The Arab Fashion Council (AFC) (Arabic: مجلس الأزياء العربي ) is the world's largest non-profit fashion

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

and an INGO for the

Arab World The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

, representing the 22

members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...

. This organization is based in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

with the main goal of promoting Arab fashion designers internationally, disseminating fashion culture in the region, and positioning the Arab world on the international fashion map. It includes Arab companies and talent within the

fashion industry Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

, particularly fashion designers,

models A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided int ...

, photographers, hair stylists, make-up artists, and

art directors Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

. It regulates

modeling agencies A modeling agency is a company that represents fashion models, to work for the fashion industry. These agencies earn their income via commission, usually from the deal they make with the model and/or the head agency. The top agencies work with b ...

by creating stringent protocols and strict standards for protecting all the models working in the Middle East region. It also governs the schools of fashion registered under the laws of Arab nations.

History

Its first honorary president was Cav. Mario Boselli, the former president of

Camera Nazionale Della Moda Italiana Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (often translated to ''National Chamber for Italian Fashion'' or ''Italian Fashion Council'' in English) is a non-profit organization, whose purpose is the promotion, coordination of the Italian fashion ind ...

. On 18 December 2017, the Arab Fashion Council announced from London the opening of its office in

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

and organized the first fashion week in the history of the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

under the name "Arab Fashion Week". On 7 December 2015, Jacob Abrian was elected as chief executive officer for the council, being the youngest appointed CEO for a Council. In 2017, the Arab Fashion Council signed a long-term strategic partnership with Meraas, a Dubai-based holding company that aims to position Dubai as a fashion capital and celebrate Dubai Fashion Week in a citywide activation in the emirate. In April 2018, the Arab Fashion Council partnered with M.B.M Holdings, a Dubai-based

Royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

office and investment holding company with activities in investments, strategic advisory, and community development. In 2021, a partnership was established with the

Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode The (; 'Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion') is the governing body for the French fashion industry. It has a dual mission: as a professional organisation in the classic sense of the term, as in other sectors of the economy. As such, it prov ...

which yielded the first Fashion Week representing male models by showcasing men's wear. This event was a three-day virtual event based in Dubai. The event is scheduled twice annually with other men's fashion week events.

Activities

A landmark activity of the Arab Fashion Council is to organize the twice-yearly prestigious event Dubai Fashion Week. It is the only official

Fashion Week A fashion week is a week-long fashion industry event where fashion designers, brands, or "houses" display their latest collections in runway fashion shows to buyers and the media which influences upcoming fashion trends for the current and appro ...

-based show at

and the

that is recognized on the global calendar next to the other big four fashion weeks that are

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London, England, twice a year, in June and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fash ...

Milan Fashion Week Milan Fashion Week () is a clothing trade show held semi-annually in Milan, Italy. Upcoming autumn/winter fashions are showcased in February/March of each year, and upcoming spring/summer fashions are showcased in September/October of each year ...

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

, and

Paris Fashion Week Paris Fashion Week (, commonly ) is a series of designer presentations held semi-annually in Paris, France, with spring/summer and autumn/winter events held each year. Dates are determined by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. Pa ...

. Dubai Fashion Week represents all the 22 Arab Nations and is hosted at the Dubai Design District. It promotes Arab and foreign designers into the global market where notable

fashion brands The term "fashion brand" (or "fashion label") includes all the brands that operate within the fashion industry. A fashion brand combines symbolism, style, and experiential elements, and it needs to differentiate its products and coordinate its supp ...

showcase their various types of dress collections to the public. In its 4th edition, the Arab Fashion Week became the world's main platform for pre-collections and ready-couture. The Dubai Fashion Week's first edition was hosted at

in April 2018 and became the first fashion show event in the history of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. At the 11th edition in June 2020 and the 12th edition in October 2020, the Arab Fashion Council hosted the Dubai Fashion Week virtually as precaution against the spread of COVID-19. In September 2020, the Arab Fashion Council hosted the first Arab designers showroom on the official calendar of

, in partnership with the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.

Education

Arab Fashion Council has partnered with leading fashion institutes and the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

office in Doha. It helps them promote fashion education and supports Arab talents by providing a fully covered scholarship for an Arab student after entering an annual competition for studying undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Dubai.

References

{{reflist Arab League Fashion organizations

History

Activities

Education

See also

References