Fashion Trust Arabia, a foundation dedicated to providing business development support to designers in the Middle East and North Africa, on Thursday awarded cash prizes and mentorship to seven up-and-coming designers from the region.
Nadine Mosallam, an Egyptian born in Kuwait and raised in Dubai, won the ready-to-wear award. Eveningwear is by Qatar-based Yasmin Mansour. Accessories are Reem Hamed from Egypt. and the Saudi trio Noura Abdulaziz Al Saud, Sarah Naif Al Saud, and Mashael Khalid Al Saud, who run the jewelry label APOA (A Piece of Art).
Winning designers in these four categories will each receive grants ranging from $100,000 to $200,000, depending on the size of their business and other factors. Franca Sozzani The winner of the debut talent category, Palestinian-Jordanian designer Sylwia Nazzal of Nazzal Studio, will receive a $50,000 grant. Other winners this year are Batur Alrashdan, founder of Jordan-based Studio BOR, and Francisco Barroso and Javier García, founders of Acromatyx from our guest country, Spain. . (Next year’s guest country will be India). Charaf Taher from Casablanca was awarded this year’s Special Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
The designers are Moncler chairman Remo Ruffini, Vetements co-founder Gram Gvasalia, Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing, Dazed editor-in-chief Yves Camara, couturier Zuhair Murad, and accessories designer. The award was chosen by a panel of judges that included former model and Gucci designer Amina Muaddi. Bethan Hardison, Executive Advisor, Global Equity and Cultural Engagement;
This year’s FTA event was held in Marrakech, Morocco, rather than its usual venue in Doha, Qatar, as part of the wider Qatar-Morocco 2024 Year of Culture program. (Last year’s edition was effectively awarded due to security concerns and consideration of the war in the Middle East.)
FTA Co-Chair Tania Fares stressed the importance of encouraging the Arab world’s creative talent, especially in times of crisis. “These are very difficult times for everyone. It is volatile and stressful, and it has a huge impact on the region, especially Lebanon,” she told BoF.
The event, in its sixth year, paid special homage to the fashion industry in Lebanon, where Fares was born and where war has escalated in recent weeks. “We are honored to support cultural development in times of conflict,” Fares said. “I was born in a country that has faced untold hardships, but has persevered despite its struggles. Lebanon remains a center of creativity.”
Fares said that next year’s FTA event will be held in Doha, but that they are considering holding similar events in other destinations in the MENA region in the future. “Maybe I’ll move to another country, maybe someday I’ll go to Egypt,” she said. Fares also emphasized his ambition to deepen FTA’s designer mentorship program and realize more “success stories.”
FTA was founded in 2018 by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser and Sheikh Almayassa bint Hamad Al Thani of Qatar, and the Lebanese-born Fares. The award has seen commercial and critical success for previous years’ winners and finalists, including Mohamed Bencheral, Sara Khraibi, Krikor Jabotian, Nafshika Sukruti and Oktein.
On Thursday, Sheikh Al Mayassa also announced that “regional and international initiatives in fashion, craft, policy-making, business and more will be developed to help creators in this region of around 500 million people reach their full potential.” announced the creation of the new Qatar Fashion and Crafts Council, which will be made up of professional experts. ”
Sheikh Moza, the emir of Qatar and the mother of Sheikha Almayassa, is said to have ties to Mayhoula for Investments, a Qatari fund that owns Valentino, Balmain and Pal Gileri. Qataris have become prominent investors in the luxury goods industry, acquiring British department store Harrods and French department store Printemps through Qatar Holding and its affiliates. Qatar Holding is the operational arm of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, and is headed by members of the ruling Al-Thani royal family.
These and other investments come alongside the FTA as part of Qatar’s broader ambitions to become a regional fashion hub and the country’s plans to diversify its economy away from liquefied natural gas, of which it is one of the world’s largest producers. has become an increasingly important element in . Small and wealthy Gulf states play an outsized role on the world stage, thanks to the soft power of their financial influence and strategic investments.
Additional reporting by Vikram Alexei Kansara and Simone Stern Carbone.
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Fashion Trust US announces second round winners
Creators from Batsheva, Harbison Studio, Don’t Let Disco and more were honored by the U.S. chapter of Fashion Trust Arabia, a nonprofit organization that supports emerging designers.
