Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah's innovative contemporary visual arts hub and an initiative by the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), will be hosting the second edition of My Abaya, an inspirational programme designed to mentor aspiring Abaya designers and arabesque fashion designers.
Taking place from the 22nd to the 25th of June, this year the programme has been expanded to include a series of short and interactive workshops with reputable U.A.E.-based luxury Abaya designers who will be giving their best insider tips and techniques to guide participants through the basic steps to set up an Abaya fashion house/brand.
Speaking about this year's edition of the event, Dana Al Sadek, Maraya Community Coordinator, said, "Last year we were fortunate to have big names from the industry take part in a panel talk Effa Al Dabbagh, Sarah Al Madani and Hania Al Braikan from KSA. The feedback from the talk was great, with women of all ages taking part. This great response leads us to continue and expand the programme to include interactive workshops that cover all the main areas that aspiring designers need to tackle to conceive and produce their designs. As a community space we always try to introduce activities that we know the local community are interested in attending and from which they can take back useful information that they can use for their advantage." The first of the four scheduled workshops, which will run each from 5:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m. on the first floor of Maraya Art Centre in Al Qasba, will focus on Abaya Design Sketching. Presented by local fashion sketcher Aisha Abuseem, the workshop will explore fashion sketching techniques in order to create sketches that get designs noticed, on the 23rd, Pattern Cutting and Materials, workshop will be conducted by Fatma Al Ghurair, owner of FBubble label, the workshop will advise participants on how to source fabrics based on sketches and designs, how to match colours, seasonal trends, and where to buy fabrics from.
The third workshop, Styling the Complete Look will be led by stylist, Dina Hashim owner of Glamour 911 Boutique, the workshop is set with the aim to explore the key accessories to be considered when dressing abayas, such as turbans, head scarves, jewellery, shoes, and purses, and will also review styles for different occasions, such as looks for work, weddings, Eid, and casual outings.
The final workshop on the 25th of June will be Marketing Your Brand. Lead by dynamic designer, Sarah Al Madani of Rouge Couture and Rawan Azhar of the 'Ta Marbota', a fashionable abaya brand based in the KSA, this workshop will give aspiring designers tips on how to build their portfolios, create their own websites, and produce a look book inclusive of photo shoots.
This session will also provide tips to participants on building their brand on social media and on promoting themselves as ambassadors for their brand.
Source: WAM