Arab Fashion Week kicks off with glitzy designs

Arab Fashion Week runs until March 28. (Supplied)
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Updated 25 March 2022
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Arab Fashion Week kicks off with glitzy designs

DUBAI: Dubai’s Arab Fashion Week kicked off on Thursday with presentations from Egyptian couturier Maram Borhan, Lebanese-Dominican Giannina Azar, and Palestinian Ihab Jiryis.

Borhan opened the couture spring/summer 2022 shows with gowns that had a spirit in weight and design.




The sleeveless gowns had texture on the bodice with impeccable floral details. (Supplied)

The dresses were constructed with large eyelet white lace and soft silk fabrics in subtle hues of pink, silver, lavender, and blue. They also featured bold tones of fuchsia and electric blue.

The sleeveless gowns had texture on the bodice with impeccable floral details.




Exaggerated shoulders and asymmetrical style were showcased in delicate sheer gossamer fabrics. (Supplied)

Azar’s collections focused on reflective details and embellishments. Exaggerated shoulders and asymmetrical style were showcased in delicate sheer gossamer fabrics.

Jiryis closed off the first day.




He created asymmetrical flounced pieces with a retro-inspired flare. (Supplied)

His creations featured long sleeveless structured-bodice gowns with flowing designand side slits. He also created asymmetrical flounced pieces with a retro-inspired flare. Many silhouettes gave a modern 1980s aesthetic.

Dubai-based Tunisian model Ameni Esseibi, who was earlier this week named as the Arab Fashion Council's first plus-size ambassador, closed off Jiryis’s show.

Arab Fashion Week, which runs until March 28, sees regional and international designers present their 2022 ready-to-wear collections at Dubai Design District and online through a partnership with Meta.


Mona Tougaard wears bridal look at Dior’s Paris show

Updated 27 January 2026
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Mona Tougaard wears bridal look at Dior’s Paris show

  • Rihanna and Brigitte Macron among attendees at show
  • Design part of new director Jonathan Anderson’s vision

DUBAI/ PARIS: Model Mona Tougaard reportedly turned heads in a bridal-inspired look on the Christian Dior runway during the recent Paris Haute Couture Week.

The runway star, who has Danish, Turkish, Somali and Ethiopian ancestry, wore a sculptural white gown with a one-shoulder silhouette and layered petal-like appliques cascading from the bodice to the full skirt.

The asymmetrical bodice featured draped detailing across the torso, while the skirt flared into a voluminous, floor-length shape.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Dior Official (@dior)

The look was finished with oversized floral statement earrings that echoed the dress’s petal motif.

The floral elements echoed the wider vision of Dior’s new creative director Jonathan Anderson, who drew inspiration from nature and his love of ceramics for his first Haute Couture collection since being appointed to the role.

The 41-year-old faces the rare challenge of overseeing all three fashion lines at the house — women’s and men’s ready-to-wear and Haute Couture — becoming the first designer to do so since Christian Dior himself.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Dior Official (@dior)

Just days after presenting his latest men’s collection during Paris Men’s Fashion Week, the Northern Irish designer returned with his first couture offering.

The collection featured floral motifs on fabrics or as accessories, while sculptural bulbous dresses were inspired by the work of Kenya-born ceramicist Magdelene Odundo.

“When you copy nature, you always learn something,” Anderson declared in his show notes, which compared Haute Couture to a living ecosystem that is “evolving, adapting, enduring.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Dior Official (@dior)

Other noteworthy pieces included dresses with spherical birdcage-inspired silhouettes, while other models wore vest tops with their dresses gathered around their waists.

The front row at the Rodin Museum reflected the scale of anticipation surrounding Anderson’s couture debut. France’s first lady Brigitte Macron arrived early, while Lauren Sanchez Bezos swept in shortly after.

Actor Parker Posey twirled briefly in a trench-style dress, playing to the room before settling in.

Then the space fell into a collective pause as celebrities and editors alike waited for Rihanna. When the pop star finally took her seat, the lights dropped and the show began.

Before the show, Anderson admitted in an interview with the Business of Fashion website that he previously thought couture was “irrelevant,” adding that he never really “understood the glamour behind it.”

“Now, I feel like I’m doing a Ph.D. in couture,” he explained.