Power Dressing: Afghan/British designer Osman Yousefzada Launches Exclusive Ramadan Collection
What to wear for Ramadan? Osman Yousefzada has designs on your iftar wardrobe
With a desire to pay homage to both his Arab heritage and cater to requests from his Middle Eastern clientele, Afghan/British designer Osman Yousefzada is launching a Ramadan collection of jalabiyas in May, available exclusively at Per Lei Couture in Doha. Comprising of 15 day-to-night appropriate pieces, beautiful leaf brocade and Turkish embroidery weave through the designs, borrowed from his pre-fall 2016 collection, and also feature luxurious jewel tones, broderie Anglaise and fill coupé alongside pure Italian manufacturing and “the best crepe money can buy,” he tells Bazaar. With a background in tailoring, he says, “the cuts are distinctive and experimental. For example, the red piece [left] looks like it has quite a simple, sculptural cut when you’re standing front on, but when you move, it does something phenomenal with the billowing cape. It’s effortless, the kind of dress that does all the work for you.” Describing the collection as “elegant with a sense of purity”, his favourite pieces are a more playful striped jalabiya “that is a mix between something African and Art Noveau, with a certain joie de vivre to it,” and a stunning white design with a cape heavily embroidered with gold. “It’s a very regal piece, which has in fact already been requested by a member of the royal family, for which we are adding some special embroidery.” As a direct extension of his main line, from fabrication to cut and tailoring, with prices ranging from Dhs4,095 to Dhs24,351, Osman very much hopes to continue these regional-centric capsule collections. “I don’t see this as a one-off as it’s definitely something I want to keep doing, especially at pivotal points of the year, such as Ramadan,” he says. Aysha Al-Suwaidi, owner of Per Lei Couture, adds, “Osman’s collection caters to exactly what our customers want, as they pay a lot of attention to luxury fabrics and intricate detailing. For the holy month of Ramadan, they start to source the perfect piece to wear, something comfortable, elegant and respectful, which makes Osman’s designs the perfect choice.”
The capsule collection is available at Per Lei Couture, +974 4 000 3030