Islamic Clothing Collections Show In Full Force

At Dubai Fashion Week, Hijab & Islamic Clothing Pieces Reign Supreme

In early April, Dubai held its International Fashion Week. From April 5 through 9, lots of Islamic clothing pieces, from caftans, abayas and evening dresses, were on display on the runways. Several high-profile designers showed their fall/winter collections at invitation-only, highly exclusive fashion shows. Among the 28 designers were Mariam Al-Mazro, Vikram Phadnis, Amal Murad, Deborah Simcox and Homa Qamar, one of the Emerging Talent designers, part of DFW’s Emerging Talent Competition.

Two years after its first Fashion Week, Dubai is still drawing the masses with its runway shows featuring Islamic clothing collections. The fashionable, expensive, and most modern emirate of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, Dubai puts on a successful fashion week each year.

What were the hits on the runways? Mariam Al-Mazro of Mimi Fashion Designs debuted her Islamic clothing line at DFW back in October, and her designs still follow a similar theme of bright paneled full length dresses, but she's expanded into tunics and more conventional evening gowns. Her long-sleeved, full-length dresses are popular among local Dubai women, but the bright and bold colors and prints give them an appeal to other women, too.

Vikram Phadnis is an Indian designer, so naturally, his Islamic clothing pieces were influenced and inspired by Indian culture. The beautiful Indian embroidery makes these pieces simply stunning, but many of them, including long coats over churidar and elegant full-length dresses, are hijab-friendly.

Amal Murad, designing for Redaa, showed long caftans with a bit of Brit appeal – tartan embroidery. The tartan touches looked chic under the hoods of her coats and along the edges of pockets, and the plaid popped against the all-over black of the pieces, making them all the more noticeable.

Homa Qamar was one of the winners of the Emerging Talent Competition. The young Dubai-based fashion designer says designing is more than a passion. As one of the winners of the competition, she’s obviously talented, too.  Her Islamic clothing designs blend different arts, cultures and fabrics with modern tailoring, embellishments and cuts. She showed long, black abayas with wide gold belts and gold accents on the sleeves and hoods.

Did you see any photos from Dubai Fashion Week? Who were your favorite designers? What pieces did you like the most?

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