Rabia Z pushes cultural boundaries with her fashionable hijabs while Amber Feroz gets bold with black and metallic greys.
Designers Rabia Z and Amber Feroz showcased their collections at Abu Dhabi Fashion Week on Monday night, among others. With chic berets and cool hats, Rabia Z of Emirati and Afghan origin, is the first designer at Abu Dhabi Fashion Week to present clothes for Muslim women wearing the hijab.
Positive image
With conservative cuts — long sleeved, loose-fitting tops and trousers, Rabia has transformed the lives of millions of Muslim women around the world.
"I have been living in the US for half of my life and when I decided to wear the hijab seven years ago, I discovered that there was nothing to wear. So many women who wear the hijab want to be fashionable and it is difficult for them to find clothes. If you wear the jalabiya (long gowns) or the abaya when you are abroad you get more attention and people look at you differently."
"I want to give a positive image for Muslims," she says, adding that what she is doing is a service for both Muslims and non-Muslims.
'Not difficult'
"I want non-Muslims to see that the hijab is not difficult and for Muslims to be still be stylish and fashionable with the hijab."
Rabia's debut was last season at Dubai Fashion Week where she won the International Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year award.
She uses a lot of satin, cotton and almost always jersey. "It's comfortable, breathable and light." And she employs a lot of black and some white — inspired by the black abaya and gutra (the head scarf that Emirati men wear).
"The collection," she says "is a tribute to women of the Gulf."
Rabia doesn't believe that she is restricting her market. "If you remove the veil, my clothes can be worn by non-Muslim women too."
She also doesn't intend to open a shop anytime soon.
"I want my clothes to be available globally and department stores are global so I will continue distributing through department stores."
Daring
Feroz's autumn-winter Doris Dulce collection was bold with a legion of black and metallic grey.
His clothes screamed out at you in spite of the plain colours. Feroz has no need to resort to bright red or green for his clothes to be noticed. The clothes speak for themselves. They were both simple and daring at the same time as seen with a thin, sparkly silver belt on a plain, short black dress.
The sleeves and waists of his miniskirts were slashed and tattered making the outfits look wild and unruly, but at the same time very chic.
With little embroidery and colours, but interesting cuts and shapes, his collection stood out and definitely had appeal for the modern, hip woman. Feroz's last item, although not his best, was a short, fully sequined silver dress that shimmered on the runway.
