Finalists - 2021

AbdelGader El Tayeb Al Sadig, founder of El Tayeb Nation, hails from Sudan. The young designer describes his womenswear brand as “intemporal” and a cross between “couture and easy-to-wear” that’s intended to empower the wearer. Made in Sudan and reflecting both the history of the great African country and its contemporary identity, El Tayeb Nation offers varied looks in bright colors, enhanced with glittering jewels and intricate embroidery.

Agustín Nicolás Rivero’s label, A New Cross, is handcrafted in Colombia. Driven by the idea that garments should essentially function as a living space – one that comforts and protects – Agustín merges his South American heritage with a minimalist ethos when imagining his designs. His clothes – for women, men and unisex – celebrate diversity and freedom of identity. The Colombian designer also supports fair working conditions, ensuring that his garments are always ethically produced, while espousing rural and urban community values.

Colombian designers Alejandro González and Andrés Restrepo launched Alado in 2013. Conceived as a dialogue between art and fashion, the womenswear label shimmers with complex structures that tell ancient stories, and pieces that reflect arduous molding work and silhouette development. Both subtle and romantic, Alado clothes stand out for their emphasis on exquisite baroque details. Alejandro and Andrés hail from the fashion-forward Colombian city of Medellin.

Dubai-based jewelry designer Alia Bin Omair creates distinctive pieces inspired by traditional crafts that focus on materials, textures and their relationship to their cultural surroundings. The UAE native has participated in a number of mentorship programs, with such organizations as the Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council, Sharjah, in collaboration with the London College of Fashion, and with celebrated Egyptian jewelry designer Azza Fahmy. Her eponymous jewelry brand includes such collections as Leaf, featuring pieces made by gold-casting leaves, and Safeefa, a collaboration-based commission with Bedouin weavers.

Azza Skhiri Bouchamaoui’s jewelry brand is inspired by the Queen of Carthage. Named Didon – after the founder of the Phoenician empire of Carthage – the label is a tribute to strong women, with sculptural pieces made from quality materials. The Python ring, for example, adorned with black and white diamonds and pink sapphires, is a statement piece that works for both nighttime and daytime wear. Azza hails from Tunisia.

Bilal Fellah’s eyewear brand is inspired by the Moroccan coastal city of Tangier, where the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean come into heady contact. Named Port Tanger, the label is an ode to the sun-drenched lifestyle of that Moroccan city, with collections bearing such names as Leila, Mektoub and Tangerine – the fruit after which the city was named. Bilal is of Moroccan and Algerian descent.

Lebanese fashion designer Cynthia Merhej trained at both Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art in London. Through her label Renaissance Renaissance, which she founded in 2016, the Beirut-born designer offers a contemporary reinvention of female couture heritage. Her carefully constructed ready-to-wear collections are stylish, sustainable and created with the careful detailing.

Saudi Arabian designer Dania Shinkar launched her handcrafted bag label in 2019. Wanting to create bags that would be unique – and a far cry from mass-market accessories – Dania sought skilled artisans to produce bags made from ethically sourced leather and adorned with signature metal frames and cellulose acetate handles. Dania possesses a BA and an MA from the London College of Fashion.

Eli Mizrahi’s eveningwear label Mônot exudes sense and sensuality. Designed with glamorous backdrops in mind, Eli’s lush gowns shimmer with unabashed sexiness – as was most notably evident in his debut fashion campaign, which featured the legendary Kate Moss donning Mônot dresses in Saudi Arabia’s magnificent city of AlUla. Born in Beirut, the Lebanese designer is now based in New York but produces the bulk of his eveningwear in Lebanon.

Of mixed Iraqi and Lebanese descent, Harith Hashim strikes a delicate balance between minimalist sophistication and pure femininity to create his designs. Under the Harithand eveningwear label, which he launched in 2012, he imagines flowing dresses in either muted tones or explosive colors that are Red Carpet-worthy. Enthralled with art and design ever since he could remember, Harith went against his mother’s wishes to study medicine and made it a point to pursue his love of fashion.

Folklore is a handbag label founded in 2014 by Kuwaiti designer Haya Al Abdulkareem. A Central Saint Martins graduate, Haya creates capsule collections with limited pieces every season, focusing on artisan craftsmanship. Inspired by art, design, history and tradition, each Folklore bag combines a geometric shape with modern aesthetics, while offering optimum functionality.

Through her brand Priah, Colombian fashion designer Juanita García celebrates the work of female artisans who managed to preserve their ancestral art of crochet, a technique that could have disappeared in the face of rapid industrialization. The clothes designed by Juanita are then handmade with ethical practices in the Colombian mountains of Boyacá. Priah’s new Ruana collection reinterprets the traditional South American poncho into a fashion-forward, sustainably made must-have that exudes contemporary flair.

Casablanca native Julien Riad Sahyoun always had a great passion for precious stones. He studied design and gemology at the Gemological Institute of America in both New York and California, and then launched his own brand, JRS, in 2016. The Moroccan designer pushed boundaries by introducing genderless jewels, such as ear cuffs and bracelets that look just as fabulous on men as they do on women, taking the wearer into a boundless jewelry adventure.

Jordanian designer Laith Maalouf earned a degree in fashion at Lebanon’s ESMOD and trained under celebrated Lebanese designer Elie Saab. He then launched his eponymous label in 2013. Featuring inspired eveningwear, the Laith Maalouf brand showcases layering, draping, complex patterns and embroidery, resulting in memorable gowns that reflect Laith’s passion for photography, drawing, art and graphic design.

Gleaning inspiration from music, travel and art, Lama Jouni has created an eponymous label that boasts structured silhouettes for women that are both sensual and understated. She studied at ESMOD, Istituto Marangoni and Parsons Paris and trained at such fashion houses as Balmain and Reed Krakoff. The Lebanese designer's ready-to-wear collections carry an accessible price point, yet espouse a high fashion ethos.

Self-trained, Bogotá-based designer Laura Laurens looks to her background in fine arts when she’s creating new designs. She launched her eponymous brand in 2014 with the idea of reinterpreting upcycled military fabrics as a metaphor to reassemble Colombia’s polarized territory. In 2018, she was chosen by Vogue Talents to represent Latin America in Milan Fashion Week, and in 2019 Deutsche Welle identified her as one of 40 female leaders transforming Latin America through creativity.

Of Iraqi origin and now based in Jordan, Malik Thomas Jalil Kydd created a gender-neutral label focused on screen printing. His engaging and highly artistic designs are part of the slow fashion movement, with each piece carefully and delicately produced in a sustainable manner. In addition, to ensure that the Malik Thomas Studio label remains anchored in the Arab world, Malik manufactures buttons and all other finishes within the MENA region.

Prior to launching her eponymous ready-to-wear label in 2014, Maram Aboul Enein completed a BFA at Parsons Paris and trained at such prestigious fashion houses as Oscar de la Renta and Zac Posen. The Maram womenswear brand combines skilled craftsmanship with modern-day luxury, while using sustainably sourced fabrics and espousing ethical manufacturing techniques. Born in Egypt, Maram splits her time between Cairo and Montreal.

Egyptian fashion designer Mina Tahir’s eponymous label is a gracious bridge between East and West. Youthful, dynamic and ultra-contemporary, the Minar Tahir brand is first inspired by the MENA region’s subcultures, with references to traditional dress and local crafts, but also by the alternative hip-hop and skateboard cultures of the West. The use of digital technologies is readily apparent in the gorgeous graffiti art adorning Mina Tahir fashion pieces.

Under the Benchellal label, Amsterdam-based Moroccan designer Mohamed Benchellal creates elegant eveningwear that manages to be timeless and contemporary, while being mindful to the planet. His designs have been worn by the likes of supermodel Helena Christensen and pop icon Camila Cabello, to name a few.

A recent graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, where she earned a BFA in fashion design, Roudha Al Mazroei possesses a great love of architecture and art. Having identified a gap in the market when it came to creative and more casual bridal wear, she launched her eponymous label, which focuses on contemporary, ready-to-wear bridal outfits and that reflects the designer’s love of storytelling and her rebellious nature.

Sisters Tania and Dima Nawbar are fourth-generation Lebanese jewelers – in 1891, their great-great grandfather opened the family’s first jewelry store in Beirut’s historic gold souk. Together, Tania and Dima launched L’atelier Nawbar, becoming the first women jewelers in their family. Their capsule collection, Fragments of Beirut, is particularly poignant – it’s both a tribute to their beloved capital city and a testament to all things beautiful that were violently blown away in 2020, during the August 4 Beirut blast.

Born in Kuwait to Iraqi parents, Zaid Affas first wanted to be an architect like his father, but the love of style that his mother instilled him took him down the fashion design path, graduating from the prestigious Central Saint Martins in menswear fashion design. A citizen of the world, Affas lived in Kuwait City, London, New York, Los Angeles, Milan and Xiamen, China, prior to moving back to Los Angeles, where he launched his eponymous label in 2014. His distinctive, luxury ready-to-wear designs are a blissful mix of organic shapes and urban engineering, reflecting Zaid’s masterful tailoring.

Moroccan bag designer Zakaria Bendriouich was born and raised in Marrakesh. A former student at Casablanca’s Collège LaSalle, he spent most of his teenage years with the craftsmen of Marrakesh’s Medina, where he acquired his skills and inspiration. In 2012, Zakaria had a major accident that resulted in him losing a kidney, requiring him to drink three liters of water per day, so he had to carry water bottles at all times, and his friends joked about him needing to carry a jerrycan. This led him to create the Bidou Bags, which were conceived in order for Zakaria to hold his water bottles in a stylish manner. The designer produced his handmade leather bag using recycled plastic jerrycans (in a satiric take on his health condition).