Saudi chambers welcome plans to revitalize fashion industry

The National Committee at the Council of Saudi Chambers intends to establish an association to foster the talents of Saudi women and support their projects throughout the Kingdom, an official at the council said.
Forty female fashion designers will be the primary beneficiaries of this project. This includes selecting a brand name (a registered trademark) for the manufacturing of national garments for women, men and children that comply with social and religious norms and customs both inside the country and abroad when exporting to international markets.
Fawzia Al-Nafee, an executive member in the national committee, said the proposal that Saudi women submitted recently to establish a project for setting a trade name (a national brand) for national fashion manufacturers received a warm welcome from the officials at the committee.
“The project will soon see the light, especially in view of the recent intentions of the national committee to establish an association that cares for talented Saudi women in all aspects of the industry,” said Al-Nafee, adding that this will include providing experts and advisers from leading countries in the garment sector.
“The association aims to demonstrate the ideas and potentials that can be developed and promoted for export purposes to competitive markets,” she said.
Al-Nafee is the owner of the first garment factory in the Kingdom. “The core foundation for the kickoff of the project has been laid down, but we still are in the process of selecting the trade names,” she added. She stressed the fact that the trade name should be consistent with the national identity and the social and religious norms in a distinguished manner when exporting the products to GCC and Arab countries.
“The first of these factories will produce 1,000 pieces a day for all categories of clothing, including formal outfits for schools, factories, hospitals and other private and government sectors.
The executive member said the imported fashion garments in the Saudi market belong to talented Saudi women designers who did not have the chance to prove their potential in the Kingdom. “So they took off to countries such as Turkey, where they implemented their designs and exported them,” she said.
The apparel industry will open many doors for talented and creative women, especially in light of high demand on school uniforms, worth more than SR2 billion.
“Saudi markets can accommodate the entire line of production of women and children clothing, as it is such a large market,” she said.
The garment industry might represent a second income for the country after the oil industry once the full potential of Saudi talents is employed, even though the move came late somehow. “Other industries, such as food processing, took the lead. Still, productive families and households can benefit greatly by cooperating and coordinating with national factories,” she added.
Most of the 12 factories operating in the Kingdom are manually operated, and did not adopt yet electronic machines for production.
“This first pioneer factory of its kind will operate within three months from now,” explained Al-Nafee, noting that children’s and men’s clothes will be produced in the most professional and creative manner.
Abdul Aziz Al-Sareei, head of the national industrial committee at the Saudi Council of Chambers, predicted that the Saudi market would soon witness the presence of trade names (national brands) in the garment industry. Investors have started assigning trade names of their own, and consumers are keen on brands and brand names.
“This is a new culture in the business and consumer community that didn’t exist in the past. Nowadays, everybody is talking about the brand of their shumagh or ghutrah,” he said.