Beiruting News

Today, Style.com/Arabia and the Dubai Design & Fashion Council (DDFC) announced the 10 Finalists of the inaugural Style.com/Arabia - DDFC Fashion Prize, an endowment for the Middle East's most promising fashion talents.

The first of its kind in the region, the Fashion Prize was launched in partnership with the luxury ecommerce brand Farfetch and aims to invigorate regional talent by providing a global platform and standards for emerging Middle Eastern designers to showcase their abilities. The Fashion Prize is overseen by a Selection Committee comprising senior executives from Style.com/Arabia and Style.com, the Dubai Design & Fashion Council, Farfetch, and both the regional and international fashion communities.

During the application phase, which ran from April 19 - May 24, 200 different designers from across the Arab world applied, with applicants from 15 different countries and 35 different cities. Following a vote from the Selection Committee, 10 designers from 6 different countries have been chosen to advance to the next phase, which will entail the creation of a capsule collection:

• Amine Bendriouich: Morocco
• Aziz Humaid: Saudi Arabia
• Hussein Bazaza: Lebanon
• Matar: Bahrain
• Nafsika Skourti: Jordan
• Rami Kadi: Lebanon
• Reemami: United Arab Emirates
• Taller Marmo: United Arab Emirates
• The Emperor 1688: United Arab Emirates
• Zayan The Label: United Arab Emirates

The inaugural winner of the Style.com/Arabia - DDFC Fashion Prize will be announced this Fall. The winning designer will receive a financial grant; the opportunity to produce a capsule collection for sale on Farfetch.com; a year of mentorship from a collection of highly esteemed mentors; media/press coverage; and an advertising campaign, collectively representing over US $250,000 in value.

Shashi Menon, CEO and Publisher of Style.com/Arabia, commented: "It's been thrilling to see such a wide base of talent apply from all across the region." Sofia Guellaty, Editor-in-Chief at Style.com/Arabia, added: "This initiative is a way to nurture the right talents regardless of their socio-economic context - with the Fashion Prize, every designer is equal, no matter where they are on the Arab world map."

Nez Gebreel, CEO of the Dubai Design & Fashion Council, noted: "We're putting a spotlight on the region's design community at-large and showcasing their originality and depth of creativity. The Fashion Prize will provide these regional designers a gateway to international markets, commercial viability, and the chance to collaborate with some of the world's most renowned names in the fashion business."

José Neves, Founder and CEO of Farfetch, concluded: "The Middle East is a key market for Farfetch with huge potential. This process has shown us that there is great fashion talent across the region and we're looking forward to enabling our global customers to shop unique pieces from the best of the Middle East.""

Viewers can now follow along and support the entire journey of the Finalists at on social media at #FashionPrize and at http://www.fashionprize.com