JEDDAH: Nafisa Shams Academy for Arts and Crafts, part of the Abdul Latif Jameel Community Services Programs, will hold the first national competition for fashion designers in March.
The competition aims to shed light on talented Saudi women and encourage them to start careers.
After the final decision, the first winner will be awarded SR100,000 and an annual fashion designer award. The second winner will be awarded SR75,000 and the third-place winner will take SR50,000.
“The idea is to give an opportunity to all Saudi women fashion designers who are beginning their careers,” said Sarah Ataya, public relations manager who is responsible to organize the competition at Nafisa Shams. “We want to promote the creativity and the talent of Saudi girls in the Kingdom.”
The main purpose of Nafisa Shams Academy is to adopt and develop talented women. “This competition will hopefully develop the Saudi fashion designing to keep pace with continuing progress while maintaining our origins and heritage,” she said. “We also want to deliver a message to the world that our women are creative.”
The competition is open to Saudi women aged 18 to 35 who are passionate about fashion.
“The winners will be chosen based on their designing skills. They have two dresses to design for this competition,” Ataya added.
The contestants have to design a modern evening gown inspired by one of the Kingdom’s regions. The second dress is also going to be an evening dress, which carries the design of one non-Arab country chosen by the contestant.
“The judges will be of both Arabic and international designers in this field,” said Ataya. “We will also have a team of Italian fashion judges who will have a role in the final decision.”
