Love Affair by Aiisha and Victoria Casal
Several days ago, I heard from one of my clients that instead of a diamond ring, a man proposed to his wife with an Aiisha dress from the Love Affair collection.. The bride said yes of course. Its such a great feeling when you realize that your work can play a big role in people’s lives.. one way or another. I hope its always going to be a positive influence.
That was a first for me!
Emirates Woman Magazine Cover - April 2010
I mentioned a while ago that Emirates Woman Magazine has initiated a fashionable charity project called Fashion with a Heart. The team of Emirates Woman selected 10 of the very best designers in the UAE to work with. Each of the designers, of course including myself, was requested to make a bespoke dress that will be auctioned off at the Fashion With A Heart charity event that will take place at the Raffles Hotel Dubai, for the benefit Al Noor Training Centre for Children With Special Needs.
This project combines philanthropy and fashion where each of us, designers, have created a one-of-a-kind dress incorporating the themes of red, love and Fashion With a Heart concept. The 10 designers included myself, Aiisha Ramadan, Amato, Walid Atallah, Essa among others.
Aiisha Ramadan for Emirates Woman - Fashion with A Heart
Ironically, I was in touch with Al Noor last year and we had something in mind that didn’t work out. The good news is that now its happening and like I said before, its time to give back. In fact, its always time to give back!
My dress took an intensive month and a half and more than 30 yards of fabric!!! It was a sweet heart neckline, corset base bustier fully embroidered and beaded with Swarovski Crystals with layers and layers of tulle wired ruffles.I truly gave it my heart. In my opinion, if you want a dress to be auctioned, give it the best you can and don’t go cheap.
Not my favorite photo of myself, but the editor chose one that reflects my character the most. I’ll let the photo tell you more..
I will post a separate thread about the event when it happens as the date is TBC.
Like I mentioned before, Evian initiated a Live Younger campaign in Dubai following their most watched Ad video (Over 22 million viewers till this post date) on You Tube (Evian Roller Babies)
Evian asked Dubai’s top designers to recreate the Evian Live Younger T-Shirt, and it was showcased at the Dubai Fashion Week that recently took place and auctioned the T-Shirts for the benefit of Dubai Cares, whose project for 2010 is to secure clean drinking water for children in schools globally.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it to the show where my T-shirt was the show’s opener but I heard that mine was the favorite of many as it incorporated the Aiisha’s favorite elements, sexy romance, ruffles and powder tones. Other designers did some really cool job as well.
Evian Live Young Campaign
Auction was held at the trendy Carbon 12 Gallery in Al-Quoz
Aiisha's Evian Live Young T-Shirt on DFW 2010 Catwalk
Aiisha Evian T-Shirt @ the auction
It was interesting to be at the Galeries Lafayette fashion show and have my hand on Desert Fish which had the below full page:
Aiisha Ramadan in Desert Fish
In terms of content, again, I speak my mind about fashion in Dubai and how it should and can get better.
In 2006, Valerie Campbell was the first lady residing outside the UAE to ever wear one of our dresses. The dress was auctioned for the benefit of a breast cancer hostpital in Cologne, Germany, via Christies.
Valerie Campbell, best known for her elegance and motherhood of Naomi Campbell, is like her daughter and son Pierre, a model, a balle dancer and a designer who worked in Italy for a while. She herself is a survivale of breast cancer and it amazes me how beautiful and strong she remains.
When Ms. Valerie wore the dress, she said and I quote “I will never forget the name Aiisha”. Her son Pierre assured her that “this is the most beautiful color she’d ever worn”.
Valerie Campbell & Suhaila Sinn wearing Aiisha Ramadan
Sunday, the 4th April, was the first live interaction on my blog and it happened to be with Chris Hassall, the Global External Relations Officer of Procter & Gamble. It was basically a comment/ question from his side and an answer from my side discussing blogs, its importance and its relevance to the Arab world.
On that night, I met with the team of P&G and of course with Chris. I enjoyed every minute of it and I specifically appreciated the ideas Chris and I exchanged. These ideas will soon be reflected on my blog. It’s always amazing to see things from a male’s perspective..
Chris Hassall, Aiisha Ramadan and Yassin Attas
P&G is actually a very active organization when it comes to charity and volunteering. One of their main products (PUR Water Filteration) is one that cleans any contaminated water and makes it drinkable. During the Haiti disaster for example, they gave away what was enough for much more than 300,000 people to drink for 90 days. To know more about PUR, visit http://tiny.cc/kg3s4, and Pur Water.
Having said that, from a fashion perspective, the brand “Aiisha” has few charity projects already in process and to be revealed very soon. Once of which is already in the very latest Emirates Women magazine under the topic of Fashion with a Heart.
Evian hosted the first water tasting event in the region with Dominique Laporte, who is the best Sommelier in France. The weather was fantastic as the event took place on the ‘O’ De Squisito boat at the creek in Dubai.
EVIAN Team and Aiisha Ramadan
When it comes to water, I’m a heavy drinker. Don’t know if its the heat of the UAE or maybe a biological thing, but water is my best friend. I’m like a fish!
I learned a lot about water that day, I never knew that still water prepares the palate to receive food and sparkling makes the taste brighter. We identified interesting characteristics of different brands when Monsieur Dominique let us taste unlabeled glasses of water, by tasting the water or after sampling some food. It was really an interesting experience!
I later figured out that Evian was my water of choice, as I chose it from an unlabeled glass.
Cheers
Stephanie Khoury!
Stephanie Khoury
As per the below post, we had the competition of the one off piece designed by me for Camay’s Pink scent running on Hellwa Fashion. Many great photos were submitted, it was difficult to chose a favorite. However, Stephanie’s look grabbed my attention from the first time I saw her picture with her Louboutins and mini dress (and you know how short my dresses can get swaying on my catwalks). Its sassy, sexy and mostly – Pink!
More competitions will follow and we’ll be announced shortly.
What I haven’t told you until now is that Camay and I worked on a beautiful project together, very recently. I was asked to design 5 dresses reflecting the personality of Camay’s five new fragrances; Dejour, Crème Delice, Passion, Parfum and Pink. Each of these scents addresses a certain mood that each of us, women, go through sometimes during the same day!
Dejour
Dejour is what reminds me of a fresh breath of air.. a practical morning scent. With that, came an off white satin silk jumper with a cowl neck on the back and a beaded bow on a skin color tulle.
Crème Delice
Crème Delice is my very favorite! Its smells like vanilla and berries.. its about indulging yourself. For that, I created a lavender chiffon silk dress draped like a Roman goddess CRYSTALLIZED™ – by Swarovski Elements.
Passion
Passion is sensual and mysterious. I had to select a plum purple dress with a diamond resemblance on the neckline.
Parfum
Parfum almost always reminds me of some Princess living in a palace with all of her antique and expensive surrounds. Its vintage! The dress, already won in another competition, was about a fully beaded and CRYSTALLIZED™ – by Swarovski Elements white/ pink bolero with a gathered tulle skirt. It was a modern look for a vintage spirit.
Pink
Pink says it all. Young, trendy, fun loving gal! Out of that, came my favorite just above the knee dress made of light salmon/ baby pink dress with CRYSTALLIZED™ – by Swarovski Elements Ruffles and a bow on the neckline. Just like the rest of the dresses, it was made with great care but is indeed the closest to my heart.
Hellwafashion is running a competition this month that gives you the chance to win this dress – it’s a UK 10.
All you have to do is to visit: http://www.hellwafashion.com/ send photos of yourself in either “your favorite fun piece” or “wearing something pink” to reflect the Pink’s spirit, and tell them why you love your outfit.
For Terms & Conditions, please visit: http://bit.ly/YKTGr
Keep an eye on my blog for another competition coming soon, that will give you the chance to win one of my lovely dresses.
Hint: De-construct the dress by wearing a waisted jacket and boots. You may also add to it a belt. Be creative!
De-constructed Pink
Ahlan! Hot 100: Style Icons
The most talked about annual evening in the UAE, is certainly one that I always like to come back to. For the 3rd year, I fall within the Style Icons amongst other incredible people who are an inspiration for others. For me, the entire day is dedicated for this event. I wake up around noon, have a light breakfast, answer few emails, try on the dress I’ve selected one more time (for assurance) – pick the appropriate shoes and accessories to go with it, and then head out of home. Straight to the Hair, manicure and pedicure. Since I chose the one-shoulder white feather dress from my Love Affair collection, I wanted to go bold with the shoes and nail polish color. So I went for my favorite bright color: Neon Fuchsia.
Arriving at the Ahlan! Hot 100 red carpet I was greeted with the beautiful hostesses wearing my knee length one shoulder dresses created especially for the HP Mini Laptops all in white satin silk, with an HP beaded logo using CRYSTALLIZED™ - Swarovski Elements on the bow.
Photos and interviews all the way till you reach the heart of the event, which took place at The Address Montgomerie Dubai. The best part of the event was meeting up with some fabulous people, some of whom I haven’t seen in years!
On a side note, for the 2nd time, I was selected as one of the Best Dressed for the evening. Not bad for a fashion designer!
Selected as one of the Best Dressed
Thank you Ahlan! for the selection and the fabulous event, you really know how to throw a party.
The Ahlan! Hot 100 Supplement is Free with Ahlan! Magazine and Masala this week, pick up your copy today, plus you can read more about the event on AhlanLive.com and http://www.ahlanlive.com/hot-100-people-style-icons
- posted on 25/08/2010 23:17:55
disgusting manners.. That's why there're bins!! - posted on 12/08/2010 23:07:03