For the most part, 2020 can be summarized as having an altogether confusing, terrifying, and stress-inducing slowness that leaves us not quite sure what future lies on the other side; what the ‘new normal’ really means for us. That, and a lot of dalgona coffee. 

But from chaos and grief we’ve come to learn that art and innovation always appears as a supporting character. Thats not just our opinion—its history. Take for example the Renaissance, or the appearance of Egyptian mahraganat music after the Arab Spring in 2011—both equally important points in history (also not our opinion; undisputed fact).

The world of fashion, in constant innovation, is no different. In an attempt to support the local ecosystem of creatives and endorse Arab designers to the death, quarantine or not, the 11th edition of Arab Fashion Week has gone online, complete with a partnership with app giant TikTok, until June 26th to showcase regional talents come rain or shine.

Sophia Nubes.

Quarantine has been very good for TikTok, with quite literally millions of bored homebodies flocking to the video app as a source of both entertainment and comedic relief from the jarring, unrelenting disaster that is 2020. And now, thanks to the Arab Fashion Council it’s set to be a fashion destination for connoisseurs of the industry with the lineup of shows and panel discussions set within the fashion week’s schedule. 

This year’s shows will be open to the public through TikTok and the week's website, and will be directly complimented with a new ‘shop the runway’ feature on shop.arabfashionweek.com, giving the participating designers a chance to showcase their collection to a larger number of customers and industry professionals.

The fashion week is bringing on a hefty number of brands, including AAVA, Joweh, Baravia, FAD, Sophia Nubes, and Mada'En, making for a huge variation in haute couture and ready-to-wear. That’s what we call range. 

Amato Couture.

The shows start everyday at 8 pm Dubai-time, and as far as we’re concerned the most exciting aspect of the online runway reinterpretation is that we get to pretend like we were actually invited. Who’s to say we weren’t?

Main landscape image courtesy of Arab Fashion Council.

Main square image: Amato Couture.