CELEBRATING INCLUSIVITY, DIVERSITY- FROM WOMEN FOR ALL WOMEN

Modest Fashion Week was in Dubai for the second time to Dubai!

This time with lots of powerful message: From Women to Women.

Modest Fashion Week has been making headlines from time to time since 2016. The secret? It’s disruptive concept!

The event series exposed A to Z about Modest Fashion, gathering everybody in the industry, traveling events to making global headlines everywhere they go. Modest Fashion Weeks is also the first one to positioned Modest Fashion as a lifestyle for all women with all backgrounds and faith.

The event itself is born from the grass-roots from Women to Women.

Franka Soeria and Ozlem Sahin – the founders are self-funded entrepreneurs with a vision. These two women from 2 different countries (Turkey and Indonesia) have a completely different look but has the same interest: Modest Fashion.

Under their company- Think Fashion, they are in marathon efforts of creating solutions for Modest Fashion industry worldwide.

“We never imagine that we will reach this milestone. It was started with a concept. With the non-stop efforts and collaborations spirit; we made it as a global brand. We made Modest Fashion Weeks in Istanbul, London, Dubai, Jakarta. When we see our achievements, people really think that Modest Fashion Weeks series is made by a giant company- which is not. The events are created by us- two women with passion and we manage to make these known globally from one city to another.

With the growth of our events, we have help creating global names in modest fashion, people really find us as the right platform to amplify their achievements.

It’s a trust that we got from them and we want to keep on going creating great things. To take things to another level…” told Franka Soeria– the cofounder which is originally from Indonesia.

“As Think Fashion, we have made many initiatives so far with the result orientated approach. The most exciting initiatives right now are Modest Boulevard – the World’s first modest hub with a full set of modest lifestyle experience that includes 300 + designers, artist, and creatives on it! We are continuously meeting with new talents globally because of Modest Fashion Weeks event series and it is the right time to connect these talents with the global market, not just in the event; but any time. There is also our marketplace ModestCatwalk.com which is the home of Modest Fashion Weeks designers/brands providing styles from around the globe. We also have Council of Modest Fashion– which will be the biggest and most trusted modest fashion initiative worldwide because we see ourselves as the guardians of the industry, not the authority. ” said Ozlem Sahin– the co-founder from Turkey.’’

“We are living in an exciting time in Fashion where the story behind the garment is more important than ever. We are delighted to have this collaboration with Think Fashion and this to me is one of the most exciting opportunity and honor to promote modest fashion in the middle east,” said Arif Ebrahim from Red Connect– the local partner of Dubai Modest Fashion Week.

Dubai Modest Fashion Week was held on March 7-9 at miX by Alain Ducasse restaurant, situated at Emerald Palace Kempinski Dubai- Palm Jumeirah, UAE.

#DMFW 2019 was presented in a unique concept- fashion week in a rooftop. Highlighting International Women’s Day (March 8) & Fashion for Good.

DESIGNERS/BRANDS WORLDWIDE UNDER ONE ROOF

There were international modest fashion designers and brand, as long as the amazing talents of locals in the UAE showcasing their collections in Parade Shows;

From Niswa Fashion, Lebasi and Ouafae Taame from USA, Mariyan Suleymanova and Ahada from Russia, The Hijab Lee and Asiya Rafiq from India, Mayada Apparel from Canada, JD by Jaida Derguti and Sempre from Turkey, Kazeca Studio from Australia, Johar by Dalia and Hama Yassen from Jordan, Naj Tags from Lebanon, Raidha’s from Maldives, Boutallion from Netherlands, Victoria Design from Estonia to S by Samar, JG Couture and My Kaftan from UAE.

Five brands will represent Indonesia; #Markamarie, Devi Janeeta, Lina Sukijo, Jawhara Syari and CR by Tika Ramlan with diverse style from urban to more conservative look; Syari Style. Singapore showcasing their urban designs from Adrianna Yariqa and Emma Melisa Apparel.

College of Fashion & Design (CFD) showcased the great collections of their students. The first artisan chocolatier in the Middle East- Blu Chocolate will do the amazing collaboration with Dulce by Safiya.

There were multiple exclusive shows, one of them is ANOTAH from Kuwait. Known as one of the most successful lifestyle brands, ANOTAH was established in 1998 with the foresight of providing inspiring collections that are tailored to fit modest, Middle Eastern women. From a single store in Kuwait, ANOTAH has grown to over 25 stores across the Middle East.

The Netherlands represented by Boutallion showcased their potential in a modest fashion.

Azerbaijan introduced their unique collection in the event through the exclusive fashion show. The show presented the best talents of the country showcasing their modest designs; Nargiz Shakhbazi and Hijab Queen, Anara Zakirli, Zahra World and Lyaman Hajiyeva.

FASHION FOR GOOD CAUSE

Modest Fashion Week focus in #DMFW 2019 is highlighting International Women’s Day & Fashion For Good.

On March 8th, International Women’s Day. they celebrated this special event by dedicating multiple projects from #DMFW to mark this special occasion.

Also to celebrate the importance of Women Empowerment; Modest Catwalk– a global marketplace for modest fashion presented a mix and match fashion show dedicated for women and their unique characters presenting multiple designers under their roof. The theme? Happiness!

Dubai Modest Fashion Week highlighted inclusivity through various acts; to open the door of fashion for everybody.

One of them is through Dream & Design for Disabilities project. It is a project focusing on disabled communities’ talents & disabled needs in fashion.

The project Dream & Design for Disabilities was launched on Jakarta Modest Fashion Week on July 2018 involving 3 countries Indonesia-German and Turkey. The project was a big success and sponsored by Indonesia 2018 Asian Paragames. Now the project continued in Dubai Modest Fashion Week 2019 by presenting Asiya Rafiq from Kashmir- India who created amazing collections for the disabled people.

Another inclusivity segment was the fashion exhibition made by refugees and underprivileged women. One of them will be #BenangProject – a well-known CSR project by #Markamarie and UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) empowering the refugees through fashion training.

Catwalk of DMFW presented models with different ethnicities to celebrate diversity from caucasian, African, Arabian, asian, latinas and many more.

MODEST FASHION’S BIGGEST GATHERING

Council of Modest Fashion – one of biggest modest fashion collective worldwide from Asia, Europe, GCC & Middle East to Russia and Africa bring valuable international and diversity touch to the event.

DMFW 2019 is organized by Think Fashion & Red Connect

Pictures shown on this article on my blog are by Shafni Salih
Check out post on “What I wore for – DMFW“