Dubai hosts Middle East’s first Vogue Fashion Experience

In cooperation with Vogue Italia magazine and Dubai Mall, the lifestyle based global property developer, Emaar Properties, hosted the first Vogue Dubai Fashion Experience last week, officially branding Dubai as an emerging and definitive fashion capital of the world.
With the attendance of over 400,000 visitors at the world’s largest mall venue, Dubai Mall, the Vogue Dubai Fashion Experience was a grandly curated high fashion experience bringing together the authoritative influence of the giant fashion publication, Vogue, along with the future-forward vision of Emaar Properties for the city of Dubai.
Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, said: “With Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience, our city has clearly established its credentials as a fast-growing global fashion capital. We are thankful to Franca Sozzani, editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia and her team for the fantastic support in shining the international spotlight on Dubai.”
The three-day celebrity-studded event hosted a fashion show in the presence of globally influential fashion designers, models and press, by emerging designers: Andre Incontri from Italy, Esme Vie from Russia, Ituen Basi from Nigeria, Lulwa Amin from Bahrain, Simone Rocha from Ireland, Wadha Al Hajri from Qatar, and Mohammed Ashi and Razan Alazzouni from Saudi Arabia, who were all handpicked by the Vogue team, providing a globally visible platform with the objective of nurturing new design talent.
The glitzy affair also featured eco-sustainability projects by emerging fashion designers scouted by Vogue magazine, and an interactive ‘super model experience’, in which visitors were given the opportunity to have their cover photo on Vogue Italia shot by professional photographers.
An exclusive fashion auction dinner raised SAR 5 million for Dubai Cares, a charity founded by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, which serves to provide educational opportunities for underprivileged children globally.
In attendance were high profile guests including designers Donatella Versace, Roberto Cavalli, Silvia Fendi, Dean and Dan Caten, Philipp Plein, Ricardo Tisci, and super models Naomi Campbell and Karolina Kurkova.
Franca Sozzani, editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia, said: “Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience has been a fantastic demonstration of Dubai’s positivity and global outlook. This is a city that inspires people to deliver their best, and we saw that in the creations of the young designers who got one of the first platforms to present their works. Fashion also has a higher role to play and we proved that through our support to Dubai Cares.”
Sales from special merchandise created by Italian brand Cruciani for the event was also donated to the charity with the support of over 250 brands participating in the event.
Visitors were also treated to a visual display of an exclusive photography exhibit of radical covers of iconic women on Vogue in the past 50 years that helped establish the magazine as one of the most influential in the publishing industry.