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How UAE, Saudi shoppers keep luxury fashion afloat as global sales decline
Both significantly outperform the global apparel market, forecast to grow at 3.7 per cent over the same period, while China’s apparel industry is set for just 0.6 per cent growth annually
- PUBLISHED: Fri 19 Sept 2025, 2:00 PM UPDATED: Sat 20 Sept 2025, 11:07 AM
With the international fashion calendar in full swing, as the spring/summer 2026 collections take to the catwalks in Europe this weekend, the luxury industry’s attention is likely better deployed closer to home. With global high-end brands experiencing deep malaise, the Gulf states — especially the UAE and KSA — are working hard to rebalance the scales of declining sales.
Next Tuesday marks the first day of Milan Fashion Week, and ex-Balenciaga designer Demna (he prefers first name only) debuting at the creative helm of Gucci, but it’s the regional celebrations for Saudi National Day (Sep 23) that canny fashion execs will look to, in a bid to reflect, revere and respect luxury’s most resilient customer base.
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When industry title Business of Fashion along with consultancy McKinsey & Co asked global fashion executives to cite the most resilient global markets, 51 per cent named the Middle East — the region that received the most positive response.
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Who knows if shades of green are in Demna’s range plan for Gucci; either way, on Tuesday, streets from Jeddah to Riyadh and all across the Kingdom will be crammed with Saudis wearing patriotic green and waving flags while tailgating enthusiastically.
Saudi is the largest market for apparel sales in the region, projected to reach almost $18 billion (Dh66 billion) this year, according to Statista Market Insights. The UAE is primed to reach just shy of $11 billion (Dh40 billion) in apparel sales this year.
That said, the UAE is forecast to slightly outpace Saudi’s growth, according to Euromonitor, with an annual growth of 5 per cent forecast to 2030 (versus 4.8 per cent in Saudi). Both significantly outperform the global apparel market, forecast to grow at 3.7 per cent over the same period, while China’s apparel industry is set for just 0.6 per cent growth annually in the period to 2030.
Whichever way you slice the stats, the UAE and KSA’s fashion shoppers are doing much of the heavy lifting when it comes to keeping luxury afloat. We may be a small market on the global stage, but we absolutely punch above the weight of our Etoile La Boutique carrier bags. Both Dubai’s booming multinational population and KSA’s young, ambitious nationals are equally hungry for fashion that feeds the way we live, travel, and show up for life.
“A brand needs to speak the language of the consumer; even the smallest colloquial nuances can make a world of difference in market penetration,” says Jeddah-based Marriam Mossalli, founder of luxury communications agency Niche Arabia and co-founder of PowderBeauty.com.
In the beauty arena, that might mean the cleverly coded Asteri cosmetics, whose lipsticks come packaged in envy-inducing emerald cases and whose formulations promise desert-proof staying power. In fashion, brands need to learn to speak to style tribes; literal and cultural. Take the subtle aesthetic shifts across the Kingdom, what Mossalli refers to as, “the Hejazi versus Najdi aesthetic — think Cali laidback versus New York smart casual”, that typify the Red Sea cities of western Saudi, where a bohemian flair wafts through light-coloured abayas, in contrast to the contemporary cut and thrust of monochrome modesty powering the central hubs.
So, while Demna will be wooing the world with his new vision for Gucci laid out next week, I’ll wager that young, hip Saudis are just as likely to be excited by pieces in jewellery brand Yataghan’s line-up. Launched at Riyadh Fashion Week, Yataghan’s ‘Turathi’ collection bears a ‘Love Saudi’ engraving, crowned by the brand’s signature princess-cut emerald, making it the ultimate patriotic power purchase.