Fashion Trust Arabia Announces 2025 Awards Finalists
This year’s Fashion Trust Arabia Awards finalists embody the spirit of creativity, craftsmanship and innovation across the MENA region and beyond. With categories including evening wear, ready-to-wear and jewellery, the 2025 edition shines a global spotlight on fashion’s rising voices.
Fashion Trust Arabia (FTA) has revealed the twenty one designers shortlisted for the FTA 2025 Awards. The non-profit initiative supports emerging talent from the MENA region, offering financial grants, retail opportunities and world-class mentorship. Finalists will present their collections in Doha on November 22, with seven winners announced at the awards ceremony.
This year’s categories are: Evening Wear, Ready-to-Wear, Accessories, Jewellery, the Franca Sozzani Debut Talent Award, Fashion Tech, and Guest Country — India.
Evening Wear
Ziyad Albuainain (Saudi Arabia) – With his conscious luxury label Ziyad Buainain, the designer blends global influences with a poetic exploration of resilience, femininity, and structure.
Dana Almulla (Qatar) – Known for designs that merge timeless elegance with modern strength, her work honours heritage while empowering contemporary women.
Sharifa Alsharif Alhashemi (UAE, Onori) – Creating refined pieces that balance vintage romance with modern minimalism, Onori champions timeless fashion designed for today.
Ready-to-Wear
Shahd AlShehail (Saudi Arabia, Abadia) – Abadia celebrates cultural storytelling through ethical luxury, blending feminine ease with masculine structure.
Youssef Drissi (Morocco, Late For Work) – Drissi’s offbeat brand deconstructs corporate dogma with irreverent tailoring and playful proportions.
Iman Coccellato (Coccellato) – His namesake label reimagines clothing as talismanic, sculptural objects that fuse sensuality with timeless structure.
Accessories
Leila Roukni (Morocco, TALEL) – A contemporary luxury brand challenging conformity through bold volumes and architectural shapes, TALEL champions individuality.
Duha Bukadi (Tunisia, DUHA) – Inspired by resilience and rebirth, DUHA crafts footwear as symbols of optimism and empowerment for women.
Sharifa Alsulaiti & Altaf Almudhayan (Kuwait, THUNA) – Founded in 2019, THUNA redefines Arab luxury with refined footwear that merges heritage craftsmanship and modern design.
Jewellery
Patrick Boghossian (Lebanon) – A sixth-generation jeweller, Boghossian creates architectural fine jewellery informed by family legacy and modernist art.
Farah Radwan (Egypt, FYR) – FYR blends heritage with a spirit of resistance, creating jewellery that functions as both armour and connection.
Clara Chehab (Lebanon) – Her eponymous label is known for graphic shapes and vibrant gemstones, merging emotional storytelling with contemporary fine jewellery.
Franca Sozzani Debut Talent Award
Alaa Alaradi (Bahrain) – A HEAD Geneva graduate exploring fluidity and sculpture through light, instinctive silhouettes.
Ayham Hassan (Palestine) – Central Saint Martins graduate whose practice preserves Palestinian craftsmanship while reimagining tailoring and textiles for a global stage.
Fatma Elshabbi (Libya) – A brand shaped by nostalgia, memory, and Libyan traditions, exploring craftsmanship through an intimate lens.
Fashion Tech
Assaad Awad (Lebanon) – Fusing traditional craftsmanship with 3D innovation, Awad creates hybrid accessories worn by global icons from Lady Gaga to Madonna.
Zahia Albakri (Jordan, Zahia) – Engineering garments as wearable architecture, Zahia experiments with 3D printing and interactive materials.
Fatema & Dalal Alkhaja (Bahrain, Touchless) – Pioneering 3D-printed handbags, the sisters merge sustainability, innovation, and Arab heritage into futuristic design.
Guest Country: India
Kartik Kumra (Kartik Research) – Championing “Indian Future Vintage,” the label preserves artisanship through contemporary silhouettes.
Ankur Verma (TIL) – With experience at Sabyasachi and Bottega Veneta, Verma brings mastery of textiles and embroidery to his modern luxury label.
Akhil Nagpal (AKHL) – Redefining Indian craftsmanship with technical and visual innovation, AKHL positions Indian design within a global avant-garde.
The Prize
Winning designers will receive grants of $100,000–$200,000 (with $50,000 for the Franca Sozzani Debut Talent Award), alongside mentorship and global retail opportunities. Harrods and Ounass will carry the collections of category winners, while Huntsman London will host the Ready-to-Wear winner for an exclusive capsule internship.
As the first initiative of its kind in the region, Fashion Trust Arabia continues to spotlight emerging talent and build bridges between MENA creativity and the international fashion industry.
Images Supplied