RIYADH: Saudi designer Shahd Al-Shehail’s sustainable luxury label Abadia stormed the Riyadh Fashion Week runway with a new collection that married style with comfort.
The label — which earlier this month secured international investment at a roadshow hosted by the Saudi Fashion Commission in New York City — played with form and fabrics as models showcased elegant ready-to-wear pieces that reflected Saudi identity.
The show kicked off with models walking the winding runway in monochromatic looks. (AN/ Huda Bashatah)
From satin abayas to flowy cotton skirts and structured shirt dresses, each ensemble was a covetable piece.
The show kicked off with models walking the winding runway in monochromatic looks. From elegant sleeveless coats that swept the floor to panel skirts paired with stylish fitted tops and cropped jackets, it was a diverse showing.
Another piece that caught the eye saw a model wearing a form-fitting black silk dress with a brown leather harness.
The family-owned brand aims to empower and support Saudi female artisans. (AN/ Huda Bashatah)
The label’s signature mouj ruching technique — an intricate wave-like ruching that fits and adjusts to the wearer’s body — also made several appearances on dresses and tops.
Abadia, which gets its name from the melding of the Arabic words for timelessness (abadi) and desert (badiah), debuted its first collection on the sidelines of Paris Fashion Week back in 2018 and has been worn by the likes of Jordan’s Queen Rania and US singer-songwriter Alicia Keys.
The label’s signature mouj ruching technique — an intricate wave-like ruching that fits and adjusts to the wearer’s body — also made several appearances on dresses and tops. (AN/ Huda Bashatah)
The family-owned brand, co-founded by Shahd Al-Shehail and her aunt Naeema Al-Shehail, aims to empower and support Saudi female artisans by integrating traditional crafts such as sadu, a weaving technique, and naqda, a technique of pulling thin metallic threads through cloth, in their designs.
The brand works with luxury deadstock material and end of roll remnant fabric from garment manufacturing and uses real leather only when the designers are able to trace where it comes from and how it was tanned and processed, according to the label.
“Any fabric that is leftover from the cutting process is repurposed into creative accessories, packaging and toys,” they add on their website.
