Flying high with design dreams

WHEN YOU TRULY follow your dreams and go outside your comfort zone, magic happens. That's what three young Emirati girls did. Rawdha Al Shaffar, Buthaina Al Marri and Fatma Al Muddhareb couldn't find the kind of clothes that they wanted to wear, hence they created their own brand, A Friend of Mine by Xpoze. 
In November 2017, they were announced as the winner of a major competition launched by Etihad Airways to identify the best local talent to create their new designs. The competition drew almost 71,000 votes. All three of them studied interior design at Zayed University in Dubai and their main aspiration was for their work to speak for itself. 
Last week, their work was showcased at the first ever fashion event that took place at The Lourve Abu Dhabi, which was attended by industry VIPs and global fashion authorities, including models Halima Aden and Eric Rutherford. 
Their design will be offered to the airline's guests on all First Class flights, as well as to guests staying in The Residence on board the Airbus A380 fleet. We spoke to the trio about their dreams and aspirations. 
 
How did the journey begin with A Friend of Mine?
To be completely candid, we wanted to create clothes for ourselves. And I believe this is always the trigger for every designer in this field. When you can't find what you want, you make it. Our strength lies in our design process, where form follows function making our loungewear very comfortable and highly practical. The pieces are very basic with an element of surprise in the little details highlighting Etihad's detail-oriented approach.
Atom Signature style revolves around modern clean lines and recurring wearability. 
Did you all always aspire to become designers? 
Designers, full stop, yes. Fashion designers not really, our bases of design stems from that fact that we are interior designers. So design, in general, is always intriguing to us.
 
What are the challenges that you face every day when it comes to your work life?
The financial struggle is real. For any young designer or startup in this region who is starting their own business without any help from their family or loans, finance is always the biggest hurdle.
 
What are your aspirations/bucket list when it comes changing the face of the Emirati fashion industry?
Our main aim is to really represent our generation, and who we really are at this time and age. We want to break all stereotypes and let our work speak for ourselves. 
 
How do you see the current scenario of Emirati fashion? 
Emirati fashion is starting to really thrive, we believe that it will only get better and bigger with time.
 
What thoughts went behind in creating the loungewear for Etihad Airways?
The minimalistic design will allow people to wear A Friend of Mine x Etihad loungewear in many different forms and increase the wearability of the pieces. We want to ensure people feel simply at their best while they relax and enjoy their favourite movie, or while having their lunch or dinner, or decide to sleep comfortably. Increased wearability is our strength as a brand, we want flyers to feel like they are not just wearing something for the night that they will never wear again, but something they will love wearing when they land at the airport or even when they are chilling at home on a Friday night.
 
How did it feel when you guys won this competition with 71.000 votes?
Shocked! We never expected to get that many votes. We are extremely thankful and we felt very supported and validated that our work does appeal to many people and that we do have a place in this market. 
arti@khaleejtimes.com