Meet Jacob Abrian, the high achieving head of the Arab Fashion Council
Updated 12 April 2018
NOOR NUGALI
RIYADH: Jacob Abrian, 26-year-old model, founder and CEO of the Arab Fashion Council (AFC), which organizes Arab Fashion Week (AFW), is optimistic about the future of the Arab fashion industry, particularly in Saudi Arabia.
“There are many Saudi talents,” Abrian told Arab News on the eve of the AFW 2018 in Riyadh. “But they were hidden or exclusive and now we will spread them to the world.”
Abrian has mixed Lebanese-Italian heritage. Both countries have had a major impact on the fashion industry, and Abrian knows that talent alone will not be enough to sustain a successful fashion scene in the GCC.
“I wanted to bring that infrastructure that Italy has in the fashion world to our region,” he explained. “I’m not focusing so much on Arab Fashion Week itself, rather we’re working on that to promote and focus on the infrastructure.
“With the right education and platform anything can happen,” he continued, adding that the AFC plans to set up a fashion university in the Kingdom. “In regard to local designers, our main role is to scout and support them, give them a platform to grow. Currently, local designers just have potential; everything starts from education and work experience. It should all be connecting together and this is the course we want to bring to Saudi.”
Abrian has seen enough to be sure that there is a bright future for young Arab designers. “Three years ago we launched a scholarship for the Arab world,” he said. “A Saudi student won that competition. He was so passionate and I felt that, with the right tools, that student could have a bright future. Two years later, he sent us his portfolio and we were amazed. He’s now a fashion editor at one of the most important magazines in the world.”
Success stories like that motivate Abrian to keep pushing Arab fashion forward, and Arab Fashion Week is the biggest milestone so far in that journey.
“It’s a sign that Saudi is changing,” he said of the event. “I’m proud to say that Saudi is going to surprise everyone around the world in a top-notch manner.
“This is a great start,” he continued. “It’s exciting. We’re building history.”
FASTFACTS
BIO
Jacob Abrian is the founder and CEO of the Arab Fashion Council (AFC), the world’s largest non-profit fashion council. It represents the 22 Arabic countries that are members of the Arab League. He founded the council aged 22, becoming the youngest person ever to found an international extraterritorial authority. Abrian is also a successful model.
Manicurist to the stars keeps Cairo’s golden age alive
Updated 01 December 2024
AFP
CAIRO: Nestled in a hidden alley off a bustling thoroughfare in the heart of the Egyptian capital sits an unassuming little manicure shop concealing a historic legacy.
Today, Madame Lucie’s small establishment is dwarfed by the sleek facades of modern cafes, fashion boutiques and fast food chains that have all but snuffed out Cairo’s old grandeur.
But decades ago, the shop’s seats were occupied by the likes of Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, international singing sensation Dalida and cinematic heartthrob Omar Sharif, all of whom sought the now 88-year-old manicurist’s expert hand.
For over six decades, Layla Abdel Hakim Mekhtegian — more commonly known by her sobriquet Madame Lucie — has presided over her little shop, standing guard over its rich history.
For those who step inside the shop, which claims to be the country’s oldest manicurist, it is a step back in time to Cairo’s cosmopolitan heyday of the 1950s and 60s.
“Everything here is as it was 64 years ago,” the French-educated woman of Armenian descent told AFP.
Madam Lucie, an 88-year-old manicurist expert, poses for a picture at her manicure shop in downtown Cairo on November 18, 2024. (AFP)
Established in December 1960, the salon exudes old-world charm.
Outside, the name Lucie greets customers in old fluorescent signage in both Arabic and French.
Inside, antique manicure tables sit in front of sepia-toned photographs of the illustrious patrons of bygone times.
“Customers tell us, ‘Don’t change a thing’,” she said.
The list of Madame Lucie’s clientele reads like a roll call of Egypt’s cultural pantheon.
“Mahfouz would come in for a trim while fans waited outside to have his autograph,” Madame Lucie recalls with a nostalgic smile.
“Dalida? Always punctual.”
“Her fans used to come here when they heard that she visits the salon,” she continues.
“And Omar Sharif,” she adds softly, “did not talk much, but he was so charming.”
Madame Lucie is part of a generation of Armenian entrepreneurs who shaped much of downtown Cairo’s commercial life in the mid-20th century.
She and her enduring salon are among just a handful of businesses that survived former president Gamal Abdel Nasser’s nationalization drive of the 1960s.
Prior to that, Egypt’s Armenian community had peaked at 45,000 in the 1950s, playing a vibrant role in the country’s cultural and economic landscape.
A client receives a manicure at Madam Lucie's manicure shop in downtown Cairo on November 18, 2024. (AFP)
Lucie acquired her craft at the age of 14 under the guidance of Marie, her mentor at Bata, the now-defunct, once-renowned department store in Cairo.
Together with her husband Jimmy and with the help of a Jewish investor, she transformed a printing house in downtown Cairo into her salon.
She has held fast to traditional nail treatments, shunning the more modern trends offered by many nail spas nowadays.
But her work goes beyond aesthetics, and many of her clients come for relief from painful conditions like calluses, ingrown nails and dead skin buildup.
She has in turn preserved not just the shop’s historic stature but also a loyal customer base for nearly as long.
“It is more of a treatment than a cosmetic thing,” said Effat Adel, a housewife in her fifties who has been visiting the salon for 37 years.
Sabry Ghoneim, an 89-year-old veteran journalist who has been a loyal customer for over four decades, said: “This place gives me peace of mind.”
Despite suggestions to expand, Lucie refuses.
“Why would I? This place is home,” she said.
“Every year, I update the sign outside to show how long we’ve been here. This December, it’ll say 65 years.”
Aquazzura’s Edgardo Osorio talks Saudi expansion amid ‘cultural revolution’
Updated 28 November 2024
Saffiya Ansari
DUBAI: Fans of Italy-based luxury shoe brand Aquazzura are in good company, with the likes of Princess of Wales Kate Middleton, Beyonce and Meghan Markle showing off the label’s heels on numerous occasions. With new boutiques in Riyadh and Jeddah, creative director and founder Edgardo Osorio sat down with Arab News to discuss his decision to tap into the Saudi market.
The brand, founded in 2012, is going through a speedy expansion in the region with new boutiques opening in the Kingdom, Bahrain and Kuwait in 2024, with another UAE boutique sscheduled for 2025. This is after the brand’s first regional outlet opened in Dubai in 2018.
The brand's new boutique in Riyadh. (Supplied)
“It’s a very special time to be in Saudi and be a part of cultural revolution,” the Colombian designer said of his foray into Saudi Arabia at Riyadh’s Centria Mall and Jeddah’s Al-Khayyat Center — the brand’s first mono-brand concept stores in the country.
“We have a very large Saudi clientele already existing, at the shop here (in Dubai) the shop in London, and the shop in Paris, so for us it was a natural step.”
Fashion aficionados the world over will be familiar with Aquazzura’s often-copied designs, including the gem-encrusted Tequila Collection, the sparkling Gatsby Collection and the popular Twist line with its butter soft nappa leather and double padded insoles.
While a distinct focus on attention-grabbing heels is part of the Aquazzura design ethos, Osorio is keen to reiterate that the brand was born out of a desire to provide comfort. (Supplied)
“The best sellers are the best sellers worldwide, but I think that Saudi women tend to dress up more,” Osorio said of Saudi footwear trends.
While a distinct focus on attention-grabbing heels is part of the Aquazzura design ethos, Osorio is keen to reiterate that the brand was born out of a desire to provide comfort.
“The reason (this) exists is because one summer I was invited to 13 weddings. I went to 12 … and I noticed women complaining about their shoes — and this was a time pre-designer sneakers, pre-there being all heel heights … Comfort was a dirty word in fashion at the time,” he said.
“And so I said … there’s an opportunity in the market to make beautiful, comfortable shoes because if you can choose, which one would you choose?”
That savvy insight proved to be the making of a designer who showed his fashion chops from a young age, interning at fashion companies in his native Colombia at the age of 14 before moving to London to study at the London College of Fashion at 16.
The Aquazzura boutique in Riyadh’s Centria Mall. (Supplied)
After dropping out to pursue a career at Italian accessories label Salvatore Ferragamo, Osorio found himself as the head of footwear at Roberto Cavalli at just 23.
His own venture began with the study of the human foot, a far cry of the glitz and glam of the red carpet where Osorio’s designs would end up.
“I worked with a technician who had been studying the human foot and making shoes for over 40 years and the way (our) shoes are constructed, the weight of your body is more evenly distributed … so our shoes are more ergonomic. The weight of your body is more evenly distributed between the front, the arch and the back.
“I also use extra-soft materials and I put in memory foam,” he said. “Almost nobody works like this. I don't know why except for me … and so obviously women feel the difference.”
The brand also boasts handbags and jewelry. (Supplied)
Women and fashion’s leading awarding bodies, it seems, for Osorio has just been named Footwear News’s 2024 Designer of the Year — a prestigious prize in the international style industry.
Osorio was named Designer of the Year once before, in 2015, and he is part of a cohort of previous winners including Jordanian Romanian celebrity designer Amina Muaddi, London-based Charlotte Olympia Dellal and Italy’s Gianvito Rossi, among others.
“It’s obviously a huge honor to be recognised by my peers and by Footwear News … this is a very pivotal moment for the brand,” he said.
“(We are) part of a major expansion for the brand, in the major face of growth in a difficult moment, people are believing in us and people are choosing to buy and wear Aquazzura.
“When I launched Aquazurra, we were in the middle of an economic depression and everyone was telling me ‘you’re crazy to open a brand and to leave Cavalli’ … I read somewhere ‘crisis means opportunity’ … and in the moment of crisis is when you need to get crafty and creative,” he said.
Twelve years on, as his latest gilded boutique in the Middle East joins his growing list of international outlets, it seems the designer took a step in the right direction.
Saudi influencer Yara Alnamlah’s brand heads to Selfridges London
Moonglaze’s UK launch is ‘just the beginning,’ founder tells Arab News
Updated 28 November 2024
Hams Saleh
DUBAI: Moonglaze, the beauty brand founded by Saudi influencer Yara Alnamlah, is set to make history on Dec. 4 as the first Saudi beauty label to launch at Selfridges London.
For Alnamlah, this is much more than just a business accomplishment; it’s a cultural moment, she told Arab News.
“For Moonglaze to be the first Saudi beauty brand at Selfridges is an exciting and proud moment,” she said. “This isn’t just a win for us as a brand; it’s a moment of recognition for the Saudi and Arab beauty community as a whole. It shows that we’re not only consumers of global beauty trends but also creators who bring something unique to the table.”
Alnamlah emphasized that this launch will open doors for the brand beyond the Middle East.
“London is a beauty and fashion capital,” she said. “This exposure will undoubtedly help us expand beyond the Middle East, connect with international beauty lovers, and establish Moonglaze as a brand that brings Middle Eastern beauty innovation to the global market.”
The Selfridges debut will feature Moonglaze’s new blush range, designed to suit a variety of skin tones, Alnamlah said, adding that it represents the next step in Moonglaze’s evolution, complementing the brand’s existing highlighter sticks and multi-use brushes, which have already gained a loyal following.
The creation of Moonglaze has been a deeply personal one, shaped by Alnamlah’s background as a makeup artist. “Our products are inspired by my belief in healthy, glowing skin as the foundation of any great makeup look,” she said. This belief led her to begin her brand with skincare products before expanding to blushes and highlighters.
The use of ‘moon’ in the brand name is inspired by the fact that, in Arabic (qamar), it’s used as a description “someone who is perfectly luminous, just like the full moon,” according to Alnamlah.
“The idea of using makeup to highlight natural beauty rather than mask it is something that I wanted to reflect in every Moonglaze product,” Alnamlah added. “Growing up in Saudi Arabia, I’ve always been inspired by the cultural appreciation of beauty and the importance of glowing, radiant skin.”
Reflecting on the challenges and lessons of building her brand, Alnamlah shared how staying true to her vision has been key. “I’ve learned that beauty isn’t just about the products, but about how they make people feel,” she said.
Alnamlah has made a name for herself on the fashion circuit as a blogger, beauty influencer and makeup artist over the last few years. Besides her beauty brand, the architecture student is also an entrepreneur and has a coffee store called So Matcha in Riyadh.
In 2021, she was featured in French luxury fashion label Jean Paul Gaultier’s campaign as they celebrated Saudi Arabia’s 91st National Day — its first-ever launch dedicated to a Middle Eastern country.
The Selfridges launch marks a pivotal moment for Moonglaze, but Alnamlah’s ambitions extend far beyond London.
“The Selfridges launch is just the beginning,” she said. “We are excited to expand into more countries. As we grow, we’ll continue to innovate with new product launches and collections, like our blush range.
“The ultimate goal is to create a brand that empowers people to embrace their natural beauty,” she said.
DUBAI: Somali Norwegian model Rawdah Mohamed took to social media to celebrate her latest campaign with Italian label Dolce & Gabbana.
The model took to Instagram to share a video of the marketing materials, on show in an eyewear outlet in the UAE’s Dubai Mall. Mohamed posed for the Italian luxury label’s latest eyewear collection and can be seen showing off sunglasses while wearing various patterned hijabs.
“What a moment! Thank you to the @dolcegabbana team and @nimabenati for always capturing my beauty,” Mohamed captioned the post, highlighting Italian fashion photographer Nima Benati’s role in the project. She now walks the runway for storied brands and stars in luxury fashion campaigns, but Mohamed’s early years were marked by upheaval as her family fled Somalia’s civil war for the safety of Kenya when she was just a baby. Alongside her parents and nine siblings, including an adopted sister, she spent her childhood in a refugee camp before relocating to Norway at the age of eight.
Mohamed previously told Arab News that she “sort of stumbled into modeling” after a mutual friend put her in touch with her manager while she was at university studying for a degree in behavioral analysis and healthcare.
Mohamed said: “I went to a fashion show in Oslo at the end of 2018 where I met my manager. He told me about what they were doing and I went to his office for a meeting and I said I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a model but I wanted to work in fashion.”
Fast forward to 2024 and she is fast becoming a recognizable face in the industry, working with brands like Boss and H&M.
Mohamed walked the Roberto Cavalli show in Dubai in September, wearing an all-black three-piece suit consisting of a structured blazer, a fitted vest, and wide-legged trousers, all crafted from a subtly textured fabric. The outfit was completed with a dramatic wide-brimmed black hat that was styled over a black hijab.
“A privilege to walk the runway of @roberto_cavalli show. Sublime collection,” she later wrote on Instagram.
She was also spotted on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in France in 2023 and 2024.
Guerlain perfumer talks Arab perfume traditions in Riyadh
Updated 29 November 2024
Sulafa Alkhunaizi
RIYADH: Thierry Wasser, the in-house perfumer of French luxury beauty brand Guerlain, sat down with Arab News on a recent visit to Saudi Arabia to talk all things fragrance at the reopening of the flagship Guerlain boutique in Riyadh Park.
The perfumer shared his insights on the differences between typically Middle Eastern scents and their European counterparts and even touched on his previous visit to Taif in the Kingdom, which is famous for its distinct roses grown at high altitudes.
The perfumer shared his experience of visiting Taif’s 1,800-meter-high Al-Sarawat Mountains, home to the Taif Rose variety, saying “It's a zig zag when you go … sometimes you have a place you don't expect the altitude to be so high.”
With more than 200 perfumes to his name, the perfumer revealed his favorite scent as Habit Rouge by Guerlain, an oriental woody perfume with notes of earth, warm leather, and the forest, launched in 1965 by the iconic Jean-Paul Guerlain.
“It's like a shining armor. It was a disguise of a man, a manly, masculine disguise. It shaped me. My attitude changed … I kept it all my life like a lucky charm,” he said.
Wasser's journey with the brand began in 2008, when was appointed as the first non-Guerlain family member to be the in-house perfumer of the storied house founded in 1828.
“When you manufacture and source it, you get intimate with the formula and the fragrance from your predecessors and you are responsible for the integrity of them,” he said.
Wasser learned fragrance is typically applied on clothing in the region, as opposed to directly on the skin, which is common practice in Europe.
“So I changed my approach and I made all my trials on cotton handkerchiefs,” he explained.
The fragrance house's iconic bee emblem reflects a commitment to sustainability. In 2021, Guerlain became one of the first luxury houses to join the Union for Ethical BioTrade and initiated a verification process for 50 natural ingredients.
“Sustainability is not exactly a marketing tool or communication tool, it is a state of mind,” Wasser said.
*This article was updated on Nov. 29, 2024, to correct quotes by Thierry Wasser.
