Local designers to share the spotlight during second Saudi Fashion Week

The inaugural Saudi Fashion Week, founded by Princess Noura bint Faisal Al-Saud, was held in April 2018. (AN/Hameed Al-Hazmi)
Updated 20 September 2018
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Local designers to share the spotlight during second Saudi Fashion Week

  • Riyadh will be the hub of Saudi Fashion Week
  • The Grazia Middle East Style Awards will this year take place in Riyadh

RIYADH: Emerging Saudi fashion designers will get a chance to showcase their work alongside internationally renowned peers — including Yahya Couture, Yuliya Yanina and Lama Askari — during the second edition of Saudi Fashion Week, which runs from October 21 to 25, 2018.

The dates were revealed by the event’s founder, Princess Noura bint Faisal Al-Saud, who made a statement with her choice of outfit for the official announcement: a black abaya with a traditional Saudi hand embroidered, red design.

The princess, who is the founder of Saudi fashion community and Saudi Fashion Week in Saudi Arabia, said she always dreamed of being part of the fashion industry and is working hard to help the dreams of others come true as well, by supporting local designers,providing them with a platform on which to showcase their creativity, and supplying them with the tools they need to succeed.

“This fashion week is sponsored by the GCA and we want to highlight our Saudi culture,” she said when asked how the second edition will differ from the inaugural event in April 2018. “Every designer is unique and designs in a different way. Our culture is not only about wearing an abaya; it’s what makes you comfortable as a person.

“We have more local names coming out and a program to support emerging designers. This is a platform with which we support Saudi designers, in their country, which they represent.”

However, it also embraces the wider international fashion industry, as well.

“it’s an exchange of cultures. It’s a platform for Saudi and other countries,” said Princess Noura. “When we speak about fashion, it’s a mirror that reflects our culture and modernity.”

To help launch the careers of Saudis who are just starting out in the fashion industry, a “Top emerging Saudi designers” program has been developed, and the country’s fashion community has chosen six designers to participate, some of whom are recentcollege graduates. It will offer them support and give them real-world experience of the fashion industry.

Riyadh will be the hub of Saudi Fashion Week, with three runway shows each day, beginning at 8pm. In addition, a fashion festival featuring pop-up stores will run throughout the event. The Grazia Middle East Style Awards, which is usually held in Dubai, will this year take place in Riyadh on the final day of Saudi Fashion Week.

“I want every designer in Saudi Arabia to not be afraid and to come out and show what they are made of. Be Brave,” added Princess Noura.


KSrelief chief, Palestinian education minister discuss university research partnership

Updated 9 sec ago
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KSrelief chief, Palestinian education minister discuss university research partnership

  • ⁠KSrelief implement sanitation project in Yemen’s Marib governorate

RIYADH: The advisor to the Royal Court and supervisor general of the Kingdom’s aid agency, KSrelief, met with the Palestinian education minister this week to discuss cooperation on educational projects and programs for schools and universities.

Dr Abdullah Al-Rabeeah and Amjad Barham also talked about ways in which research collaboration between Saudi and Palestinian higher education institutes could be enhanced, reported Saudi Press Agency.

The Palestinian minister also expressed his gratitude to the Saudi government for the Kingdom’s ongoing support for his people.

Meanwhile, KSrelief has implemented a project to improve sanitation services for internally displaced persons and the host community in Yemen’s Marib governorate, in partnership with the UN International Organization for Migration.

The project entails the construction of 200 new latrines and rehabilitation of 600 sewage pits and will directly benefit 47,598 individuals facing tough living conditions.


KSrelief delivers food and dates in Yemen, Chad

Updated 11 min 26 sec ago
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KSrelief delivers food and dates in Yemen, Chad

  • This assistance is part of the relief and humanitarian efforts provided by Saudi Arabia, represented by KSrelief

RIYADH: The Kingdom’s aid agency KSrelief has been distributing food and dates to thousands of people in Yemen and Chad, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Volunteers distributed 3,000 cartons of dates to displaced people in Yemen’s Al-Jawf governorate, benefiting 18,000 individuals, the SPA reported on Wednesday.

In Chad this week, as a part of its Food Security Support Project, KSrelief distributed 1,200 food parcels in the Batha region, benefiting 7,200 vulnerable people.


Saudi Arabia’s aid arrives in northern Gaza to assist Palestinians

Updated 47 min 47 sec ago
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Saudi Arabia’s aid arrives in northern Gaza to assist Palestinians

  • Wednesday’s delivery of essential food and other supplies is a part of KSrelief’s ongoing campaign to provide support for Palestinians

RIYADH: Several trucks with aid, provided by Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian agency KSrelief, have arrived in the northern Gaza Strip via Jordan.

Wednesday’s delivery of essential food and other supplies is a part of KSrelief’s ongoing campaign to provide support for Palestinians, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The northern Gaza Strip is currently facing severe challenges, exacerbated by the ongoing war and the closure of border crossings, making this aid critical to helping the population cope with the crisis. (SPA)

The aid was scheduled to be distributed through the Saudi Center for Culture and Heritage, which serves as the executive partner of KSrelief in the area.

The campaign to assist Palestinians, initiated by King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has raised over $186.3 million from over 2 million donors.

The northern Gaza Strip is currently facing severe challenges because of Israel’s ongoing war on the Palestinians, which includes the closure of border crossings.


Saudi man arrested for $131m bank fraud

Updated 07 November 2024
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Saudi man arrested for $131m bank fraud

  • Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority announce new cases
  • Includes arrests for tobacco smuggling, roadworks scam

RIYADH: A Saudi man has been arrested for illegally obtaining SR493 million ($131 million) of bank financing.

The Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) worked with the Presidency of State Security and the Saudi Central Bank to arrest Khalid Ibrahim Al-Jraiwi.

He was arrested for “working with a bank employee in deceiving the banking regulations and obtaining an illegal bank financing of SR493 million,” Nazaha said on X.

It was one of a number of criminal cases announced on Wednesday by the authority, with legal proceedings underway.

Al-Jraiwi submitting a financing request containing false property deeds and fake contracts indicating investments in those properties by government entities.

The bank employee connected to Al-Jraiwi accepted the request and sent an email to the relevant departments at the bank confirming that the documents were valid. After receiving the financing, Al-Jraiwi transferred SR100 million abroad to purchase properties, registered under the names of his relatives.

Three men from the General Directorate of Passports were also arrested for facilitating the illegal entry and exit of Al-Jraiwi in exchange for money. The accused individuals admitted the charges and have been referred to court for prosecution.

In another case, Nazaha officials cooperated with the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority to arrest Saudi man Mohammed Ghazi Mohammed Al-Sayed and two Yemeni residents, Abdulmalik Ahmed Qaid and Abdullah Abdu Qasim, for smuggling a container of cigarettes from Jeddah Islamic Port.

The men were “caught in the act” of paying SR1.5 million to smuggle the container without paying a SR7.2 million tariff, by claiming that the cigarettes were paper tissues.

Investigations into the case are continuing ahead of the appearance of the accused in court.

The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority also helped Nazaha arrest Sudanese man Osman Mohammed Naeem Abdulrahman for using a car and SR20,000 to pay for smuggling four tons of tobacco from Jeddah Islamic Port.

In another case, Al-Jouf Municipality official Khalaf Saleh Marzouq Al-Khaldi was arrested for receiving SR8 million from Yemeni resident Mohammed Ali Omar Al-Saqaf to issue invoices worth more than SR17.6 million for roadworks projects in the region that were not executed.


Saudi stories pique audience interest, says Bloomberg Media MD

Updated 07 November 2024
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Saudi stories pique audience interest, says Bloomberg Media MD

  • Visiting the Athar Festival of Creativity in Riyadh, Amit Nayak told Arab News: “We’ve seen a real appetite from our global audiences for content from here”

RIYADH: Stories and articles about Saudi Arabia and the region are among the most widely read by audiences, according to Bloomberg Media’s managing director in the Middle East and Africa.

Visiting the Athar Festival of Creativity in Riyadh, Amit Nayak told Arab News: “We’ve seen a real appetite from our global audiences for content from here.”

He said that with such a large and diverse team based in the Middle East, Bloomberg Media was able to bring local insights and perspectives to provide content based on what audiences wanted.

“We remain focused on deeply understanding our Middle Eastern audience, fostering direct relationships, and delivering trusted news and insights tailored to their needs,” he said.

“We work with leading entities across the region, such as Saudi Tourism Authority and Red Sea Global, using custom content across different platforms to help tell their stories to regional and global audiences.”

The use of smart technology has been big part of Bloomberg’s strategy for over a decade, with The Bulletin being a predominant feature on the app. Launched by Bloomberg’s Media Innovation Lab in 2018, it provides single-sentence summaries of the top three stories.

“We leverage first-party subscriber data through our AI-powered Audience Accelerator platform,” added Nayak. “This allows us to precisely target key demographics to inform machine learning models that predict the population of users on the site, enhancing campaign performance and building brand credibility.”

In 2022, Bloomberg Media Studios opened a regional studio in Dubai and earlier this year launched “Bloomberg Horizons: Middle East & Africa,” a flagship morning program.

Bloomberg News also launched the Mideast Money newsletter, which focuses on “the intersection of wealth and power, and the impact of regional sovereign investors and dealmakers in global finance.”

Evolving as a commercial team that, 10 years ago, predominantly sold advertising, Nayak said that as clients became more sophisticated and keener to reach global audiences, Bloomberg Middle East was fostering internal talent to better collaborate with them.

“We were well placed because we have invested heavily in our teams on the ground here — whether that’s expanding sales, building a client marketing team, or hosting events on the ground in the region,” he said.