In the mid-1990s, they and the Russians saved Parisian haute couture from real death. And now the women of the Arab world are the most desirable clients who can easily fork out $ 150,000 for outfits for themselves and their relatives. Most of them are never seen in fashion shows. Some people order clothes via the Internet, others pay for private jets with haute couture collections for famous Milanese and Parisian houses, and a couple of their own multi-brand boutiques are at the service of others. They are all royalty or first ladies, and each has its own style.
Rania al-Abdullah, Queen of Jordan
The wife of the current King of Jordan, Abdullah II, is called the most beautiful queen of our days. Thanks to active state and social activities, Rania is perhaps the first and most striking example of a modern Arab woman. An important role in this is played by her impeccable taste and sense of style, reliably secured by money. Rania spends part of the royal family's impressive profits on designer clothes and accessories. Unlike most other first ladies of the Middle East, the Queen is worried about how her image is assessed within the country, where the attitude towards her is ambiguous. She is now less likely to be seen in haute couture outfits than 10 years ago, when she regularly ordered Jean Paul Gaultier and Givenchy. Alex Mabille's current preference and Elie Saab has a lot to do with unwillingness (or just showing it) to spend astronomical sums on top-tier couture items, although this is not the case for Armani Privé. If Rania appears with enviable consistency in the products of Elie Saab, a designer of Lebanese descent, who was ordered a dress for the coronation of her husband Abdullah II in 1999, otherwise she prefers prêt-à-porter clothes from completely different designers: from Chloé and Peter Pilotto to Balmain and Alexander McQueen, which can be easily combined with each other. Even during Ramadan, sacred for every Muslim, when it is customary to be restrained in clothes, the queen managed to look modern and elegant - the items of Jordanian designers chosen by her were fully consistent with traditions.
Rania has never shown a love for large jewelry characteristic of the East. For her husband's coronation, she borrowed the Cartier tiara from his sister, Princess Haya. There are few such items in Rania's own collection: for example, the magnificent "Arabian" tiara made by the jewelers of the FRED house, or the modest Bracelet made for the queen by the masters of Boucheron are notable. And the story about a pair of shoes made of 22-carat gold, ordered for her from an Indian jeweler, is most likely an invention of spiteful critics.
Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Misned
The second wife of the former emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Kalifa al-Thani, and the mother of the current emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is the only one of the ruling dynasties of the Persian Gulf countries to have an impressive number of government and international positions. For example, such as the head of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, the President of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs; Vice President of the Supreme Council for Education; Ambassador of UNESCO, creator and head of the Arab Democratic Foundation. Along with Queen Rania, she is considered the “female face” of the modern Middle East.
Audience with Pope Francis I at Jean Paul Gaultier Couture, 2016
In the West, she is best known for her extravagant style, balancing on the verge of the traditional European and more conservative oriental costume, involving closed arms and shoulders, long skirts without slits and a headdress. Moza, who prefers 24-hour haute couture outfits, is most often seen at Stéphane Rolland. According to one of the eastern clients, this is due to the fact that the designer himself, given the cost of couture dresses, does not hesitate to personally meet with clients (which, for example, Karl Lagerfeld never does). The most curious thing about Sheikha Moza's wardrobe is how the original models by Jean Paul Gaultier, Valentino, Chanel, Christian Dior,The Giambattista Valli, shown on the catwalk, are interpreted according to her requirements.
Sheikha Mozah in Dior Couture dress, 2010 | Bracelet and brooch Panther, Cartier
One can only guess about the cost of her jewelry collection. In addition to Chanel and Van Cleef & Arpels, she especially appreciates Cartier jewelry and is ready to spend huge sums on them. Here are a couple of examples: in 1998, the Parisian house unveiled a unique platinum Eternity necklace with emeralds - two of them, 205 and 206 carats, fantastic - and diamonds in honor of its 150th anniversary. In 2010, the sheikh appeared in this necklace at an official dinner in London, with the only difference that, at her request, Cartier jewelers dismantled small emeralds from the jewelry, and large ones were replaced with diamonds. Then, in 2010, she (as it turned out later) turned out to be the mysterious buyer of the Cartier bracelet.in the form of a panther, which belonged to the wife of the Duke of Windsor, former King of Great Britain Edward VIII - Wallis Simpson. At Sotheby's, Sheikh Mozah paid more than £ 4.5 million for the jewel.
The influential Financial Times claims that it is the sheikh who is behind the Qatari investment fund Mayhoola for Investments, which began investing in fashion brands in 2012. Today the company owns the brands Valentino, Balmain, a controlling stake in Pal Zileri, shares in Anya Hindmarch worth £ 27 million, LVMH, Tiffany & Co. and real estate in Paris, in particular several historic buildings on Place Vendôme.
Dina Abdulaziz al-Saud, Princess of Saudi Arabia
The wife of Prince Abdulaziz bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz al-Saud has been the editor-in-chief of Vogue Arabia since early July. After receiving a Western education and living for a long time in different cities of the United States, in the mid-2000s, Dina Abdulaziz al-Saud returned to Saudi Arabia. She burst into fashion in 2006 when she opened D'NA multi-brand boutiques in Riyadh and Doha, accepting customers only by prior arrangement to ensure their privacy.
Attending fashion weeks regularly, the princess almost never appears in the same outfit twice. Choosing clothes and footwear, she first of all gives preference to the brands presented in her boutique. Most of them are young designers, like Hugo Matha, Sophie Theallet, Lisa Marie Fernandez, whose things Dina successfully combines with Haider Ackermann, Calvin Klein, Giambattista Valli, Gianvito Rossi and Delfina Delletrez jewelry mixed with Cartier classics… Her style - from luxurious, almost evening dresses that look eccentric during the day, to the simplest shirts and skirts - are always kept in the same proportions: an open short top and a long skirt or trousers that cover the legs.
Princess Lalla Salma, wife of King Mohammed VI of Morocco
Princess Lalla Salma is the first wife of a ruler in the history of the country, who was granted the royal title and at the same time permission to participate in public life. The style of her official everyday life is not much different from what is observed among people of her rank in Europe - in Lalla's wardrobe there are things from Chanel, Dior, Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Manolo Blahnik and more.
But he is completely transformed during gala receptions or ceremonies, in which the red-haired princess invariably appears in richly decorated toilets in the manner of a djellaba or an oriental caftan. The latter, which have become a recognizable feature of Princess Lalla's style, are made entirely by hand by local craftswomen. This is how the peculiar Moroccan haute couture, which favorably contrasts with the Parisian one, sets her apart from other ladies of the Arab world.
Asma Assad, first lady of Syria
The wife of President Bashar al-Assad comes from a Syrian family, but is a native of Great Britain. Before the European Union imposed sanctions on Asma al-Assad in the spring of 2012, freezing her bank accounts and banning her from entering EU countries (except for the UK, of which she is a citizen), the first lady of Syria, as it should be, led a rather active political and social life. Despite the fact that the lion's share of the country's population in those years lived in poverty, and human rights were rather absent altogether, she paid a lot of attention to her style and regularly appeared in public in elegant suits - especially Asma Assad loved Gucci of the Tom Ford era and, of course, Chanel. As favorite accessories - large necklaces made of semi-precious stones, bags Bottega Veneta and Christian Louboutin shoes. The leak of personal correspondence from the accounts of Asma Assad, which occurred in the spring of 2012, gave a clear indication of what budgets she was spending on luxury goods. For a couple of months, only for online purchases, including furniture, antiques, jewelry, about £ 270 thousand was spent. From emails, in particular, it became known that she ordered a pair of Daffodile shoes with rhinestones for $ 6 thousand from Christian Louboutin.
In the light of recent political events, the first lady of Syria, as a character, has managed to greatly spoil the reputation of American Vogue and one of its authors. The March 2011 issue of the magazine featured an article by a freelance editor and former editor-in-chief of French VogueBy Joan Juliet Buck titled "Rose in the Desert". The material ordered by Anna Wintour praised Asma Assad in every possible way as the first lady promoting European taste and values. Due to the civil war that broke out in Syria a few months later, Anna Wintour was accused of conniving at the dictatorial regime. As a result, the material was removed from the magazine's website, and the business contract with Buck was not renewed. Later, the author admitted that Asma allegedly skillfully manipulated her. Upon arrival in Damascus for an interview, Buck knew that the phone she had been given had been tapped and her personal computer had been hacked, but there was not a hint of this in the text (as well as many other facts that horrified her). The brief for the article, compiled by Anna Wintour, ordered not to touch on politics, but to focus on the culture, antiquities and museums of Syria. Buck followed him exactly, for which she paid.>