Vogue Italia will be hosting a fashion show in a growing fashion country, Saudi Arabia.
Editor in Chief of Vogue Italia, Franca Sozzani has announced that the magazine will be hosting a three day “fashion extravaganza” in Saudi Arabia in the next month. The event is being called the Jeddah Vogue Fashion Experience and is stated to be the first international fashion event of this scale to be had in the country. Sozzani has mentioned that the purpose of the event is to stay true to the magazine’s motto to promote new fashion talents around the world. The project will consist of multiple Vogue platforms, but will be led by senior fashion editor Sara Maino.
Maino will be selecting ten Saudi female designers to present their works at the event. Of the ten, one will be selected as the winner to go on and present their collection in Milan. The designers will be showing their collections in the Rubaiyat store, which will be co-hosting the event. The president, Wafaa Abbar, of the Rubaiyat Group shared the excitement for the event, “It is tremendously rewarding to see Saudi women being given such an opportunity on the world stage”. This statement emphasizes the status of this event in a country that finds women to be limited in their opportunities.
Of course this is due to the country’s more conservative rules and keeping in respect to them the fashion event will be a women’s only experience. The event will also have a charity gala dinner in which all proceeds will go to the World Food Program. Sozzani has previously hosted the annual Vogue Fashion Experience in Dubai, which has seen the likes of Naomi Campbell, Silva Fendi, Christian Louboutin, and many more. The Jeddah experience will be taking place in the namesake city, which is the largest city in the country. The city overlooks the Red Sea and the city center is deeply influenced by it. A combination of historical meaning and contemporary architecture and art, Jeddah presents itself as the perfect venue for the Vogue Italia event.
