Saudi Arabia’s up-and-coming fashion design labels celebrated their world premiere on the red carpet in the last few days at the Red Sea International Film Festival, which takes place from December 1st to 10th in the port city of Jeddah.
A host of regional and international celebrity guests have landed in local creations alongside other stars in outfits from long-established luxury brands on the gala’s red carpets, in an initiative spearheaded by the country’s fledgling fashion commission.
The campaign comes just three years after the country relaxed ultra-strict dress codes that require women to wear an abaya and their hair in public as part of reforms to open up society and diversify the economy away from reliance on oil revenues have to cover.
The push to promote Saudi Arabia’s emerging fashion labels on the Red Sea red carpet is the brainchild of Burak Cakmak, CEO of the country’s new fashion commission, which was among 11 bodies created by the culture ministry in 2021 to boost the cultural sector .
Cakmak, whose resume includes stints at luxury houses Kering and Swarovski, came from Parsons School of Design in New York, where he was Dean of Fashion between 2015 and 2020, with a mandate to build a fashion industry in the country from scratch.
At the glittering Red Sea Opening Ceremony, guest of honor Guy Richie’s wife Jacqui Ainsley wore a fitted cream gown designed by Dazluq.
The Miami-based label was founded in 2016 by Saudi Arabian designer Salma Zahran and is now poised to enter Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning fashion market.
Brazilian model Alessandra Ambrosini sported a body-hugging electric blue outfit by Jeddah-born designer Yousef Akbar, who studied fashion in Australia and founded his own label in 2017.
Rising Saudi Arabian actress Mila Al Zahrani, best known for her role in Haifaa Al Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate, also got behind local labels, sporting a stylish black-and-white ensemble by Riyadh-based designer Mashael Al Faris.
Elsewhere in the festival, model and businesswoman Elle Macpherson attended Vanity Fair’s Chopard-sponsored Women in Cinema party wearing a pink jumpsuit by Amarah, a womenswear label launched by Arwa AlKAd in 2019.
She accessorized with a bag belonging to Dania Shinkar, a London College of Fashion graduate who operates between Saudi Arabia and Ireland.
A dozen other celebrities also showed off local creations on the red carpet in the early days of the festival.
“We’re trying to build the Saudi brands so that they get the same visibility as the international brands that operate in the country,” says Cakmak. “The idea is to put their pieces on the red carpet alongside all the other international brands, so they’re part of the mix and seen on the same level.”
He and his team have been busy matching local designers with celebrities as the Red Sea VIP list convenes in the weeks leading up to the festival.
“These types of engagements are generally completed at the last minute and what’s important for us and the Saudi brands is to understand the process to be able to deliver pieces that are always ready,” he said.
“We have set up our own suite at the Ritz (the main hub of the festival this year) and are in contact with all the stylists and sometimes with the celebrities themselves depending on the connections that exist between our team and the festival and designers. “
“It’s basically managing that matchmaking process and allowing the celebrities to see the pieces virtually and then send them to their hotels or invite them into the suite themselves,” he continued. “The good thing about the designers in the region is that they are very used to making individual bespoke pieces, so they often have their own in-house teams and can react quickly.”
The Jeddah red carpet push is among a series of initiatives undertaken by the Commission over the past 12 months, spearheaded by the Saudi 100 Brands exhibition, which will showcase the work of 80 mostly female designers who will be in December 2021 in Riyadh debuted, then traveled to New York this July, followed by Milan Fashion Week in September.
“After a year of engagement, we decided it was time to take a seat on the red carpet as well, but it takes really focused effort to get that kind of attention in a very crowded space,” Cakmak said.
“Fashion and film are clearly closely related. In the film, costume is important, but beyond that, we’ve seen at the Met Gala and festival red carpets how fashion plays a very important role.”
The Middle East film festival red carpets are known for over-the-top outfits and pageantry, but Cakmak points out that Saudi Arabia prefers a more understated elegance and as a result its designers can offer a sophistication that rivals established fashion brands in Europe and the US
However, he notes that the aim is not only to appeal to international markets and celebrities, but also to connect with the Saudi Arabian population and the country’s burgeoning film industry.
“Saudi goes to the cinema. And that’s one of the reasons we were motivated to do it. For me, having Saudi film industry people, creators, directors and producers on the red carpet representing local creators is just as important as the international celebrities.”
When asked if he now has his sights set on the red carpets of A-list festivals like Cannes and Venice, Cakmak replies, “It’s our absolute goal to be able to do that.”