Dubai Fashion Week is, of course, not Parisian, nor Milanese, nor New York. And it is difficult to expect that in the coming years she will be able to catch up with her namesake in scope, names and importance. Dubai Fashion Week is only six years old, with all the ensuing consequences. But, I must admit, the "child" is growing smart, smart and promising. In the region, he has no equal, and is not yet in sight. Especially for regional designers who need a springboard to a great and bright future.
The autumn edition of Dubai Fashion Week this year was rich in new names and debuts - Aartivija Gupta, Babbita M, Amato for Furne One, Barbara Bela, Beenas & B'jouel, Estinna from Tina G. Bendi, Frilz from Ash, Kanzi, Lamborghini , Ora by Rimalya, Michael Cinko, Rajneesh Malhotra, Shrekanaz Yadulla, Siddartha Tyler and Z to Z.
The "old men" also returned - Walid Atalla, Salma Khan, Dessange Paris, Ecta Singh, Troy Costa, Hatim Alakil, HSY, Miriam Al-Marzo, Rome Al Beljafla, Ala Fawaz, Amal Murad. There was a new venue - the conference center, which equally applies to the two InterContinental Dubai Festival City and Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City hotels, a much more spacious and suitable room than the Emirates Towers. The Middle East has again and again reaffirmed its commitment to luxury, brilliance and other visual “materialities”, putting on luxurious outfits on skinny models with a clear Arabic accent. It is understandable - world designers continue to draw inspiration from the eastern, including the Arabian culture, while the Arabian and living in the countries of this region designers give them food for thought.
And, despite the show’s very strange time for the show (the shows began in the evening, apparently to give local fashionistas the opportunity to occupy themselves from morning to evening), there was something to see.
Ode to caftans, asymmetries and oriental princesses
Already becoming famous, the Dubai-based designer Salma Khan this time added new and beautiful to her traditional women’s bedspreads (abayam), homely women’s dresses (jalabis), and chic wedding and evening dresses, presenting to the public a collection of almost weightless and very bright caftans, many of which the beautiful female knees barely covered.
Asymmetric chiffon models in natural colors with a base in pink, gray, green and blue, Salma generously decorated with stones, sequins, weighty flowers and other bright elements. It was an anti-crisis part of the collection.
For sweet Salma has stocked up her signature dish - chic floor-length dresses made of luxurious fabrics, in a monochrome design made of silk and satin.
Dressed carefully on the figure with an emphasis on the waistline, flying hem, deep cuts on the back, numerous ruffles, Salma Khan performed in colors much wider than the season's palette - from warm gold and brown to deep blue. Salme Khan was given a good head start by a confident Filipino Michael Cinko, who is climbing up the ladder of international success, who makes evening dresses worthy of the red carpet, which made a splash not only in Dubai, but also at Miami Fashion Week. Cinko loves women, especially in the 1950s style - with accentuated shapes. His muse is an Arabian princess, leaving in the morning from Dubai to St. Tropez, and in the evening - to Paris to dine.
Princess Cinko knows a lot about luxury - she wears a monochrome, with simple cut lines, but with corsets richly decorated with crystals according to the fabric ornament. Cinko sprinkles white evening dresses with shiny elements and numerous tulle skirts in shades of lilac and rose. Pink dresses - crystals of different shades and saturation of pink, ostrich fluff to decorate the hem - large pearls.
Cinko is a holiday man. He came, showed and remembered. His outfits are not just beautiful, they are wonderful. Not on a small-town yardstick, but on a global scale. You’re stroking it, the little Filipino Cinko starts to the stars so that you won’t catch it. In the meantime, there is an opportunity to get a couple of his gorgeous dresses at dumping prices, some of which are so similar to the haute couture from Dior last year.
Arabian Wars and Formula 1
The theme of the new and luxurious was continued by Amba Firuz, who, by the 100th anniversary of L'Oreal, created a line of evening dresses. Amba Firuz drew inspiration for monochrome models from the Namibian culture, and therefore they came out with a clear exotic accent. But what struck Firuz this time was his abai collection for the local Miss Elegant boutique. Local catwalks have not yet seen such an interpretation - Firuz has shortened the traditional covers of Arab women, provided them with bright details and ... leggings that remain at the height of fashion. Although the Firuz solution is too innovative for the local market and, as a result, is more suitable for display than for daily wear, it was interesting to look at the long-legged models, drawn in flirty half-closed black.
In the bowels of Islamic culture, Indian designers Shrekanaz Yadulla and Siddartha Tyler, who presented the Arabian Wars collection for their brand, drew inspiration for their first pret-a-porte collection. Not only that, these young designers did not ignore the modern landscape of Dubai, finding their starting point in local skyscrapers tending to the sky.
The models turned out at the intersection of art and architecture: fashionable forms, contrasting colors. The traditional ornaments of the local men's headscarves, combined with replicas from the Dubai landscape, looked very unusual in short dresses, harem pants, caftans and jalabiyas.
But special attention
The public was attracted by the collection of evening dresses "Dynasty", which beat the 50s of the last century. The presented toilets, first of all, were remembered for their color scheme - shades of blue, deep dark and thick gray, and nearby - fuchsia and orange. They sat well on delicate silhouettes with magnificent skirts.
Even though the traditional men's attire of the Arabs - a dress shirt called "dishdash" - is worn only in this part of the world, the Saudi designer Hatem Alakil is not worried - he has more than enough clients. Each self-respecting Arab-fashionist in the closet weighs at least one deedsh from Alakil.
This time, Khatem presented the spring / summer 2010 collection, for which Formula 1 became an inspiration (and this is not surprising, it seems that only a select few are ill this year). This time, products under the Tobi brand carried invariable forms of a traditional outfit and interesting surroundings - embroidery, transverse corrugations, lapels and zippers that were fashionable this season.
Alakil put deep accents of blue and black on the traditional white and milky white shades. He decided to accustom young Arabs to originality in clothes from "young nails" - in the children's collection of Toby Junior there were no less interesting models.
"Restraint is style" - that is what the designer wanted to say to the world. Arab restraint, we say, for Tobi models clearly stand out from the background of the many-faced white robes of the majority. And we like them. How people like Alakil like people like George Michael and his comrades.
You are refined nature ...
Another interesting collection came from Pakistani designers Aisha Syme and Saim Maksud for the Frilz label. Known for his high-quality work in decorating the surface of fabrics, this time the duo presented silk, chiffon, organza, Irish linen, cotton-based materials richly decorated with complex machine embroidery. Dressers on one shoulder and short caftans in a wide range of colors were provided by designers with kimono sleeves, taking a new level in the design of traditional Pakistani outfits.
We especially liked the harem pants that were interestingly made in the form of asymmetric trousers (harem pants continue to remain at the height of fashion, despite their not the most elegant look), paired with richly decorated long shirts of loose cut, as well as a line of accessories for a beach holiday - skillfully made at the junction of the East and the West. 
Very delicate creations suitable for sophisticated women, with a classic taste for quiet luxury, showed Indian designer Zaim Jamal on the last day of the week. The debut of the label Z to Z in the Middle East, he accompanied the presence on the podium of the "star" of Bollywood, Dia Mirza, who once wore the title of "Miss Asia and the Pacific."
Jamal presented his spring / summer 2010 collection in Dubai, and these are 30 models - from light vacation dresses to evening dresses. All Z to Z models are distinguished by the absence of a large number of embellishments and, perhaps, therefore, they looked very modest against the background of other shows.
But the designer cannot be blamed for the lack of taste: delicate fabrics, restrained but luxurious decorative details, simple cut. Such dresses are worn by refined natures.
Barbie forever
The apogee of Dubai Fashion Week this time was a show dedicated to the Barbie doll, the girl is no longer young, but invariably slim, fashionable and capricious. As it turned out, almost all local designers at one point or another in their childhood and youth took their first steps in cutting and sewing, inventing outfits for this long-legged American with perfect shapes.
The show in honor of Barbie had a lot of interesting things: from cocktail dresses with lush multilayer skirts to bright pink, almost fluorescent abai, in which modern Barbie resembled an oriental woman very distantly.
The festive show, like a volley of champagne, summed up the line under the Autumn Fashion Week in Dubai, which once again showed the world that the fairy tale exists. Local designers continue to gush with colorful ideas and present the public with luxurious outfits that, against the backdrop of the financial crisis, seem like entourage for Barbie's dollhouse. But they are real and practically accessible: somehow the Arabs manage to pack women in such toilets even in difficult financial times, which, in fact, look much more expensive than they cost. And for this, a separate "thank you" to them.
