No. Dubai is not a fashion capital, and will never be a fashion capital. Why? Because they have no fashion culture, and they will never have their own fashion culture anywhere close to that of France, Italy and England. The Arab culture in this part of the world have not changed in thousands of years; the men wear white kandura, and the women a black abaya.
Of course you see more and more arabs wearing jeans, shirts and normal shoes in Dubai, but for the ost part of the original local population it is still kandura and abaya that rules. And even if everyone would begin to change style to more diverse clothes it would take many decades to reach a high level of style and quality, that would be considered high fashion in the rest of the world.
Of course Dubai could, like they do with all other kind of things, buy the style and class. Buy the top designers, buy the knitting and fabrication knowledge, buy the best fashion garment creators in the world, but still that would not be enough, because that would still require a change in their culture and tradition, and that will not happen.
The change that it will be allowed to design clothes in many colours and fabrics, supported by accessories and shoes likewise. And even if it will be allowed by the leaders of the local population, then there still have to be a basis of culture to build on that they do not have. The country’s culture is reflected in the fashion, as in France, Italy and England, but what is the local United Emirates culture other than sandals and white on black?
The Dubai Fashion Week has been hosted by several players lately, and is struggling to find its feet, and the reason is simple: There is no fashion to write home about in Dubai. Only luxury brands originating from elsewhere in the world. And they would never sacrifice their brand image to make their fashion shows premiere in Dubai.
Many things money can buy. Especially if you comes from Dubai, and do not know what to spend your money on, but even though the oil income will decrease soon, and new investments have to be found, then Dubai will never succeed in achieving a rich and civilized culture and society. They are just to far behind, and money cannot buy love.
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