HER EPONYMOUS BRAND CELEBRATING 12 YEARS OF STYLE SETTING IN SAUDI ARABIA, EMAN ALAJLAN IS POISED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT KINGDOM’S REMARKABLE EXPANSION OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXPRESSION

BY TIA KIM

According to industry data aggregator statistica.com, revenue in the Saudi Arabian fashion sector–which includes apparel, footwear, bags, and accessories is predicted to amount to just over $2 billion in 2019, a figure that is expected to experience an annual growth rate of a stunning 10% through 2023. Part of this windfall is attributable to the still highly repressive but fractionally more open social rules advanced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, particularly as they applies to women’s rights, including their freedom of movement and expression. Under the government’s Vision 2030 program of social and economic reforms, for example, a long standing prohibition on women motorists has been lifted, and modest dress code standards have been relaxed somewhat, which has an associated effect of expanding work opportunities for women.

It follows, then, that fashion designers in the Kingdom are in a newly unique position to both fuel this change and become trendsetters in their own right. Eman Alajlan, whose eponymous brand has been operating in Riyadh for 12 years now, has been in the vanguard of advancing Saudi Arabia as a seat of style consciousness, and has already made a name for herself across the Middle East and in many parts of Europe. Producing haute couture, ready to wear, and bridal collections, she’s famed for the importation of extraordinary material from the finest European factories, then turning them into gowns of unique delicacy, layering, silhouettes pathways, and unbridled romanticism.

A_Look_2 (1)

PHOTOGRAPHER Mark Oberlin
STYLIST Dion “Bleu” Drake
MAKEUP Julia Taylor, using Marc Jacobs and Dior
HAIR René Cortez, using IGK, R & Co, Oribe, The Wet Brush, Hot Tools, The Ouai, and Color Wow Hair
MODEL Veranika Irbis, THE INDUSTRY MODEL MGMT Select garments and designer shoes available at CoCo Parì in Red Bank & Deal, cocopari.com

Eman Alajlan
3693 Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz Street, 12311,
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia / emanalajlan.com

A&G SPREAD