Fashion

The  first time Azza Al Suwaidi saw her abaya displayed in a Dolce&Gabbana boutique in Abu Dhabi, she walked up to the sales associate and simply said, “This is mine.” It was a quiet claim of ownership for a monumental achievement. Just a year earlier, the Emirati fashion student had won the inaugural Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation x Dolce&Gabbana Design Award, a victory she discovered through a phone call after the email had been lost in her spam folder. “I applied on a time crunch, thinking at least I need to put myself out there,” she confesses with a soft laugh. “It was a passion project, something I did just for me.”

At 21, Al Suwaidi carries a thoughtful confidence, her words carefully chosen as she speaks about a journey that has taken her from the fabric stalls of old Dubai to a design studio in Italy. Her winning design, the abaya ‘Flourish,’ was inspired by bougainvillaea, a plant known in Arabic as jahannamia, which roughly translates to ‘petals of fire’. She was drawn to its hardiness, its vibrant petals flourishing against the heat. Her research revealed a beautiful coincidence. The flower is found both in the UAE and in Sicily, the homeland of Domenico Dolce, co-founder of Dolce&Gabbana. This connection felt like a sign, a way to tie her Emirati identity to the brand’s own heritage. “It was the perfect bridge,” she notes. “It was something greater than just me; it needed to resonate with my identity, the identity of the Emirates, and also their identity.”

Her love for fashion is deeply personal, rooted in the rituals of her childhood and a keen awareness of her culture’s aesthetic. Her passion ignited around age 11, when she began wearing the hijab and started to explore modest dressing as a powerful form of self-expression. “My mother and aunt were my first inspirations,” she shares. “My mom would source clothes for me from all over the world.” She remembers one Eid, as a young girl, wearing a detailed Roberto Cavalli piece- an early glimpse into the world of high design. Their frequent trips to Deira’s Naif Souq were foundational, where she would pick out sequins and stones to design her own Eid outfits, treating the occasion as her personal Met Gala. These experiences taught her that clothing is curated, it tells a story, and it holds memory.

‘Flourish’ is that philosophy rendered in fabric. She envisioned it for a lavish Emirati wedding, an event she describes as a space where women fully express their identity and femininity. The abaya is crafted from classic black silk organza, its silhouette brought to life with hand-pleated folds and a striking, asymmetrical sweep of pink that mirrors the bougainvillaea’s untamed growth. “The pink is something fresh and bold,” she explains. “I wanted to show that we are not confined to anything. We are bold in the way we want to dress.” For Al Suwaidi, the abaya is a canvas for modern Emirati femininity. It is at once elegant and powerful, and seemingly always in motion. Her six-month internship in Italy was a whirlwind of new sounds and sights that profoundly shaped her perspective. She learned basic Italian, helped backstage at major fashion shows, and even had her own aba ya admired by makeup legend Pat McGrath. Throughout it all, she wore her abaya daily, a conscious decision to represent her culture in a space where no one else looked like her. When colleagues asked about her comfort level during fittings, she was both pragmatic and principled. “I told them it’s a profession,” she says. “It’s like a doctor doing their job, we are looking at the clothes, not the person. I wanted them to understand that we’re very tolerant people.”

This ability to navigate different cultural spaces with grace and conviction defines her approach. Now, working on her final university collection, Al Suwaidi’s ambitions are clear and purpose-driven. She dreams of starting her own label, but firmly outside the frantic, trend-driven pace of corporate fashion. “I never want to contribute to fast fashion,” she states. “This industry is the second largest pollutant in the world.” Instead, she is drawn to the concept of heirlooms, of creating keepsake pieces meant to last a lifetime, much like the cherished garments sourced from the souq. She speaks of “souk culture” with fondness, where clothing is designed for oneself and kept for a long time, a stark contrast to today’s disposable trends. Her ultimate goal extends beyond her own label; she wants to build a community. She plans to host an independent fashion show, creating a dynamic space she feels is missing from static university exhibitions. “You need to see the clothing on the body, you need to see it move,” she insists. “It gives it life and soul.” More importantly, she wants to bring together a community of young women, Emirati and otherwise, who want to create and feel beautiful in their own skin.

“I feel grateful for the platform Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation gave me,” she reflects. “I want to show other young creatives that this industry isn’t as risky as it seems. My story shows the opportunity exists, but you have to put yourself out there first.”

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Images: Supplied