Adnan Akbar On How He Founded The First Couture House In The Kingdom
Renowned Saudi fashion designer Adnan Akbar recounts how he founded the first couture house in the Kingdom as he helps guide his children on their quest to take the brand into the future
In the 1970s, at a time in the Kingdom when fashion manufacturing depended almost entirely on small tailor shops, Saudi designer Adnan Akbar had different plans. He was determined to see beyond the frontiers of his country and take his vision to a global audience; to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his couture contemporaries.
It was an audacious dream, but when I sat down with Adnan in the brand’s atelier in Jeddah, there was no doubt that it was a dream that would not be denied. Surrounded by his daughter Adhwa, who now is the creative director of the brand, and his son Abdullah, who manages the commercial side, the legendary designer took us all on a trip down memory lane. First stop, I ask about what originally ignited the desire to design in the first place. His response? He simply holds up his phone to present photos of his mother, as if the series of images says it all. She was the impetus of everything.
“This photo is a substitute for all words,” says Adnan. “My mother was uniquely charismatic and dazzlingly beautiful. She lent even more beauty to everything she wore.” Adnan’s mother fundamentally shaped his worldview and embedded in him a passion for beauty, and beautiful things. He began learning to embroider at the age of 12 and would often accompany his mother on her visits to the Makkah-based Russian seamstress. Those trips further deepened his curiosity about the world of fashion.
Adnan learned the term ‘fashion’ as a schoolboy. “The teacher turned to me and asked: ‘Are you making fashion?’. That was the first time I had heard the term as I had grown up in a difficult time. Even when I actually decided to pursue fashion design as a career, my father asked: ‘How are you going to work, do you think you are in Paris?’, but I love this work and that is all that matters to me,” Adnan recounts.
The designer emphasized that at that time, his vision was focused on a more purely creative direction. “I did not care about the commercial aspect, to be honest. And I was baffled by why Europe was ahead of us in this field and wanted to know how we could rise to the same level of competition.” Adnan admits that it was this fundamental question that drove him. He would spend sleepless nights thinking of ways to develop his fashion business while simultaneously labouring over delicate original embroideries that he would painstakingly craft by hand. At a time when the world was watching movie stars, the passionate designer was keeping an eye on the looks worn by the women of Egypt’s royal family and the work of the most prominent designers in Paris.
During the interview, while recalling different career highlights, Adnan would from time to time pause and turn to his daughter Adhwa, to describe in more detail the gowns he had designed. They would discuss how those ideas could be reimagined for a modern clientele. In fact, Adnan admits that our interview marks the first time he has shared some of these stories with his children.
The designer has seven sons and daughters, all of whom help carry on his legacy. After all, they watched first-hand as Adnan’s signature brand flourished as they were growing up. Adhwa shares that it was her father who instilled in her a love of fashion. She remembers fondly how he would have her wear dresses he designed and was keen to teach her the basics of sewing and embroidery at an early age.
From the beginning, the iconic designer saw fashion with a global lens and sought to create pieces that met royal standards. He succeeded in offering outfits that dazzled the women of the Gulf’s royal families and Arab socialites. And yet, he doesn’t view this success as significant, admitting: “I was never fully satisfied with my work and always felt that I had to do more”. Nonetheless, he recalls the memory of a global catwalk show that he ended up taking part in during the ‘80s, saying: “I was in Paris and came across the preparations in front of the Palais de Chaillot for this fashion show that was set to host an audience of 200,000 people. I worked hard to be featured in it. It was an international showcase and Arab Gulf countries were excluded.”
Thankfully Adnan was able to convince the people putting on the massive presentation that it couldn’t be called truly international without Saudi Arabia’s participation. Once he got the green light the designer worked hard to present the most prestigious pieces he could create to represent the Kingdom. “I did not sleep at night while preparing for the show and showcased a wedding dress that had a 10-metre-long train. I was careful to finish the pieces with the highest quality, paying attention to the most minute details,” Adnan reminisces, thinking back.
Even though he had participated in a number of runway events across Italy, this landmark presentation in Paris would represent the first time his work was shown before an audience of global critics. Luckily he was warmly received by the press and the news of his participation made Arab and international headlines.
In the February 1988 issue of Harper’s Bazaar France, the journalist Elizabeth Kaufmann wrote an article about the show and raved about Adnan’s offering. She said: “During the most recent international fashion festival, the audience was left with their mouths agape at what they saw at the Saudi showcase… Adnan Akbar’s creative designs – as if unique artistic masterpieces, bedazzled with jewels and pearls, inspired by the sand dunes that are influenced by the desert wind, designed using the world’s most expensive fabrics – succeeded in their first test in Paris, the capital of fashion and elegance. His designs were the best ambassador for the art of life, surpassing the limits of elegance and sophistication.” While Reuters newspaper described Adnan’s participation as: “The birthdate of his global stardom… upstaging major global designers”. The designer admitted that this testimony was “very comforting after a long journey of hard work”.
But even as Paris continued to invite Adnan back, his primary aspiration was, and still is, to develop the fashion industry and elevate its standards locally. And Adnan has never been one to rest on his laurels. Even after the positive press, he reached out to Dior’s former general manager Jacques Rouët and invited him to Jeddah to assess the brand professionally.
“Everyone said I am the best but I did not see it until the expert, Jacques Rouët, examined my designs when he visited my headquarters and told me, ‘You are extraordinary.’ He was surprised to find out that I supervised every detail of the design, including the embroidery and sewing,” Akbar beams, adding: “Things were done differently in Europe where prominent brands outsourced specialized embroidery workshops, so he advised me to hire assistants because I would not have been able to sustain this way of work for long. His words worried me and dug deep into my mind at the time.”
Throughout his illustrious career, Adnan has rubbed shoulders with some of the world’s most famous people and has seen his pieces being worn by royal families and stars like the Egyptian singer Sherihan. Even Princess Diana was a recipient of one of his creations. That is a level of clientele that Adnan’s children hope to continue to draw to the house.
Adhwa and Abdullah are now spearheading a mission to introduce the brand to the next generation of customers. And Adnan is slowly stepping back from the business and the limelight, while still continuing to offer guidance to his children as they take his eponymous brand into the future. His advice to them, and all designers who are looking to leave their mark on the history of fashion, is to put in the hard work and not settle for anything ordinary. For Adnan, the key is to be constantly searching for new ways to develop and improve. “I have upset several tailors and workers throughout my career because I would not settle for anything other than the very best,” he says with a smile.
As our interview comes to a close it is clear that Adnan’s children are soaking up all the advice he wants to share and are determined to continue working at the same level of craftsmanship that initially made the brand so successful. With Adhwa in charge of designing the new collections and Abdullah taking up the management side of the business, the siblings have already shown they have what it takes to continue the legacy of their father. They recently presented the brand’s latest couture collection in Paris. A line-up of gowns heavily influenced by feminine touches that are synonymous with the codes of the house. A mix of soft pastels, charming embroidery, and most importantly, a level of sewing excellence that meets global couture standards. It looks like the future of the Adnan Akbar label is secure in the hands of his heirs, and why wouldn’t it be, with such a solid foundation upon which to continue to build this one-of-a-kind brand?
From Harper’s Bazaar Saudi’s Autumn 2023 issue.