When we think of Saudi Arabia, oil is probably one of the first things that comes to mind. And rightly so. In March 1938, a gigantic amount of oil was discovered and this plant resource made the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia one of the richest countries in the world. Although it has been 85 years since the discovery of this oil, Saudi Arabia is far from the top. on the verge of impeding production. And the Kingdom intends to diversify and expand beyond this herbal resource, moving towards other spaces such as fashion, through projects such as Saudi Vision 2030.
Led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the vision targets public sectors, such as culture, tourism, health, education, infrastructure and recreation, with the aim of increasing non-oil gross domestic product from 16% to 50%. the contribution of the personal sector to GDP from 40% to 65%, according to the Saudi Fashion Commission.
Before 2020, there was hardly a fashion ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. But the creation of the Fashion Commission, headed by Burak Çakmak, is flourishing and is expected to bring a contribution of 1. 4% to the Kingdom’s GDP, or about $12. 5 billion in added gross price.
“Here in Saudi Arabia we built a fashion from scratch,” Çakmak told me in an interview.
Çakmak is a former dean of fashion at New York City’s Parsons School of Design. Çakmak works passionately to bring the Saudi ecosystem up to date and is open to the ups and downs.
“The biggest challenge is gaining insight into market data. It is vital that the commission, as well as designers and corporations across the price chain, are able to make informed, data-driven decisions,” he said.
Stakeholders, investors, the Saudi government and the fashion industry want knowledge to help the Kingdom’s fashion sector thrive, but the lack of knowledge led the Commission to create its first knowledge-based report. “We’ll publish it on June 27 in Paris, right?” after Paris Men’s Fashion Week, and will present it in New York in October. Titled “The State of Fashion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the report will advise the industry, obviously outlining its functionality issues and the magnitude of the opportunities in Saudi Arabia. which we hope will contribute to the expansion of the sector. To complement the report, we are also launching an online platform for stakeholders to interact with industry knowledge. For the Commission, it is vital that the Kingdom has any and all opportunities, as Çakmak states, to expand as a high-price-added fashion price chain.
According to the Commission, fashion accounts for 1. 8% (230,000 people) of the Saudi community, of which 52% are women. All of this, in turn, is due to wholesale and retail sales. “The Saudi fashion industry attracts local skill,” says Çakmak. Saudi Arabia’s young population will ensure that they produce enough skills to generate development in all segments of the fashion price chain, as long as we motivate and invest in them. “
Saudi designers’ workshop at the Institut de los angeles Moda in Paris, when academics were reading to obtain the Executive Certificate in Luxury Brand Management.
It was announced in May and reported by Reuters that sixty-three percent of the Kingdom’s population of 32.3 million, is under thirty years old. This leaves the Crown Prince needing to find ways to provide jobs for over 10 million Saudi people, hence Vision 2030. And this is where fashion can make a difference.
“The thing is, young people in Saudi Arabia are ambitious and take advantage of all the opportunities that Vision 2030 gives them; And this reflects the decline in the Saudi unemployment rate. As a component of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plans, the aim is to reduce the unemployment rate to 7 percent, up from the previous record of 11. 6 percent, while expanding women’s participation in the hard labor force from 22 percent to 30 percent,” says Çakmak.
A Nour Al Dhahri dress that took a month to finish, at the Saudi Cup Saudi 100 Brands exhibition.
For Çakmak, as he oversees this ecosystem of designers, retail, development, production, apparel, footwear, and jewelry for traditional and modern fashion, he seems excitedly optimistic for all the growth happening in the Kingdom. Working with the Ministry of Culture, they watch as investment drives and builds robust regulatory frameworks. It’s not an easy job but Çakmak thrives on helping those in the Saudi fashion ecosystem to reach their full potential, while fostering the Kingdom’s robust and rich fashion heritage.
“The Saudi fashion scene is like no other; you only have to attend a Saudi event like the Saudi Cup to see its originality and love of luxury and extravagance, combined with Saudi heritage and contemporary,” says.
Initiatives within the Commission, such as Saudi 100 Brands, are a career progression programme that is helping emerging local skills reach their full potential. This ability is between twenty and seventy years old. Some were trained in foreign design schools and others are self-taught, but 85% of them are women.
SS24 via Saudi designer Mona Alshebil
One of the hundred Saudi brands is ready-to-wear designer Mona Alshibil.
“Abayas, the classic long, baggy dress worn by women, are a unique facet of Saudi fashion. Saudi designers have reinvented the abaya, transforming classic black design into a fashion statement. We modernized it and experimented with other fabrics, cuts, colors, and embellishments, creating styles that are timeless, versatile, and modern,” she says.
“What distinguishes Saudi designers from others is our vision, which is born from our past and our heritage. We are ambitious, insistent to stand out in the fashion field by showing the world our distinct and different designs that draw inspiration from our Kingdom’s ancient past and nature in its diverse regions,” says Nour Al Dhahri, another designer from the Saudi 100 Brands.
Shahd AlShehail, another designer from the first cohort of the hundred Saudi brands, explains what makes their logo unique: “We are rooted in an exclusive narrative that references Saudi culture, and we have a strong support in craftsmanship and artisans local”. This focuses on craftsmanship and authenticity effects in exclusive designs and an unparalleled logo experience. ”
The Saudi fashion ecosystem encompasses ten categories ranging from shoes to fragrances, ready-to-wear, modest, conceptual, high-end, demi-couture, bridal, and handbags. With more than five thousand hours of tutoring, as well as master classes and workshops. Delivered through industry leaders and experts, it gives one hundred brands the opportunity to shine globally at New York and Milan Fashion Weeks.
“Since its launch in June 2021, the One Hundred Saudi Brands initiative has gained thousands of applicants,” says Çakmak. “And thanks to this initiative, we have been able to gain knowledge about the quantity and quality of fashion brands that exist in Saudi Arabia. We learned that the Kingdom had thousands of truly impressive and largely unknown artistic abilities. It has been incredibly gratifying to see the skill of designers identified nationally and internationally.
And just last month, the Commission teamed up with France’s renowned Institut Français de la Mode, offering courses for emerging Saudi designers. Through two courses: the ‘Executive certificate in fashion business program’ and ‘Fashion design program,’ designers have the opportunity to learn and grow in the industry. The formerly mentioned course starts this month with thirty students learning marketing, business strategy, visual merchandizing, retailing, and financial management. The latter course starts on June 26th and runs till July 13th, giving 24 designers a cultural experience and technical knowledge.
Masterclass from the Istituto Marangoni at the Fashion Futures 2022 event, on the perspectives of the fashion chain.
The costs of the course are covered through the Commission. And for those still in Saudi Arabia, there are twelve universities that offer bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral systems in fashion-related fields.
The Commission has other projects such as Fashion Futures, Elevate and Intermix Residency that strengthen the price chain of the Saudi fashion ecosystem, consolidating the Kingdom’s position in the global fashion industry. The Commission has participated in global occasions such as Expo 2020 in Dubai, the Iron23 exhibition in New York, the White Milano exhibition, the Red Sea International Film Festival, the Mohammed Ashi exhibition in Paris, which will take up Haute Couture Fall/ Winter 2024, Couture Week in July and the Saudi Arabia Cup in Riyadh.
“Saudi fashion is about embracing classical culture with its vision of elegance. The Saudi aesthetic is structured through a lot of detailed subtleties like embroidery,” says Breck Graham, a stylist who has worked with major fashion brands, from Estée Lauder to Karl Lagerfeld.
Model Elle Macpherson wears a 100-brand Saudi designer at the Red Sea Film Festival. The jumpsuit with pink cape is from the Saudi Arabian Amarah logo, a womenswear logo introduced in 2019 through Arwa AlKadi. The gold-satin “Mila” bag features a crystal. embellished buckle through Dania Shinkara. (Photo via Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images for the Red Sea International Film Festival)
In addition to launching the State of Fashion report this month, the Commission will carry out projects this year that will affect its price chain.
“Our new product progression study will be open until the end of 2023. Headquartered in Riaydh, the area has the latest generation such as laser cutting machines and 3D knitting machines. The production area will allow designers to produce prototypes and samples to drive market entry,” says Çakmak.
The Commission will also host a fourth exchange shop and has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology for a study and progression centre for sustainable textile fabrics and technologies. They will continue to advocate for women’s leadership through their Elevate initiative. , in collaboration with his mentors: Lorenz Baumer, Laure Heriard Dubreuil, Christophe de Pous and Valérie Hermann. In September, its 100 Saudi brands will return to White Milano, and its Fashion Future event will return in October.
“It is evident that fashion is a driving force of the Saudi economy, and we are in a very strong position with a group of talented young people eager to inform themselves and apply their skills in the new Saudi fashion scene,” concludes Çakmak.