São Paulo – Four fashion and jewelry brands from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, presented their collections in an event held this Tuesday (7), at Palácio Tangará, in São Paulo. The Sharjah-based Nama Women Advancement Establishment organized the event, which gathered Brazilian men and women entrepreneurs and representatives of Nama and other organizations linked to it.
A group of models presented on the runway the women’s clothing collections by fashion designers from Sharjah Wafa Balaswad, with her namesake brand, and Khulood Thani, with her brand Bintthani. The models were wearing jewelry by designers Shurooq Al Midfa and Amal Halig, both also from Sharjah. The models wore shoes created by Brazilian Paula Torres and the show’s decoration was made with furniture pieces created by the Brazilian brand Irmãos Campana.
The presence of Brazilian brands in the event aimed to prove that a partnership between Brazilians and Arabs can work. Nama presented its work in the event, with an overview of the possibilities of women’s entrepreneurship in Sharjah and invited Brazilian women to be a part of the Sharjah Business Women Council (SBWC).
Fashion designers Wafa and Khulood were at the fashion show and told ANBA a little bit of their stories. Khulood created her brand eight years ago and her inspiration is the arts, trying to highlight the UAE modernity in sophisticated contemporary styles. She sells to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The entrepreneur, however, is trying to expand and would like to export to Brazil. Thus, she presented her collection in São Paulo.
Wafa’s work as a fashion designer began seven years ago. Her work shifts between the traditional and the modern, using, for instance, embroidery and pearls in several high-quality fabrics. She sells to some of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Both fashion designers said that they get a lot of support from SBWC to develop their works. “The government encourages women to open their own businesses,” said Khulood. GCC is formed by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman.
The pieces presented by both fashion designers were very fluid, with elegant and wide cuts, using both subtle and neutral tones and strong colors. Among the pieces presented by the brand Bintthani was a long red dress, resembling the Arab women’s apparel, with the part of the shoulders and the neck made of a red and white striped fabric. An ankle-long dress, gown-style, had a light blue color with a dark blue embroidery work at the back.
Wafa Balaswad captivated with her combinations, such as a white blouse of wide sleeves with visible shoulders that the model combined with a wide-cut green pants with golden embroidery at the sides. Another piece shown was a light dress of fluid fabric with the overlay embroidered in pearls.
The event focused on, mainly, explaining the work of Nama. The initiative is headed by the wife of Sharjah’s ruler, Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, and works for the creation of opportunities for women. Nama also encourages international cooperation in the area. “Cooperation is crucial to success and mutual support is the beginning of a wider horizon,” said Nama’s director, Reem Abdelrahim BinKaram, in a talk with the audience moderated by Brazilian Bel Pesce.
In addition to the SBWC, Nama also manages the Contemporary Crafts Council (Irthi) and the Education and Development Academy (Badiri). The event also presented the work of The Big Heart Foundation, which was created to gather all of Jawaher’s activities, many of them focusing on refugees and women’s rights. According to information by Mariam Mohamed Al Hammadi, The Big Heart Foundation’s director, her works are present in 19 countries through 40 projects.
The acting president of SBWC, Hind Al Qasimi, invited Brazilian women to be a part of the council. SBWC supports entrepreneurs in developing their businesses, helping them to build a contact network, giving training, searching for market, among other activities. The council has 1,500 members from 20 sectors, from events to arts, and it’s possible to register, to be a part of it, via an app. Hind says that around 10 to 15 workshops are organized every year.
Hind said to be open in helping Brazilian entrepreneurs interested in establishing a business in Sharjah and said that it’s possible to help them suggesting, for instance, trade expos in their areas. SBWC’s acting president visited the headquarters of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce last week and the Chamber’s president, Rubens Hannun, and CEO, Michel Alaby, proposed the creation of a council of women business owners to facilitate business between Brazilian and Emirati entrepreneurs.
Among the women attending the Nama event was the commercial director of the firm H2R, Alessandra Frisso. She praised Nama’s efforts for closer ties with Brazil and said that she noticed how the members are well-organized in doing a work for women, are very open, willing to innovate and to strike partnerships with Brazilians.
The Arab Chamber’s cultural director, Silvia Antibas, also attended the event. “It’s an opportunity to show how women are organizing in the Middle East and it’s important for us to be with them in this moment,” said Silvia to ANBA about the event. Julia de Biase, the owner of store Al Zahra, of Arab perfumes, and importer of dates from the UAE, said that to know the habits and culture from the countries helps with the businesses.
The UAE general consul in São Paulo, Ibrahim Salem Alalawi, opened the event with a speech. “Each nation has its own experience in development,” said the consul, focusing on the importance of cooperation among different countries, as the event proposed. “Isolated experiences don’t find success,” he said.
Also attended the event, representing the Arab Chamber, the International Business executive, Fernanda Baltazar, the Marketing Coordinator, Juliana Burza, and the executive secretary Nuhad Aparecida Skaf. In addition to the roundtable with the representatives from Nama, SBWC and The Big Heart Foundation, with a Q & A session, the guests, mostly women, were offered a brunch.
As the guest of honor of the 25th São Paulo International Book Biennial, the emirate of Sharjah sent to Brazil a large multi-sector delegation that goes beyond the publishing sector.
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
