok), Goldlink, IAMDDB... We have such a variety of great performers it's difficult to pinpoint just one. But there's also the talks, the brand showcases, the art. Hiroshi Fujiwara (Fragment), Jeff Staple (Staple Design), Melody Ehsani, and Peter Bittenbender (Mass Appeal Records) are all speaking amongst others. Then we have the Nike basketball tournament in conjunction with Ball Above All. And Cadillac is hosting the regional debut of Cadillac X Warhol: Letters to Warhol. FRAME is a concept store bringing down some of Japan's leading brands. Then there's' a wealth of really exciting local brands, like amongst few and ANTHLGY doing their thing. And really, that's just the start of it There is a lot to see and do.

AM: Are you already planning next year's event and will there be future cities that you will bring this to?

SD: We are always cooking up plans. 2018 will be a madness - trust us on that!

AM: Is there anything else that you would like to tell us about DXB and how those of us who may not be attending can still be a part of this event?

SD: Follow us on Instagram @SoleDXB - you might not be there but it will definitely make you want to visit.

Read more from the Nov Issue and see Footwear.Fashion.Lifestyle Soul DXB in mag.