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Homegrown fashion labels founded in the UAE

From couture ateliers to abaya labels that began on Instagram, a lot of fashion is designed and started right here. This guide lists labels in the Neighbours Circle directory where a published source places the start of the business in the UAE or calls it homegrown, and where that source has been checked a second time. Where a source gives a founding year, we include it; where it does not, we leave it out.

Couture and occasion wear

Wikipedia describes Zeena Zaki as an Iraqi haute couture designer who launched her first atelier in Dubai in 2003; her fashion house trades as Julea Domani, with a showroom in Jumeirah, and the entry likens its style to the Edwardian and Victorian eras (Wikipedia). Forbes Middle East credits Mouza Al Awfi with founding Atelier Zuhra in the UAE in 2015, lists her daughter Rayan Al Sulaimani as Omani, and gives the brand's headquarters as the UAE and Oman. The label makes wedding dresses, abayas and embellished pieces, some from recycled denim (Forbes Middle East).

Abayas and kaftans by Emirati sisters

Gulf Today calls Fatma and Maryam Al Hashimi Emirati sisters who started Hash Design as an Instagram account in 2015; it now has a boutique at Wasl 51 in Jumeirah 1, with abayas, kaftans and ready-to-wear (Gulf Today). Emirates Woman says Serrb was born from the creativity of three Emirati sisters, Noor, Sarah and Budoor Al Khaja, and calls it a homegrown Emirati brand known for its minimal kaftans (Emirates Woman).

Vintage, bespoke and maternity

A&E Magazine calls Maha Abdul Rasheed an Egyptian, UAE-based designer and says Bambah opened as a vintage boutique in a villa on Jumeirah Beach Road, describing it as the first vintage boutique in the UAE. It now also has a vintage-inspired ready-to-wear line and a children's range for girls aged two to ten (A&E Magazine). Jdeed Magazine says Emirati designer Bashayer Jasim Al Mahmood founded My Fancy Closet in 2013, with work that runs from bespoke couture to ready-to-wear. The same article introduces The Maternity Project, founded by Emirati architect and strategist Fatma Rashid, as a digital platform pairing maternity fashion with expert content on pregnancy and parenting (Jdeed Magazine).

Concept stores with Emirati founders

A Gulf News feature titled Emiratis pushing the fashion agenda in the UAE profiles the founders of two Dubai concept stores, each of whom talks about what being Emirati means to her. Fatima Mazroui-Ghobash started the multibrand concept store S*uce in 2004; the article lists branches at The Village Mall and The Dubai Mall, and at Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi. Sarah Saif Belhasa opened Studio 8 in 2009, a multi-designer boutique on Jumeirah Beach Road and in The Dubai Mall that mixes Indian, Pakistani, Emirati and international designers (Gulf News).

Made in Dubai: leather, eyewear and tailoring

Khaleej Times calls Native a made in Dubai accessory brand from Rachna and Rahul Malkani, built on a leather unit founded in 2007 that the article describes as the UAE's first genuine leather manufacturing unit; its boutique, House of Native, is in Jumeirah (Khaleej Times). Gulf News headlines Vishal Madhusoodhanan as an Indian expat who built the Swey eyewear label in Dubai, selling sunglasses from a container in Alserkal Avenue whose forecourt doubles as a weekend hangout (Gulf News). Another Gulf News report says Kamlesh Ramchandani established M2M, The House of Bespoke, in Jumeirah in 2009; his family's story in Dubai tailoring goes back to a small shop in Meena Bazaar opened in 1981 (Gulf News).

Giving clothes a second life

Gulf News calls Jessica Coote a British expat in Dubai and her Closet Concierge a UAE-based pre-loved fashion and consignment business. Clients hand over clothes they no longer wear, and the company handles photographs, listings and sales for them (Gulf News).

Shopping these labels

Many of these labels sell by appointment, through a single boutique or online, so check each brand's own channels before you visit. If you design for one of them and something here is out of date, claim the page and send us the correction. Readers can also recommend a label we have missed, as long as there is published coverage we can check.

Sources