Fashion Trust Arabia Announces Its 2022 Finalists
From evening wear designers to debut talent, here are the finalists for the Fashion Trust Arabia Prize 2022
For its fourth year and with over 1,000 applications, Fashion Trust Arabia has shared 24 emerging designers from across the region who have made the list for their 2022 Fashion Trust Arabia Prize. The awards have been divided into five categories – ready-to-wear, evening wear, accessories, jewellery and debut talent – with an award up for grabs in each. This year’s Guest Country Award has been dedicated to Turkish designers.
Tania Fares, FTA Co-Founder and Co-Chair mentions, “This year we’ve received over 1,000 applications from incredible talent across the MENA region. Since we launched FTA in 2018, our community has been growing immensely, and it’s incredibly rewarding for us to witness the journey of many Arab designers who have taken their brands to the next level.”
The finalists will showcase their work to the FTA jury in Doha on October 26, 2022 and the six winners will be announced during the 2022 Awards Ceremony. While the judges for this year’s awards have not yet been disclosed, 2022 FTA Advisory Board includes Adam Baidawi, Alexander Fury, Bryan Boy, Carmen Busquet, Edgardo Osorio, Elizabeth Von Der Goltz, Erdem Moragliou, Fabio Piras, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Gaia Repossi, Imruh Asha, Mary Alice Malone, Nina Garcia, Olivier Theyskens, Patti Wilson, Pierre M’Pele, Piergiorgio Del Moro, Saif Mahdhi, Sarah Andelman, Sara Maino, Sofia Guellaty, Tiffany Godoy, Wayman Bannerman & Micah McDonald.
Here, Bazaar Arabia shares everything you need to know about this year’s finalists…
Ready-to-Wear
Renwa Yassine – Lebanon
Renwa Yassine’s label, RĒNWA, was born in 2019 as the creative expression the Lebanese designer’s multicultural upbringing in Côte d’Ivoire. With the notion of “cultures have no barriers” at the heart of the maison, RĒNWA’s mission is to bridge Lebanese and Ivorian culture through sustainable fashion.
Rym Beydoun – Lebanon
A Central Saint Martins’ graduate, Ivorian-raised, Rym Beydoun, is the fourth-generation of a Lebanese immigrant family from Côte d’Ivoire. Her brand, Super Yaya finds itself experimenting with and understanding West African culture and textiles with fabrics hand-dyed and printed in Côte d’Ivoire before being stitched in Beirut.
Siham and Sarah Albinali – Saudi Arabia
Founded by sister’s, Siham and Sarah, Lurline champions the soft goth, the daring and the feminine aesthetic with a touch of dark humour. The Saudi-based brand aims to redefine what it means to be a woman today by infusing the fearless feminine to their classic, sustainable pieces.
Yousra Elsadig – Sudan
Breaking stereotypes, merging cultures, inclusivity, ethical fashion and sustainability are all the tenets that make up Yousra Elsadig’s Boutique de Nana. The Sudanese designer has showcased her unique designs at London, Milan and Paris fashion week and has also won a number of national and international awards, appeared in three BBC documentaries and raised funds for social causes such as girls’ education.
Evening Wear
Amna Alsalem – Kuwait
AMNA ALSALEM is a unique meeting point for art, architecture, literature and technology. The ethical luxury brand is reimagining timeless elegance and luxury with its multifaceted designs.
Artsi Ifrach – Morocco
A reflection of space and time while on a quest for independence is the perfect way to sum up Maison ARTC. Artsi’s “one of a kind” collections highlight his inherent understanding of multiculturalism through prints and colour and encourage individuality through dressing.
Moulham Obid – Syria
Where sustainability meets couture. Moulham Obid focuses on up-cycling textiles and clothes, always choosing eco-friendly, organic and natural materials to create linear but romantic pieces that encapsulate the essence of the modern feminine.
Yasmin Mansour – Qatar
Inspired by “her dreams, art and architecture,” Yasmin Mansour’s brand is all about breaking the rules of fashion. The multidisciplinary designer has collaborated with the likes of Bouthayna Al Muftah, Leo Vanweersch and Nespresso to create unique pieces and promote sustainable fashion.
Accessories
Duha Bukadi – Tunis
Pupchen – a pet name from the German for “little doll” – pushes the boundaries of footwear in the same way its original use (a nickname given by French singer and poet Georges Brassens to his musem Joha Heiman) was an unconventional love. Duha Bukadi mixes her architectural background with fashion to create pieces that breakaway from the mundane reality of adult life.
Eilaf Osman – Sudan
With childhood memories Sudanese summers at the core of EILAF, the luxury handbag brand take craftsmanship and tribal Sudanese motifs to design pieces with a twist. EILAF is all about uplifting and preserving marginalised tribal art practices and celebrating identity.
Karen Gaballa – Egypt
Karen Gaballa’s BOADḰ is the modern response to returning back to nature and embracing the bond between woman and nature. The sustainable and slow-fashion, wearable-wood brand from Cairo takes traditional forms of embroidery, such as needlepoint, and revitalises it by adding it to wooden purses.
Leila Roukni – Morocco
TALEL Paris is a leather handbags and accessories brand found in 2019. The sustainable brand produces each piece of its colourful and unconventional bags in limited quantities.
Jewellery
Alexandra Hakim – Lebanon
Alexandra Hakim has already been taking the industry by storm with her metalsmithing and uniquely repurposed, contemporary jewellery pieces.
Dalila Barkache – Morocco
Dalila Barkache’s jewellery plays with motion and fixed structures to highlight movement and geometry through design with diamonds and precious stones, brining a refreshing take on classic fine jewellery.
Fatma Mostafa – Egypt
Fatma Mostafa brings an artist’s vision to jewellery through her experiments with different mediums and materials to create her original pieces – specifically that of embroidery and landscape oil paintings.
Youssra Nichane – Morocco
Youssra Nichane’s brand Dihyan was created as an ode to Morocco’s craftsmanship and role of jewellery in culture. Hence, his pieces are modern takes on traditional designs, allowing women to reconnect with their heritage.
Debut Talent
Claudia Khachan – Lebanon
Claudia Khachan’s SaintBalech, a collective fashion brand, was born out of the desire to create for the people by the people, “where anyone and everyone is welcome as they are.” Up-cycling, sustainability and free expression are at the heart of this Lebanese brand.
Kazna Asker – Yemen
A combination of Yemeni culture and her British upbringing, Kazna Asker blends technical sportswear materials with traditional Middle Eastern scarves and fabrics to create unique pieces in pairs. From tracksuits and outerwear to abaya and thobes, the Yemeni designer is redefining sportswear and highlighting the brother and sisterhood within the Muslim community.
Mohammed El Marnissi – Morocco
Marnissi is where social matters meet haute couture meet culture. With an aesthetic inspired by Arab heritage to sustainable materials and bright colours, the brand aims to create a space where belonging is guaranteed, despite any and all social and cultural differences.
Rayana Boulila – Algeria
With structural pieces that delicately highlight a woman’s curves through the use of colour contrasts, Rayana Boulila’s womenswear line is all about embracing the female body.
Guest Country, Turkey
Bünyamin Aydın
Born in Germany before moving to Istanbul, Bünyamin’s Les Benjamins is the result of the designer’s passion for drawing, photography and art. On Les Benjamins, Bünyamin says, “the brand is a touch point for people to enter our world. I want people to feel part of our movement, which begins with the East.”
Burç Akyol
Burç Akyol’s designs are inspired by the observations he made of the women around him as he grew up and his revealing but still austere pieces are a tribute to them. Burç’s genderless line is a blend of his European upbringing and Turkish roots.
Ceylin Türkan Bilge
Ceylin Türkan Bilge’s brand, SIEDRES, is a visual representation of a utopian lifestyle with Mediterranean-inspired pieces making up the identity of the Turkish brand.
Şansım Adalı
Şansım Adalı’ brings together her Syrian roots and Turkish legacies with SUDIETUZ. The environmentally conscious “street couture” brand is known for its hyper-textured, colourful, signature tulle pieces.
H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Co-Chair of FTA and Chairperson of Qatar Museums and Doha Film Institute had an inspiring message to share with the finalists. She wrote, “I congratulate these outstanding finalists, all of whom have already distinguished themselves, and look forward hosting the Fashion Trust Arabia Awards this October under the auspices of our Qatar Creates movement, as we celebrate the continued flourishing of design talent across our entire region.”
For more information visit fashiontrustarabia.com