Tag Archives: MENA

As Mental Health Awareness Month wraps up, we take a look at how the pandemic and its ensuing lockdown affected creatives from the MENA Region. With the invaluable help of UAE-based clinical psychologist Dr. Saliha Afridi, we came up with a short mental health questionnaire and sent the questions to five MENA creatives: Lebanese fashion […]

Despite ongoing attempts to suppress the Palestinian identity and creative scene, designers based in Palestine, once again, prove they can defy and overcome the odds stacked against them. The 10 designers featured here on FTA may come from different walks of life, but they’re all reshaping the global narrative surrounding their homeland. Nol Collective is […]

There’s a wonderfully retro vibe to 32-year-old designer and artist Louis Barthélemy’s Instagram page, which features a heady mix of photos he’s snapped during his artistic sojourns in Egypt – a scene of the Nile at dusk, an ornate Pharaonic tomb at Luxor, a turquoise pool in the mysterious Siwa Oasis, which has become a […]

Saudi Arabian fashion designer Noora Hefzi is based in Dubai, where she also produces her clothes. Her goal is to create one-of-a-kind pieces. She chats with FTA about her vision for her eponymous brand. Q Why did you decide to launch your own brand?A I started designing and creating my own clothes after high school, […]

Going digital is now a must for fashion brands, but it can prove to be a complicated and costly business. Fadi Amoudi, founder of the MENA region’s first robotic-driven fulfillment center, shares his advice on the pick, pack and deliver side of e-tailing  Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce digital fashion and beauty sales in […]

Jacquie Aiche says that her jewelry is designed to empower women. The LA-based jewelry designer, whose father is of Egyptian origin, has long been a favorite of Hollywood stars and celebrities, with the likes of January Jones, Kylie Jenner, Usher and Gigi Hadid spotted wearing her bespoke designs. Her latest venture, launched this week, is […]

Qatar’s Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art made history last year when it hosted “Huguette Caland: Faces and Places,” a fascinating exhibit that chronicled six decades in the late Lebanese artist’s life. Pieces on show included paintings, drawings, smocks, sculptures and kaftans. The daughter of Bechara El Khoury, Lebanon’s first post-independence president, Caland was famed […]

With the Oscars almost upon us, we asked each of our four FTA Prize finalists in the eveningwear category to create an original sketch that captures both the allure of the Academy Awards celebration and the essence of each designer’s aesthetic. Check out what they imagined for the most glamorous event of the year. Eli […]

Next Monday will see the 93rd Academy Awards take place, a film event that is also a very important date for those in fashion. The upcoming edition of the Oscars – unlike the other pandemic film award events such as the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild – will be a full physical event taking place over […]

Earlier this month, Cynthia Merhej became the first Arab woman to be shortlisted for the prestigious LVMH Prize. The Beirut-born Lebanese designer founded her ready-to-wear womenswear label, Renaissance Renaissance, in 2016, offering a contemporary reinvention of couture heritage. Asharq Al Awsat’s fashion editor and FTA contributing editor Jamila Halfichi interviewed Merhej for FTA, asking her […]