Eyes on the prize

Tomorrow, the Dubai Design and Fashion Council will announce the first winner of Style.Com/Arabia and DDFC Fashion prize at a gala dinner at The One and Only Royal Mirage, Dubai. What makes this prize special is not just its $250,000 cash value, but what the award stands for.
The winner will receive a financial grant of $250,000 in value, as well as the opportunity to produce a capsule collection for sale on Farfetch.com, as well as a year of mentorship from a collection of mentors in the industry handpicked for their knowledge. They will also receive a showing at Fashion Forward Dubai. Among those on the judging panel are Tim Blanks, long-time critic and fashion editor-at-large, Patrick Chalhoub, Joint CEO, The Chalhoub Group, designers Reem Accra, Zuhair Murad and FarFetch's CEO Jose Neves, Vogue America's former Senior Markets Editor Meredith Melling and Victoria Beckham's fashion director Susanne Tide-Frater. Similar programmes run in most other countries of 'fashion' be it Britain, America or India.
With the winners being announced tomorrow, the nine finalists are now on the home run.
The final list is a strong representation of talent from the Pan Middle-East North Africa region, with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain all represented. The list includes Jordan's Nafsika Skouruti, Bahrain's Matar, Lebanon's Rami Kadi and Saudi Arabia's Aziz Humad. Two of the strongest contenders are from Dubai, Taller Marmo and Zayan Ghandour (pictured).
Italian designer Riccardo Audisio and Argentina's Yago Goicoechea are behind the Dubai-based label Taller Marmo. In August the stylish duo were shortlisted as the regional winner of the International Woolmark Prize (IWP).
Zayan Ghandour co-founded the award-winning multi-brand concept boutique Sauce. Her label, Zayan, already retails out of boutiques in Italy, France and the United States. She understands both the creative and commercial aspects of design.
So there is a strong chance that Dubai will at the very least be either the winner or one of the runners-up.
sujata@khaleejtimes.com

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