DUBAI: Arab Fashion Week opens Thursday with hopes of establishing Dubai as a top destination for the new genre of "ready couture" and as a major fashion capital.
Organizers describe the form as a blend of haute couture and ready-to-wear or pret-a-porter.
"In Milan, we celebrate high-end ready-to-wear. In Paris, we celebrate high-end haute couture," said Jacob Abrian, the head of the Dubai-based Arab Fashion Council (AFC).
In Dubai and the Arab world, "we want to be innovative", he said, with off-the-rack clothing that is tailored to haute couture standards and can be customized.
For the first time in the region, the five-day show will also present a unisex collection signed by Rad Hourani, a Canadian-Jordanian designer known for his genderless creations.
The fashion week will open with "ready couture" for women from Emirati designer Lamya Abedin in the first of more than 20 Spring-Summer 2017 collections from more than 10 countries.
Now in its third edition, Arab Fashion Week aims to attract women from the Gulf who tend to dress up every day, as well as luxury-orientated buyers from Russia and China.
The AFC, founded in 2014 to represent the fashion industry in the 22 countries of the Arab League, introduced "ready couture" after an in-depth study of the market, Abrian said.
The form follows in the footsteps of limited ready-to-wear collections that can be customised, from famous fashion houses Roberto Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana, he said.
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