Saudi Arabia held its first trend present on Friday that includes fashions in swimsuits, a revolutionary step in a rustic the place lower than a decade in the past ladies had been required to put on body-covering abaya robes.
The poolside present that includes the work of Moroccan designer Yasmina Qanzal included primarily one-piece fits in shades of crimson, beige and blue. Most fashions had their shoulders uncovered and a few had their midriffs partially seen.
“It’s true that this nation may be very conservative, however we attempt to present elegant swimsuits that characterize the Arab world,” Qanzal advised AFP.
“Once we arrived right here, we understood {that a} swimsuit present in Saudi Arabia is a historic second, as a result of it’s the first time that an occasion of this sort has been held,” she stated, including that it was “an honor” to take part.
The present passed off on the second day of the opening of Crimson Sea Trend Week on the St Regis Crimson Sea Resort, positioned off the western coast of Saudi Arabia.
The advanced is a part of Crimson Sea World, one of many so-called gigaprojects on the coronary heart of Saudi Arabia’s Imaginative and prescient 2030 social and financial reform program, overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Prince Mohammed, who turned first in line to the throne in 2017, has initiated a collection of dramatic social reforms in a bid to melt Saudi Arabia’s austere picture stemming from its historic advocacy of a purist type of Islam. often called Wahhabism.
These adjustments have included shelving the stick-wielding non secular police who used to chase males out of purchasing malls for prayer, reintroducing film theaters and internet hosting co-ed music festivals.
They’ve coincided with an intensified crackdown on dissent, together with from conservative clerics who may protest such measures.
Shouq Mohammed, a Syrian trend influencer who attended Friday’s present, stated it was not stunning given Saudi Arabia’s try and divulge heart’s contents to the world and develop its trend and tourism sectors.
In 2022, the style business accounted for $12.5 billion, or 1.4 % of the nationwide GDP, and employed 230,000 folks, in line with a report revealed final yr by the Official Saudi Trend Fee.
“It is the primary time a swimsuit present has been held in Saudi Arabia, however why not? Significantly, why not?” Muhammad stated.
“It is potential and we now have it right here.”
Raphael Simacourbe, a French influencer who additionally attended on Friday, stated there was nothing dangerous in his eyes, however that within the Saudi context it was an vital achievement.
“It is very courageous of them to try this immediately, so I am very completely satisfied to be part of it,” he stated.
