Amman – Eman Youssef
Jordanian fashion designer, Asmaa Bani Isa told “Arab Today” during an interview that ,the Arab woman favors Abaya with its various shapes ,and that it became suitable for all occasions ,with different design for each event .
Asmaa talked about her early start in this career saying that, she graduated from one of the top schools in Jordan, and completed her academic education with a bachelor in French Literature. After she attended a number of designs courses, along with a bachelor from the Italian Plumoda Institute, she joined the Italian- Jordanian project in charge of clothing sector in Jordan. She had an exhibition in 2004 for her handmade works, she added two embroidered dresses which were great success, and that’s how she knew that women love traditional dresses with modern touch, so she adopted that concept.
She added that people liked the idea of dresses embroidered with different colors, so they encouraged her. She focused on designing since 2010, and she has her own workshop, along with 260 ladies helping with embroidering and accessorizing the dresses, besides her gallery to show her works.
She said most of the designers are not fully aware that designing has it his own world and its own experts, demanding the existence of supervisory bodies in Jordan to control the whole process. She added that she works with different women of different ages, from college girls who prefer Abaya for events like graduations or weddings, to the newly married women who prefer elegance, and mothers who choose Abaya for their children weddings. She added that cultural exchange, social media and TV channels made women focus more in their look, choosing particular pieces for each event.
Asmaa’s designs are covered with different shapes of embroidered flowers. She also prefer light creamy colors and blue ,and a lot of celebrities like princess Haya bint Al Hussein wore her designs. She refuses copying the western style ,adding that the Arab woman has her unique style .