Saudi fashion designers seem to be enjoying a great deal of success as they continue to turn heads at the international level. They are making the fashion fraternity notice what they have to offer in earnest. And on the other hand impressed by this extraordinary progress, the fashionistas globally are more than willing to buy their wonderful dresses to wear on numerous occasions. One such rising talent is a Saudi-born Australia-based designer Yousef Akbar. His design philosophy is to approach any collection as something akin to art.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, we sat down with him to find out what led him to pick fashion as his career, what it means to him and much more.
From a young age, Yousef was very much drawn to the splendor of art and its essence in society. He didn’t have many friends to hang out with and he wasn’t one of the popular or cool kids in school. Art to him was an escape. It was the one and only way he could express himself. He really enjoyed it since he was so good at it. “As I grew up, my interest in fashion started to grow and I always wanted to wear things that I couldn’t find in the shops, and that was quite frustrating, so I wanted to learn how to make my own clothes and I couldn’t see myself do anything else for the rest of my life,” he says.
Initially, he had moved to Australia to study Logistics at the University of South Australia. On the verge of finishing his Master’s at Sydney University, he came to realize that fashion can definitely be his ultimate job. Now with this dream looming in his head, he immediately enrolled at The Fashion Design Studio-Ultimo TAFE Sydney Institute of Fashion.
Yousef’s brand sparkles and stands out naturally because it comes from a personal place which always shows up in his work. “Technically, I focus heavily on cuts and construction, where I develop my own ways of cutting through experimentation which is unique to me,” he says. “Also I believe being a Saudi Arabian living in Australia, and England before that in a way gives me and my brand the understanding of both Oriental and Western cultures, which I believe gives my brand a unique position with the potential to appeal to both sides.”
When it comes to working on any collection, Yousef goes by a certain process that literally involves him having a muse first. “While designing, it’s very important to have a muse. It’s because when I design clothes I need to have a person in mind who would wear my clothes. That muse evolves with every collection and whosoever this muse is, it’s usually a big part of the inspiration for the work I do at the time,” Yousef explains.
As for women wearing his dresses, they are reckoned to be highly bold and sophisticated as he puts it this way, “The Yousef Akbar woman is confident, who loves to feel beautiful, glamorous and empowered. She expresses herself through her spectacular clothes. She has a strong presence wherever she goes. The Yousef Akbar woman isn’t defined by age and location, but by attitude!”
Finding inspirational touches in life isn’t that complex. One needs to be always open-minded. So in case of Yousef, inspiration for him can come from anywhere. “It can be so random. It usually is anything that affects me emotionally and provokes my thoughts,” he says.
Yousef looks up to his mother as the role model who, he says, is simply amazing. As for muses that dwell on his consciousness, there is one he is particularly touched by all the time: Tilda Swinton. “I find her intriguing and attractive. She is incredibly creative and a brilliant artist,” he says.
While celebrities from Kelly Osbourne to Kimbra and Jessica Mauboy among others have been big fans of Yousef’s designed dresses, he makes it clear that it’s nice to see his clothes worn by anyone in general. Nevertheless, he does go along with the reality check that celebrities have the power to influence and create exposure which is always great. “It’s not everything.”
Praising women’s fashion sense in the Middle East, Yousef has this to say, “Women of the Middle East are definitely sophisticated and have their unique style and taste. However, personally in my opinion I find that style generally in the Middle East is a bit conservative and traditional.”
Even though the fashion industry in the Middle East is on the rise, there is still a long way to go. “Designers in the Middle East with a few exceptions such as Elie Saab, Zuhair Murad or Rad Hourani, are not very well known globally. The fashion industry in the Middle East is still growing. At the moment unfortunately designers in the Middle East copy too much,” he says. “What I would love to see is designers become more innovative, and more original. And hopefully help set the image and reputation as innovators and leaders in creativity, because there is no doubt huge potential.”
His Resort17 collection is a celebration of all women and their courage and strength through times of adversity. “Growing up in the Middle East and having witnessed firsthand women being oppressed in a male-dominated society has had a huge impact on me,” he says. “That’s why the main focus of this collection is to challenge convention, by taking classic feminine silhouettes, deconstructing and then reinventing them using innovative and unconventional cutting techniques.”
The other exciting addition to the collection is the nuts and bolt screws he has used through seams, and to hold draped deconstructed garments together throughout the collection. “This was inspired by my research looking at metal devices that were used to torture women, as well as x-rays of broken bones of abused women showing them being held together by screws,” he says.
As the Yousef Akbar brand popularity picks up, he hopes to establish a strong presence in the Middle East, Australia, for now, and Europe and the US in the future. “Also in the next few seasons you could expect the injection of some menswear looks too,” he says.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, we sat down with him to find out what led him to pick fashion as his career, what it means to him and much more.
From a young age, Yousef was very much drawn to the splendor of art and its essence in society. He didn’t have many friends to hang out with and he wasn’t one of the popular or cool kids in school. Art to him was an escape. It was the one and only way he could express himself. He really enjoyed it since he was so good at it. “As I grew up, my interest in fashion started to grow and I always wanted to wear things that I couldn’t find in the shops, and that was quite frustrating, so I wanted to learn how to make my own clothes and I couldn’t see myself do anything else for the rest of my life,” he says.
Initially, he had moved to Australia to study Logistics at the University of South Australia. On the verge of finishing his Master’s at Sydney University, he came to realize that fashion can definitely be his ultimate job. Now with this dream looming in his head, he immediately enrolled at The Fashion Design Studio-Ultimo TAFE Sydney Institute of Fashion.
Yousef’s brand sparkles and stands out naturally because it comes from a personal place which always shows up in his work. “Technically, I focus heavily on cuts and construction, where I develop my own ways of cutting through experimentation which is unique to me,” he says. “Also I believe being a Saudi Arabian living in Australia, and England before that in a way gives me and my brand the understanding of both Oriental and Western cultures, which I believe gives my brand a unique position with the potential to appeal to both sides.”
When it comes to working on any collection, Yousef goes by a certain process that literally involves him having a muse first. “While designing, it’s very important to have a muse. It’s because when I design clothes I need to have a person in mind who would wear my clothes. That muse evolves with every collection and whosoever this muse is, it’s usually a big part of the inspiration for the work I do at the time,” Yousef explains.
As for women wearing his dresses, they are reckoned to be highly bold and sophisticated as he puts it this way, “The Yousef Akbar woman is confident, who loves to feel beautiful, glamorous and empowered. She expresses herself through her spectacular clothes. She has a strong presence wherever she goes. The Yousef Akbar woman isn’t defined by age and location, but by attitude!”
Finding inspirational touches in life isn’t that complex. One needs to be always open-minded. So in case of Yousef, inspiration for him can come from anywhere. “It can be so random. It usually is anything that affects me emotionally and provokes my thoughts,” he says.
Yousef looks up to his mother as the role model who, he says, is simply amazing. As for muses that dwell on his consciousness, there is one he is particularly touched by all the time: Tilda Swinton. “I find her intriguing and attractive. She is incredibly creative and a brilliant artist,” he says.
While celebrities from Kelly Osbourne to Kimbra and Jessica Mauboy among others have been big fans of Yousef’s designed dresses, he makes it clear that it’s nice to see his clothes worn by anyone in general. Nevertheless, he does go along with the reality check that celebrities have the power to influence and create exposure which is always great. “It’s not everything.”
Praising women’s fashion sense in the Middle East, Yousef has this to say, “Women of the Middle East are definitely sophisticated and have their unique style and taste. However, personally in my opinion I find that style generally in the Middle East is a bit conservative and traditional.”
Even though the fashion industry in the Middle East is on the rise, there is still a long way to go. “Designers in the Middle East with a few exceptions such as Elie Saab, Zuhair Murad or Rad Hourani, are not very well known globally. The fashion industry in the Middle East is still growing. At the moment unfortunately designers in the Middle East copy too much,” he says. “What I would love to see is designers become more innovative, and more original. And hopefully help set the image and reputation as innovators and leaders in creativity, because there is no doubt huge potential.”
His Resort17 collection is a celebration of all women and their courage and strength through times of adversity. “Growing up in the Middle East and having witnessed firsthand women being oppressed in a male-dominated society has had a huge impact on me,” he says. “That’s why the main focus of this collection is to challenge convention, by taking classic feminine silhouettes, deconstructing and then reinventing them using innovative and unconventional cutting techniques.”
The other exciting addition to the collection is the nuts and bolt screws he has used through seams, and to hold draped deconstructed garments together throughout the collection. “This was inspired by my research looking at metal devices that were used to torture women, as well as x-rays of broken bones of abused women showing them being held together by screws,” he says.
As the Yousef Akbar brand popularity picks up, he hopes to establish a strong presence in the Middle East, Australia, for now, and Europe and the US in the future. “Also in the next few seasons you could expect the injection of some menswear looks too,” he says.
