2 more designers interviewed before FFWD starts in Madinat Jumeirah tomorrow from 12 !!!!
Tahir Sultan and Amira Haroon talking about their attandance at FFWD, their style, desire, passion & dreams.
Amira Haroon Tahir Sultan
What does it mean for you to participate at FFWD? Could you share with us what is behind the collection for FFWD ?
Amira Haroon:
It means I have to finally get serious about fashion as business and not just play with creativity. There is professionalism and organization coming into the GCC fashion industry and all associated with this industry must comply and accept the challenges it brings.
The collection for season 1 is my true style, and probably my true colors. Very feminine, lots of lace since I live and breathe lace in my atelier, and tons of detail, all from ancient paintings, engravings, tattoos, symbols, everything that defines our ethos and our history and our past.
My main platform is London Fashion week, I am participating in fashion forward in order to inspire young Arabs, and show a different light on what ready to wear fashion in the gulf should be about.
It is a continuation of the 1940's theme
with dresses coats and trousers.The collection is tailored towards this
region.
What was
the moment that “whispered” you to become a fashion designer?
Amira:
I always wanted to make my clothes, and meddle into what
everyone else around me was wearing. I have grown up stepping on toes and
hurting egos since most of the times, I've made it my business to mentally
design something for everyone - all in my ideal world! So the whisper has
actually been the all empowering shout in the heart and the head.
Tahir:
There
wasn’t one moment. I always loved clothes. But I was never sure about how
viable it was as a business. Fashion in this region barely existed, so I
decided to study art and then architecture.
Eventually though, I went to central Saint Martins to study fashion and then interned with Alexander McQueen and John Gallianno .
Amira Haroon designs:
Tahir Sultan designs:
Inspiration & muse:
Amira:
I don't have a muse, like I said, I want to dress everyone,
by impressing my sense of clothing on them. However I like many beautiful
women. Olivia Palermo is the best in our genre.
Tahir:
I
am inspired by everything that goes on around me whether its art , food , flea
markets textiles, graphics I find
everything feeds my creativity. I have
several muses.
Favorite fashion era :
Amira:
I'm looking back at a hundred years ago nowadays. The onset
of world war 1 defined fashion for women for the next hundred years. It was as
if by magic, layers of skirting and corsetry were shed overnight to make it
more acceptable to wear trousers, simpler skirts and easy hemlines.
Women
suddenly discovered the need to be pretty 'and' functional, as nurses on the
battlegrounds, trying to find work as widows, managing with half the men around
to ride, drive, serve or till for them, and yet look very pretty. Details of
hats, sleeves, necklines and hems were altered the most in the second and third
decades of the 20 th century and that remains the most curiously inspiring era
for me.
Tahir:
There
are so many. I love the Victorian
bustles, the 1930s, the forties. They
were all amazing . I think there is such a wealth to choose from in fashion
history that I couldn’t pick just one
era or time.
Amira Haroon designs:
Tahir Sultan designs:
“Unique style”:
Amira:
Unique style for me is to be able to bring on any mood, always with a
signature undertone, always with a knowledge of your weak points and how to
turn them to your advantage, all with the end purpose of looking good.
Tahir:
My
unique style is a direct reflection of me, and who I am and where I am in my
life at the moment.
Biggest dream :
Amira:
I have been brought up with the knowledge and in a culture,
where I wasn't expected to work, since it was understood that you work to earn
money which I didn't need, or accomplish anything independently apart from
maintaining a beautiful house and family.
My biggest dream is to hear my
children say that their mother didn't just dress up and party her way through
her life, and also didn't just stay busy with odd projects in order to stay
busy. I want to leave them a legacy of self esteem built on the basis of
discovering your true potential though hard work.
Tahir:
My
goals and dreams change as I progress.
I am currently building my label
and trying to figure out where I want to call home.
So guys if you want to see designers and their catwalk this weekend you still have a chance.Go to the event at least 3 hours prior and you can get in!
I do keep fingers crossed to all designers that will be part of FFWD this weekend!
Either you are part of important night event or you walk down the street, emerald will give you exactly what you need. You will never be invisible or boring. Even the casual can be touched with the breeze of sophistication.
