A look at Fatema Fardan’s collection – the first by an Emirati designer at New York Fashion Week

Deep in New York’s trendy Soho district is the Voce Di gallery, the setting Friday night, February 13, for the Emirati designer Fatema Fardan’s autumn/winter 2015 presentation.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, daughter of the renowned fashion editor Carine Roitfeld, hosted the event.

Pounding music, courtesy of DJ Leigh Lazark, can be heard on the sidewalk and it becomes instantly clear that Fardan’s New York debut, for which the gallery has been transformed into a garden, will be a memorable one.

As the first Emirati to showcase her collections in New York, Fardan seamlessly brought the Middle East to the city with her folklore-inspired pieces.

“I was looking at traditional folklore clothing and thinking how I could translate them into clothes that the contemporary woman would like to wear,” says Fardan.

Forest green, muted red, black and grey are artfully blended into dresses, cropped palazzo trousers, chiffon blouses and heavy, crepe culottes.

“I did a lot of research and took elements from heritage clothing but refined it into a manner that can be versatile,” she says.

In fact, the multifaceted nature of Fardan’s latest collection is striking – full-length velvet evening gowns alongside oversized woollen jumpers and fringed leather skirts – weaving a well-balanced second season for the label.

Original article by Nadia Al Dasher

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A look at Fatema Fardan’s collection – the first by an Emirati designer at New York Fashion Week