LONDON: Saudi fashion presents a booming investment opportunity, the founder and creative director of fashion brand Honayda told the BMG Economic Forum at the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

Already employing 200,000 people and generating 1.4 percent of gross domestic product, Honayda Serafi said the Kingdom is looking to up the industry’s economic impact to 2 percent by 2030 as she seeks out prospective investors for Saudi fashion.

“Saudi is growing in all sectors and fashion has really strong potential, with investors having an opportunity to invest in not only brands but infrastructure,” she said at the forum that was attended by Arab News.

“Through the Saudi 100 Brands program we’ve received strong interest for brand investment internationally, and in one year we’ve taken this to New York, Milan, and recently we’ve just returned from Paris. Fashion is changing the perception of Saudi women and culture.”

Launched last year by the Saudi Fashion Commission, 100 Brands is a traveling exhibition featuring a curated selection of clothing and accessories from 100 designers from the Kingdom.

It is one of several developments for an industry seen as one of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 “giga-projects,” with the commission and the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Nonprofit City also having signed a memorandum of understanding last September to develop and train young designers from the Kingdom.

“Young Saudis should take advantage of these opportunities to help grow and promote the sector at a moment where we’re getting a lot of international interest,” Serafi said.

“Government is really pushing for the industry to succeed, there are a lot of fashions schools opening up, and there are future programs being lined up by the fashion commission, so as a country Saudi Arabia is really building greater expertise on this front.”

Noting that the Kingdom is responsible for 50 percent of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s total spend on fashion, Serafi said the impetus is really on showcasing Saudi Arabia’s production potential.

She added that international designers are beginning to step up and take notice of this, and that there has been an increase in big brands visiting and liaising with Saudi designers.

“This represents a real opportunity to bring fashion back to the local market, and to change the perception of Saudi women from not only consumers but also producers,” she said.

“With the opening of the Saudi creative world in the past five years, it has helped shed light on who we as a people are — cultural, educated, well-rounded — and we’ve become more confident to show this and to be proud of it.

“There’s a huge opportunity for this creative sector to rise further as a whole industry — this means stylists, photographers, makeup artists and creative designers.”