Dubai Fashion Days makes glamorous return

Second edition of style extravaganza to host shows at Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai and Dubai Design District (d3).

Top Chinese fashion brands including “Heaven Gaia” by Xiong Ying to showcase products to Middle East’s couturiers and fashionistas.

Fashion event organised by Hala China in collaboration with Miss Model of the World International Organization.

China’s ‘Father of Fashion’ Jerry Zhang named as Director for Dubai Fashion Days 2019.

 Hala China, a joint initiative between Meraas and Dubai Holding, is returning Dubai Fashion Days, a fashion festival, to the emirate. The five-day event that runs from 8 to 12 December 2019, will showcase upcoming and established designers from China and the UAE, and many more from the Middle East.

The glamorous event will reaffirm Dubai’s position as a global platform capable of elevating the Chinese fashion industry and a vehicle for international cooperation in its unification of China and the UAE as they build a bilateral fashion industry ecosystem.

The first edition of Dubai Fashion Days in 2018 gathered 30 of the most influential fashion institutions from China to Dubai and attracted more than 20,000 visitors. Building on its inaugural success, the second edition will seek to once again transform Dubai into a sprawling catwalk with an activation at key destinations including Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai and Dubai Design District (d3). What’s more, this year’s event will see fashion and design students from fashion institutes in Dubai playing an active role in organising the event.

The 2019 Dubai Fashion Days is supported by the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Dubai, Shenzhen Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism, and Sports Bureau, and is held in strategic partnerships with China Fashion Council, Dubai Design & Fashion Council, and Dubai Design District (d3). It’s also organised in collaboration with the Miss Model of the World International Organization.

A testament to the international appeal of Dubai Fashion Days, Hala China will invite Chinese fashion brands for the week to set up design studios, while offering a platform to showcase their products in Dubai’s global market. The event will feature retail pop-ups, industry talks, exhibitions and a gala evening.

The show will be directed by China’s “Father of Fashion” Jerry Zhang who started China’s first modeling agency, New Silk Road in 1992, and who has launched several Chinese fashion brands and models overseas.

The opening fashion show will feature “Heaven Gaia” by Xiong Ying, who is the brand’s founder and a leading designer of contemporary Chinese fashion creativity. The event will also bring the winner and first runner-up of the Miss Model of the World beauty pageant to walk down the catwalk at the fashion show’s opening ceremony.

Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Hala China, said: “As a global phenomenon, the fashion industry is becoming increasingly diversified and multicultural - much like Dubai’s personality. Dubai Fashion Days is a celebration of the ever-strengthening creative and cultural exchange between the UAE and China, with China’s luxury fashion boom promising to create new opportunities for businesses in the emirate.

“Arab designers have made giant leaps on the global stage, and this event will offer a great chance to collaborate with their counterparts in China and other parts of the world as we put together a bigger and better calendar of events. More importantly, the event will cement Dubai’s position as an integrated fashion ecosystem and a global stop shop for all fashion needs.”

His Excellency Li Xuhang, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Dubai, said: “In recent years, the leaders of China and the UAE have exchanged successful visits and the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries has been developing in a healthy and stable manner.

“In order to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, enhance the level of pragmatic cooperation between both sides in various fields, deepen the friendship  between the peoples of both nations and work together for a new chapter of the Centennial Plan of China-Arab relations, the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Dubai would like to be the supporting organization of another Hala China key event - Dubai Fashion Days.”

Mr. Zhang Qinghui, Chairman of China Fashion Association, commented: “It gives us great pleasure to participate in this year's Hala China event, the Dubai Fashion Days, to witness a grand fashion and cultural feast of notable brands and designers from China, UAE and Arab regions. We are excited to strengthen our partnership with Hala China in the creation of a fashion industry ecosystem, and foster a healthy, sustainable relationship together.”

Miss Anna, Chairwoman of the Miss Model of the World International Organization, said: “By facilitating international top models to participate in Dubai Fashion Days we hope to add value and diversity to Dubai’s fashion industry.”

As a part of the event, talks will be held with industry experts, investors, designers and other stakeholders to generate dialogue and offer a glimpse into the world and business of fashion. These sessions will also serve as an insight into the opportunities both the countries present each other.

According to research based on UnionPay transaction data for the 2019 McKinsey China Luxury Report, China delivered more than half the global growth in luxury spending between 2012–18, and is expected to deliver 65 per cent of the world’s additional spending. Heading into 2025 China will, for the first time in centuries, overtake the US as the world’s largest fashion market.

In its first year, Hala China organised an array of high-profile events and activities that have seen the Chinese community in the UAE and Chinese businesses foraying into the Middle East markets to explore and new and exciting opportunities. Key events included two China film weeks in Dubai, the largest Chinese New Year celebrations hosted outside of China, a photography-art exhibition in China ‘Through Chinese Eyes’, ‘The Silk, Tea and Celadon: An Intercultural Dialogue on the Silk Road’ and the first Chinese group wedding at Dubai’s picturesque Love Lakes.