Expect to face the full force of Saudi creativity if you’re heading to Paris Fashion Week next week, as a pop-up entitled Emerge is set to showcase the most exciting talent coming out of the Kingdom.
Operating from 8 Rue de Francs Bourgeois in Paris, Emerge is not just an opportunity to experience Saudi’s fast-emerging fashion scene—it will showcase 15 designers from the Fashion Commission’s Saudi 100 Brands initiative—but also art, music, and food. Fashion, on this occasion, is simply the portal to Saudi’s wider contemporary arts scene.
Once through the door there’s the chance to buy art and meet artists from the Visual Arts Commission; daily music from the National Orchestra and Saudi DJs from the Music Commission. Finally, food from top chefs at the Culinary Commission because, well, all that makes you hungry.
“The Emerge pop-up is an opportunity for everyone in Paris to discover what Saudi creatives have to offer,” says Burak Cakmak, Fashion Commission CEO. “I look forward to welcoming our visitors to explore one-of-a-kind products, taste authentic Arabian cuisines, and connect with the Saudi story.”
The Saudi 100 Brands programme launched in 2021 with the aim of helping designers from the Kingdom to develop their fashion, luxury, and jewellery businesses via masterclasses, workshops and one-on-one mentorship sessions delivered by industry leaders. The programme is already seeing results, with Saudi designers and their work showing at Fashion Weeks in New York, Paris and Milan. Emerge is an opportunity to further demonstrate Saudi’s wider creativity to the world.
While the Emerge pop-up is set to run from June 23 to July 1 (from 8am to 10pm), an exclusive invite-only Emerge fashion show will set the tone on June 21, featuring designs by Torba Studio, Hindamme, Mazrood, Noble & Fresh, 1886 and Not Boring. Also set to appear is Saudi rapper Beast, the Lebanese MC Laughta, and Riyadh group Jazzy Spa Sounds—with a fashion show pedigree that already includes Off-White and Loewe.