By Noimot Olayiwola
Staff Reporter
The fifth edition of the International Wedding Exhibition and Fashion Show (iWED) got under way yesterday after a joint inauguration by two notable personalities in the world of bridal fashion - Lebanese designer Robert Abi Nader and British designer Sarah Haywood.
Nader, who has been referred to by Jack Yan from Lucine Magazine as “the king of Middle Eastern couture”, graduated from the prestigious “Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Parisienne” where he was one of the first Lebanese designers to succeed.
Due to his remarkable achievements, Nader was chosen by the famous designer Yves Saint Laurent to train in his fashion house.
He held an exclusive fashion show at Al Gassar Resort yesterday.
On the other hand, the renowned British wedding planner Haywood will be giving advice to new bride and grooms at the iWED 2012.
As is the case every year, the event is featuring a number of international, regional and local exhibitors, who are showcasing a wide varieties of their latest collections to the couples to be as well as party-goers in the region.
One of the important exhibitors at the event is the world-renowned wedding dress and accessories designer Vera Wang, whose collections have remained the favourites of many brides-to-be all over the world.
Vera Wang owner - Maryah Trading director Maryah al-Dafa explained that the designer has remained relevant due to her unique designs and artful creations.
“Vera Wang has brought a new range of wedding dresses to the event this year as we are attempting to recreating the actual bridal street in New York or London for our clients here. We are introducing a bit of different flavours for 2012 dresses by making use of different materials, new models and a lot of colours as we are deviating a bit from just making the traditional white wedding gowns but also introducing unusual colours like grey or black as accessories,” al-Dafa explained.
She said that because some of the accessories that come with Vera Wang dresses are delicately handmade or woven, prices could vary based on each bride’s taste.
At the stand of a local Qatari designer Sara’s Secrets, bridal wedding gowns could cost up to QR50,000.
“Most of our designs are made out of high quality materials such as a special lace material, crepe satin, tulle and different accessories including Swarovski crystals and other colouful stuff,” wedding and haute couture designer at Sara’s Secrets Mary Souaid said.
For the rest of the days throughout iWED, there will be seven fashion shows by top name brands.
Today, which is a ladies-only day will showcase three fashion shows by Ali Beydoun, Al Mothahajiba and Pronovias from 6:30pm-9pm.
There will be a second fashion show tomorrow by Pronovias followed by Hadi Katra from 7:30pm-9pm.
On Saturday, there will be another show by Ibrahim Khachans’ followed by a second fashion show by Al Mothahajiba from 6:30pm-8pm.
iWED is open from 3pm-9pm everyday.
