Riyadh Fashion Week - DAY 1 - Part 1 - ADNAN AKBAR (COUTURE)
21 OCT 2023
ADNAN AKBAR
THE FIRST SAUDI DESIGNER IN THE HEART OF THE WORLD, A FASHION PIONEER WAS BORN IN 1949 MECCA SAUDI ARABIA. AS A CHILD, ADNAN AKBAR WAS INSPIRED BY HIS MOTHER’S PASSION FOR FASHION, WHILE HE DISCOVERED HIS PATH BY DESIGNING DRESSES FOR HIS SISTER’S DOLLS. INSTEAD OF STUDYING POLITICAL SCIENCE, ADNAN’S JOURNEY IN FASHION DID NOT TAKE LONG TO DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF EMBROIDERY AND DECORATE FABRICS WITH JEWELS. HE SPENT LONG NIGHTS SETTING STONES INTO HIS DESIGNS AND ALIGNING SPANGLES ON VELVET AND STAIN. ADNAN AKBAR DECIDED TO COMPLETE HIS STUDIES IN BEIRUT – 1968 AT THE FAMOUS FRENCH COUTURIERS MADAME SYLVIA. THEN HE WENT TO PARIS WORKING IN THE VOGUES LIBRARY. YEARS PASSED WHILE ADNAN WAS SKYROCKETING LEARNING AND WORKING. BY 1982, ADNAN’S CUSTOMERS WERE THE MOST OUTSTANDING PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE EAST. HE HELD A MAGNIFICENT FASHION SHOW IN MILAN, THE AUDIENCE REACTION WAS POSITIVE. ADNAN AKBAR GAINED THE TITLE OF ‘’COSTUME DESIGNER’’ THAT SUPPORTED HIS PERCEPTIONS SUCH AS THE FAMOUS SAUDI ARABIAN CHARACTER OF YESTERDAY AND TODAY, WERE PARTICIPATING IN PARIS AND CAIRO ALL OF WHICH ADDED VALUE TO HIS NAME. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OCTOBER 1987, ADNAN AKBAR INTRODUCED 25 DESIGNS AT THE INTERNATIONAL FASHION FESTIVAL WHERE THERE WAS +200,000 PEOPLE WHO LOVED HIS SPECTACULAR “1001 NIGHT SHAHRAZAD DRESS.” A CREATION THAT WAS HAND-MADE COMBINED WITH SILK AND BROCADE, CAREFULLY BEADED AND ENCRUSTED WITH PEARLS AND GEMS. IN JUNE 1988, ADNAN AKBAR DECIDED TO MAKE A CONTRACT OF COLLABORATION WITH THE FRENCH TEXTILE MANUFACTURERS BIANCHINI FERRIER. THE WORLD REMEMBERS IN THE HISTORY OF FASHION THE MIXTURE OF ARAB AND FRENCH UNIQUE LUXURY COMBINATIONS AND HOW ADNAN’S SMART DECISIONS MADE HIM A PIONEER OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY IN SAUDI ARABIA, REPRESENTING THE NAME OF HIS FAMILY AT HIS MOST PRIORITY GOAL. HOWEVER, HE FOUNDED IN 1970 THE “ADNAN AKBAR HOUSE OF FASHION” THAT WAS THE ONLY HOUSE OF (HAUTE COUTURE); THE FINEST FASHION DESIGNS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN. THE HOUSE SPECIALIZES IN UNIQUE ARABESQUE DESIGNS LUXURIOUSLY MADE WITH EMBROIDERY AND MOSAIC JEWELS, INFLUENCED BY ITS ORIENTAL CULTURE AND ITS NATURAL SENSE OF EUROPEAN STYLE.
