The second evening’s shows at Dubai’s third Fashion Forward event were a study in miniature of fashion’s broad breadth. The variety ranged from the wearable elegance of Said Mahrouf to the candy-coloured don’t-look-at-the-price-tag princesses of Rami Kadi, and the space-age oddity that was Taller Marmo. Tying it up neatly at the end (with a bowtie) was some menswear from Velsvoir.
Said Mahrouf
The Moroccan-Dutch designer was this reporter’s standout designer of the evening, the kind we’d love to see more of if Fashion Forward is truly aiming to be a commercial event. Commercial isn’t a dirty word, by the way; all designers want to sell their clothes, some just actually create clothes people want to wear, like Mahrouf.
Mahrouf, who started his label three years ago, after returning to Casablanca from the Netherlands, is an interesting contrast to the other, shall we say more showman-like designers who also presented on Saturday night. While others gave us frills, bows, cartoons and lengthy explanations of their inspiration, Mahrouf simply presented a tight collection of tailored pieces. And yet he’s no stranger to spectacle — for many years, he was a performance artist.
But he wanted to design clothes people would actually buy and wear, he told me after the show, and many of his pieces could have walked off that catwalk and into your life.
Using only natural materials, mainly silk and a silk-wool blend, Mahrouf’s looks are sleekly tailored dresses, trousers and jackets in “20 shades of grey”, with details such as sharp pleats on a bodice; dresses knot and flow around the body, with a flash at an open back. Only one flowing gown that teamed chiffon with suit-like tailoring was the exception to a stream of successful pieces.
Taller Marmo
Unlike some of the crowd spotted at Fashion Forward, I’d actually like to wear clothes that — surprise! — are flattering rather than purposefully unattractive. Also, if possible, not demeaning.
That’s my heartfelt message to the two (male) designers at Taller Marmo, who seemed to have some very odd ideas about flattering women in their Saturday night presentation. Their show notes mentioned “women empowerment” (sic) and action-movie characters such as Lara Croft in Tombraider.
So how exactly does a piece of silver fabric stretched tight across the top of a woman’s body, pinning down her arms to the point of immobility, and tied up at the back, say anything about empowerment? It was like a corset for the space age. Perhaps there was an irony here, but that didn’t make it across the catwalk. There was a strong late-1980s streak in the use of oversized blazers and (eek!) crushed velvet. There were some strong points in the sportswear pieces, especially the abayas worn with trainers and tied at the waist. I’d love to see some youngsters sporting the pinafore-style specimen with boxfresh white sneakers in the mall soon.
Rami Kadi
The Lebanese haute couture designer (ie. he designs clothing that’s handmade to order, and costs the price of a small car) gave FFWD a moment of candy-coloured fantasy, stepping away from the business of fashion for a moment (Kadi’s clients come to him directly, so he wasn’t looking to sell a collection to buyers, but gain exposure, he told me). While many couture designers focus on extreme elegance, Kadi injects a dose of fun, with modern princesses (think Sleeping Beauty wakes up in 2014) from the Betsey Johnson school of colour wearing huge crowns of flowers. His winning card are the fabrics, many of which he says are exclusive, and all innovative. A ball gown skirt that looked like a fur was actually fluffy silk threads, while an a-line skirt was stitched with stretch nylon for a bubbly effect. Huge dresses are bubblegum pink, pista green and candy-floss blue; sleeker dresses show plenty of skin. If fashion is a sweetshop, then Kadi is its Willy Wonka.
