Women’s Fusion Wear in UAE – The Perfect Blend of Fashion and Style | JD Institute
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Sociology of Fusion Fashion
Coco Chanel’s resonating phrase from (Axel Madsen, p124), A woman of her own ‘’ fashion is in the sky, in the street, the style has to do with ideas, the way we live, and what is happening.’’ best illustrates the fusion fashion.
When fusion fashion is talked about, it refers to different countries engaging in other countries’ fashion styles and designs worldwide. For example, when people from the west blend the attires and fashion accessories from the east, and vice versa, that’s fashion fusion. One of the most talked about and written about trends in fusion fashion is the combination of Indian fabrics with designs and cuts from Europe and America, ruling the fashion world. And the fusion of these combinations of styles allows fashion to be redefined in terms of elegance, luxury, style, and popularity.
In this blog, we highlight the muse of fusion fashion of two countries, the United Arab of Emirates, and the Indian subcontinent, which perhaps is not much talked about. These two countries traditionally and historically have shared excellent camaraderie in trade routes and cultures. So much so that up until the formation of UAE in 1971, the currency was the Indian rupee.
UAE’s strategic location between India and the rest of the Middle East is why trade and commerce naturally became a part of the historical relationship between these two colorful nations. Indian sailors and fishermen, using the winds of the monsoon season, sailed to the Arabian Peninsula to trade and sell goods with merchants; what is now the UAE has been actively part of this international trade in the Indian Ocean for 5,000 years ago. Indian merchants from the Indus Valley brought timber, spices, and grain, while merchants in modern-day Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE traded copper, pottery, and beadwork. Indian culture, food, clothing, and architecture can be seen in the UAE with a complex mix of the two regions happening over centuries. One cannot ignore the UAE, and India’s colorful history, especially when India has the largest diaspora in the UAE and ranks, with a staggering population of 35,50,000 (3.50 million) Indians residing in UAE, contributing to 35% of UAE’s total population, followed by Saudi Arabia (2.6 million).
Considering this vast presence of the Indian diaspora in the region, The Fashion Fusion of these two regions seems inevitable; Therefore, our team was hugely motivated to create a fashion fusion (Indo-Arab) keeping in mind sustainable fashion and capsule wardrobe concepts, wherein fashionistas and fashion savvy Indian women can mix and match from their existing wardrobes.
Inspiration for Arabic Indian Fashion fusion
Who can forget the favorite bedtime stories from Arabian Nights, especially Ali Baba, the forty thieves, and the character Morgiana (A beautiful damsel dancer)? Fashion Designers and stylists worldwide have used their imagination to create an ensemble visualizing this lovely dancer.
Talking about the fusion of ethnic Arabic with Indian women’s wear, the first name that traveled in our stylists’ minds is the Hijab (The head scarf). One of the forms of the Hijab is called SHAYLA. It is a one-piece veil. A long scarf wrapped around the head, pinned under the chin, and gently rests on the shoulders.
The second outfit which the Arab woman loves wearing is the Palestinian Thobe, the traditional dress of women in Palestine. It is a long-sleeved dress with frontal embroideries as its central aesthetics. Embroidery is a custom of Palestinian women that allows them to flaunt their artistic skills and identity in their community. Each thobe is unique in colors, patterns, and styles because it is a woman’s unique identity.
Our team created this excellent fusion ensemble from the wardrobe of UAE’s Fashion influencer and a dentist by profession Dr. Reema Surej.
Velvet maroon shawl heavily embroidered with gold threads and tasseled trims (considering this is wintertime in Dubai) to create a hijab look.
Royal blue plain Anarkali with a thin gold threaded hemline in the lower contours to suit the shawl used as hijab.
Deep blue heavily printed long sleeve, long line silhouette velvety jacket with a front opening: close to a bohemian shrug.
Thanks to our Dubai Based Adjunct Faculty and Centre Director (Instagram @vynateya_Iyengar) for initiating this Arabic-Indian Fashion Fusion concept, well-conceived and styled by Dubai based trained Fashion Stylist Shiveta Bali (Instagram @styleitwithshiveta)
The social media world, especially Instagram, would be meaningless without a good photographer, and the man behind the lens is Dubai based Banker and lens lover (Abhishek, Instagram @Manbehindthelens)
The fashion world is nothing without a glamorous and beautiful muse. Our gorgeous muse for the shoot is Dr. Reema Surej, a professional dentist who creates beautiful smiles and a fashion enthusiast and fashion influencer in Dubai (Instagram @reemasurej).
Finally, the woman who quietly made the muse look glamorous and fascinating Netra Kulkarni Dubai-based trained makeup artist (Instagram @kulkarninetra), whose finger strokes with the brush can enhance any woman’s natural beauty.
