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Pricey abayas are being showcased at the Sixth Heya Women Fashion Exhibition. |
Residents can find a variety of well-designed and expensive abayas, prices range from QR500 to QR15,000 per piece.
Muna of M Designs, a Qatari designer, prefers light colours for her abayas, which she said has attracted many customers from various GCC countries.
This year at Heya, she displayed her unique winter collection made of thick clothing with drawings of Arabic letters and flowers.
“Many people like dark colours but I’d like to use the light ones to make it more attractive and appealing,” she said.
Apart from the regular items from her collection, she also made ‘National Day’ designs for the country’s December celebration.
Muna noted they had a good sales last year, a reason to be back in this year’s exhibition.
Like other Qatari designers, the designer admitted she does not have a shop but works at home. She uses social media such as Instagram to market and promote her abayas.
While Khaleeji women’s clothing may have similarities in terms of colours, designs and materials used, Tahani al-Otaibi’s original and hand-made collection includes an abaya which was exhibited in London.
Pegged at QR15,000, it is made of unique materials and one of her most expensive abayas, according to one of her staff.
Al-Otaibi also has a number of collections which catches the attention of many visitors because of their simple yet appealing designs. Some abayas cost more than QR6,000 while the cheapest items, her staff said, sold for QR1,500.
She said the Kuwaiti designer is a regular exhibitor in Doha and had been travelling to different parts of the world.
A designer-entrepreneur from Saudi Arabia lauded the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) for organising an exhibition which provides a platform to showcase their new and latest designs.
Her advice to aspiring designers: “I always recommend to people to bring their new ideas, their creativity without copying others and that is something important in designing.”
She said the success of two designers from Bahrain and Qatar had made them proud - they had showcased their designs in Paris.
Many of the exhibitors said they would be returning next year.
“You will see that everyone is very happy to be here again,” noted Hamad al-Abdan, director of Exhibition at QTA.
The “Sixth Heya Women Fashion Exhibition” has attracted 220 participants from various GCC countries who are showcasing unique and originally-designed abayas at the Doha Exhibition Centre (DEC) until November 22.
Hamad al-Abdan, director of exhibition at Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), told reporters that 92 of the total number of exhibitors this year are Qatari designers.
“Most of these Qataris do not have shops, they usually work from home,” he said.
Al-Abdan was speaking at the formal opening of the exhibition yesterday at the DEC. It was attended by Dana Ali Alfardan, Najla al-Shafei, Haya al-Naiemi, businesswomen and other guests.
The QTA official described Heya exhibition as the “hottest platform in the GCC” where many designers try their best to get a slot.
From 65,000 visitors last year, he expects between 70,000 and 75,000 will come to the exhibition this year.
Al-Abdan noted that they want to help Qatari designers to promote their products in the international arena. The Heya exhibition, he said, is where the finest designs of Khaleeji women’s clothing and the latest fashion trends in Qatar and the Gulf are displayed.
“Such events create an opportunity to grow our experience in exhibition management, which we hope will allow us to attract new audiences and to better promote exhibitions,” he pointed out. “We hope it will assist us in our efforts to further develop the tourism sector in the country.”
QTA is also planning to host a world abaya show next year that will showcase different designs of abayas from various parts of the globe including those from Asian and Middle East and North African countries.
“We are targeting bringing them to Qatar because these countries also have abayas but have different styles,” said al-Abdan. But for this year, only designs from all the GCC countries are being exhibited.
The exhibition is open to visitors 12 years old and above between 10am and 10pm. It is housed on a 5,000sqm area at DEC featuring 220 pavilions from Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Oman.
QTA has been trying to help Qatari entrepreneurs promote and market their products through a number of initiatives such as the Instagram Summer Market.
The outdoor exhibition which was conducted from August 28 to September 28 provided a venue for young and aspiring Qatari entrepreneurs (even students) to sell their products beyond the online platform.
