Italian companies in the luxury brand segment stand to gain from the “tremendous opportunities” available in the Qatari market, Italian ambassador Alessandro Prunas said in a recently-held webinar.
Organised by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, the ‘Italian-Qatari Fashion Talks’ discussed the various ways for collaboration between stakeholders and major players in both countries’ respective fashion and design industries.
The webinar featured Niccolo Sbaraglia, head of Commercial Development at Polimoda; Hissa al-Haddad, fashion designer; Fahad al-Obaidly, creative strategies expert and designer; AJ Monti, emerging teenage fashion designer; and Palma Libotte, chairperson of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, who moderated the discussions.
Citing opportunities for Italian companies in the Qatari market, Prunas noted that in the field of private labelling, many Qatari fashion designers are “emerging” and “seeking the best quality materials and handcrafted products, which Italy could provide.”
“So, while Qatar is focusing on developing its own fashion industry, Italian knowhow and the family-run enterprise style are elements that can really create an ideal synergy for local designers and companies seeking to initiate production,” the ambassador explained.
Prunas said two of the designers participating in the webinar had produced their collection with the support of the Italian chamber sourcing the finest Italian materials and the knowhow of highly-skilled artisans.
“Hissa al-Haddad is the first Qatari designer of shoes made by Italian manufacturers to Italian stands using high-quality Italian materials. AJ Monti is a 16-year old Italian teenager who designs abayas for teens in Qatar,” Prunas emphasised.
“Italy has always been a major player in the global fashion industry and it is adapting new technologies amidst the current challenges the world is facing; with the Internet and social media marketing, the fashion market evolved,” said Prunas, referring to other participating speakers who spoke on the impact of social media in the fashion industry.
The ambassador said al-Obaidly is responsible for creating strategies for M7, “the ultimate design and tech innovation hub in Qatar” under Qatar Museums. He is also one of Qatar’s successful male designers, Prunas added.
Citing Scale7, the first fashion and design business incubator in Qatar founded by Qatar Development Bank in partnership with M7, Prunas said the incubator had recently established a collaboration with Milan-based Fashion Technology Accelerator (FTA).
“Through this partnership, the programmes offered by Scale7 would be entirely brought by FTA to create a fruitful fashion ecosystem in Qatar,” according to Prunas, who said this underlines the "robust ties" of Qatar and Italy’s fashion industries.
He said the Italian embassy, in collaboration with the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, has supported many fashion initiatives in the past years, such as the first exhibition on ‘Italian Wedding Dream’ held in co-operation with the Qatari Businesswomen Association (QBWA), among others.
“The Italian Chamber of Commerce has always supported co-operation between Italy and Qatar for the past 12 years in Doha; and in the fields of fashion, we have promoted the wedding sector and bespoke luxury collections.
“Recently, we are focusing on young designers to support them in building a supply chain for their collections in Italy: AJ Monti for the teenage abayas and Hissa al-Haddad for the shoes. Both of them have used Italian materials for their collections,” Libotte told Gulf Times Sunday.
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