The ceremony was held at the academy's headquarters with the cooperation of Abdul Latif Jameel Community Service Program where a large number of Saudi businesswomen, fashion trainers and fashion designers were in attendance.
“This two-year diploma program is considered the first of its kind in the Kingdom,” said Jwaher Al-Zahrani, General Manager of Nafisa Shams Academy for Arts & Crafts. “We aim at encouraging the fashion design field in the Saudi market.”
She added that the diploma offered teaches designers all the skills they need to know. Even more, Nafisa Academy coordinated with Istituto di Moda Burgo (the international fashion school in Italy) and brought in a number of Italian fashion experts to teach the students.
“They [Italian fashion experts] presented their experiences in our institution and taught our students the world’s latest techniques in fashion design,” added Al-Zahrani.
After graduation, Nafisa Academy presented several job opportunities for their students. “Our plan is to facilitate the work for our students, especially since the field of fashion design is still not developed in Saudi Arabia,” said Al-Zahrani. “We contacted the local designers and asked them to give additional training courses for the students for a period of two years. After that, the students can become professional designers.”
Liza Fadel, media coordinator, confirmed the important role that Abdul Latif Jameel Community Program is presenting for the academy students. “We are cooperating with Abdul Latif Community Program to provide a budget for the students so that they can start their own business in the field of fashion design.”
Fourteen Saudi female designers chose to work in the fashion design field regardless of the difficulties that they could face in the Saudi society and market.
“I received courses in drawing, making models, sewing, and designing, but I still need to develop my skills by joining one of the famous designers,” said Shatha Afif, a graduate from the fashion design program. “I am looking for additional training to boost my view and skills.”
The absence of fashion specialized colleges in Saudi Arabia encouraged Afif to travel and study abroad. “It was very difficult to study this field since most of the available courses are short courses, general and not adopted internationally,” she said.
“Most people think that studying fashion design requires you to travel, join another world and learn odd customs. The truth is that we can learn how to link East with West by benefiting from the Western researches, without crossing our traditions and religion.”
Another graduate from the fashion design program, Lamia Al-Attas, chose to leave her original college where she studied sociology.
“I was looking to study fashion design, but we were unable to do that before. The Burgo program allowed us to study fashion design as if we are living in Italy. We dealt with great fashion experts who taught us the main lines in this field,” she explained. Discussing her project, Al-Attas said that her project was to present 12 models a theme of her choice. “After my models were nominated, the academy management and I chose to implement three of them.”
“We decided to have this field in our academy as it is absent in Saudi Arabia, but it was difficult to convince most of the girls and families to join,” said Dr. Jihan Basamd, Supervisor of the Burgo program.
According to Basamd, both the teachers and students faced many difficulties. “We started with the students from ground zero as they were unable to even hold a pencil and draw.”
“Our next plan is to establish a big center for arts and fashion and arrange a number of events with the participation of international fashion designers,” added Basamd.
