The meeting, which was held in Sayidaty magazine’s office in Jeddah, was attended by college lecturer, Sara Basaad, and designers including: Fatima Abed, Mona Abulfaraj, Rotana Al-Hashimi, Hana Samman, Eman Joharji, Salma Radwan and more who design Abayas, ready-to-wear, thobes, haute couture and evening dresses. All the designers had one thing in common: Their designs were being copied using cheap fabrics, bad tailoring and were being sold for lower prices.
“There is no such thing as fashion copyright anywhere in the world; and if there was, designers such as Louis Vuitton would have used it to their advantage long time ago,” said Basaad who is a fashion design lecturer at the Millennium Institute of Technology & Management (MITM) in Jeddah.
“International designers played it right as they marked their designs with a certain logo that made their clothing unique. I believe that Saudi designers should do the same and choose an exclusive mark that make their designs show even without putting their names,” she added.
Basaad gave a 15-minute presentation about how Saudi designers can go global with their designs even if they market inside the Kingdom.
“Saudi designers are always late with their trends and I think that they should be updated with international fashion, European to be exact, because doing so will help them go worldwide and be accepted globally,” she said. “I’m more than happy to help them research, design their lines and keep them updated with the new trends in the world of fashion.”
Fatima Abed, a Saudi fashion designer, shared her knowledge of designing and her experience with copycats. She views it as a compliment when someone copies her designs because, she said, that shows that she had succeeded in producing something beautiful and people want to spread it.
“I usually make one dress for each design so whoever copies me will never harm me. After all, I’m a branded designer and nothing can harm me now,” she said. “I’ve been through a lot with those ‘so-called designers’ who always want to take my designs and put their names on them, but the fact that my customers are Saudi backed me up in this dilemma.”
Banning fashion shows and fashion runways in the Kingdom is creating big obstacles to Saudi fashion designers.
“The Saudi government and society need to embrace the thought of fashion shows because it’s the only way for us to display our lines and trends,” said designer Rotana Al-Hashimi. “Some of us don’t have shops and boutiques to exhibit our designs and we hate to show it in bazaars and so on, so we need something more official like runways for women to show our designs.”
According to Abed, 70 percent of France’s income is from fashion — unlike Saudi designers who do not have the support from society, the government or the media.
“We need media support, society’s support and above all, we need governmental acknowledgment so we can succeed here and not have to display our designs outside the Kingdom. We want to be recognized here before going global because we represent our country and our society,” she said.
Kholoud Attar publisher of Design magazine, agrees with Abed and added that Saudi media only focuses on international designers and ditches Saudi designers because they don’t believe in their talents.
“Starting from now, Saudi media should feature Saudi professional and beginner designers to highlight their trends and show their uniqueness in what makes each of their designs special,” she said.
The designers also shared their will to help new designers and give them free internships to help them with designing and tailoring, but under the condition that they know the basics of the trade.
“I have been training a couple of fashion design undergraduates and it was a horrible experience as I noticed that they lack the simplest talents like knowing how to cut properly,” said Saudi fashion designer Mona Abulfaraj. “I would love to do it again and train more students, but they all have to know the basics at least.”
In response to Abulfaraj’s comment, Sameera Andejani, a design trainer at the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation for girls in Jeddah, said that the training center is willing to provide each designer with qualified trainees, given that the designers coordinate with the center.
“We are always willing to give the girls proper training and standing from real designers. Working with them is the best way to help the students learn how to be professional designers,” said Andejani.
The group of designers agreed to meet every two months with Sayidaty magazine to discuss more issues and problems they face, look for solutions and update one other with the new trends.
Stay tuned for the next fashion meeting.