Category Archives: Events

AIISHA S/S 2012 in Paris

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Aiisha White Dress

I have the pleasure to announce that our AIISHA S/S 2012 Couture collection Le Pouvoir De La Poudre will be presented in Paris for buyers to view from the 20th January until the 15th of February. The presentation coincides with the Paris Fashion Week as I’ll be there not only to meet buyers, but also to watch my favorite fashion shows like Elie Saab, Stephane Roland and George Hobeika.

Viewing our collection is by appointment only. Kindly contact us for appointments.

Contact details:

Twitter: @aiisharamadan

Email: Aiisha

This collection has participated in the latest edition of New Zealand’s Next Top Model, Ariel 3D fashion show that was hosted by June Ambrose, and will soon appear in a campaign that I can’t wait to share with the whole world. Check out more designs from our collection. Its romantic bold and simply beautiful.

AIISHA at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week

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Aiisha Ramadan walks the KFW runway

I had the pleasure to be invited to the Kazakhstan Fashion Week and without any hesitation I accepted the invitation. For one, women from Kazakhstan are some of the most beautiful ones in the world who adore fashion and actually appreciate it. Secondly, after consideration, we accepted the invitation especially that Kazakhstan is becoming a fashion destination. Finally, I wanted to try a place that not many people have tried. I like to be a pioneer in discovering places hungry for creativity and art. My expectations were exceeded a million times. The professionalism and reception that my team and I were welcomed with were beyond any experience I have ever had. The passion that everybody showed to the Kazakhstan Fashion Week, from the organizers, to the models to our personal assistants was by all measures something I will cherish for life and learn from everyday.

I showcased my latest collection Le Pouvoir de la Poudre, the dearest collection to my heart by far for the first time in full officially at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week. This collection is essentially inspired by powder visions I saw on the beaches of the Côte d’Azur. Tones that I breathed in the air of Paris. In short, I put my heart in this collection and whether you like it or not, I’m sure you’ll appreciate the work I put in it. Did I mention that it snowed for the first time on the day of my fashion show? About a month earlier than anticipated..

We had a 3-day-exhibition where we met with buyers, a press conference and my show was the second day’s Finale.

For my show, I had a casting for nearly 200 professional models, of which I chose 24 gorgeous girls that represented a variety of looks. I presented about 35 looks leaving out some of the structured pieces, which I will post separately.

AIISHA at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week

AIISHA at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week

AIISHA at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week

AIISHA at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week

AIISHA at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week

The music my husband chose, left people talking about it. Here’s the full list:

No.
Song
Artist
01
Powder
Parov Stelar
  
02
Paris
Scratch Massive
  
03
Tonight
Miguel Migs
  
04
Fantasize The Love
Gare Du Nord
  
05
Woman
The James Taylor Quartet
  
06
Nightcall (Feat. Lovefoxxx)
Kavinsky
  
07
On S’En Fou
Loane
  
08
Chocolate Distance
Karuan
  
09
Familiar
Marko Bokun
  
10
Dita Dimone
Pop Levi
  
And for the Outro we chose an Intro, how convenient  
Intro – The xx

AIISHA at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week

AIISHA at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week

AIISHA at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week

AIISHA at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week

AIISHA at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week

AIISHA at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week

The part I mostly enjoyed was the choreography. I placed about 5 white lounge chairs on the beginning of the rectangular shaped 63 meters catwalk and had each model who didn’t have to change her outfit sit at or stand by the chair. By the end of the show, I had a perfect vision of princesses or mermaids, whatever you wanna call them, shaping the most perfect tableau. I swear that as I was doing my turn with Tunisian super model Faten and as I was approaching the girls seated as choreographed, I felt a thrill from the perfect vision I saw.

AIISHA Finale at the Kazakhstan Fashion Week

This was my tableau, these were my girls so proud of wearing my collection, looking so perfect in every way.

My show had about 700 people turn up, people who didn’t know me, but they came to see what a UAE based designer would bring to the table. I heard the clapping throughout the show and I saw the excitement on people’s faces as I walked the runway barefoot to greet them. In short, it was a success!

I want to thank the entire team of the Kazakhstan Fashion Week and the great city of Almaty for making this a memorable experience to us.

In Dubai, this collection is Exclusively stocked at FROST boutique in Palmstrip Center, Jumeirah Beach Road, Dubai – UAE.

The first ever 3D Virtual Fashion Show

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A couple of months back, Procter & Gamble approached me for the first of its kind event in the world. The unique first EVER 3D Virtual Fashion Show to showcase a capsule from my upcoming collection “Le Pouvoir de la Poudre – The Power of Powder” as part of the main event star: Ariel 3D! Note that my collection’s name had already been set a while before this opportunity knocked my door as it was inspired by powder tones and the Côte d’Azur reflecting romantic yet powerful cuts.

I immediately said Yes! The hard part was keeping it a secret, but I did!

June Ambrose & Aiisha Ramadan

With Ariel goes deeper to make 3D history being the theme and inspired by the 3D revolution, Ariel is bringing real 3D innovation to the world of Fabrics and Fashion. Ariel scientists have used patented 3D tools and technology to gain a deeper understanding into fabrics, fibers, and stains, and have now developed a new deep cleaning formula; that penetrates deep into the layers to extract stains.

More than 150 people from more than 27 countries, most of them press and some celebrities such as Boy Abunda and Manish Malhotra, came together to be a part of Ariel’s global launch event. The event has already been mentioned in Forbes Magazine and Women’s Wear Daily.

With Ariel being pioneers in their own field, they extended their leadership to the first ever 3D Virtual Fashion Show produced by local company AIR, showcasing few pieces from my Couture collection and hosted by Hollywood celebrity stylist June Ambrose, who flew in from New York to be part of this special event wearing an AIISHA orange dress from the Love Affair collection. Everything in the fashion show was virtual and animated from the catwalk, to the models and myself greeting people on the runway, as well as the virtual kisses and rose petals, which took the viewers by surprise. These elements created depth and excitement.

June Ambrose and Aiisha Ramadan

Colorful 3D Glasses

Another highlight of the event was the 3D Projection Mapping of Ariel in collaboration with LG portraying the ‘Deepest Cleaning Test’ on a large building in a construction site in downtown Dubai produced by Muse Amsterdam. The “Deep Cleaning Test” stained the building with life-like forces of nature and pollution, then “cleaned” it like new.

I only work with brands I believe in. To prove how effective this new technology is, I accidentally got my jersey silk powder pink dress smudged with some Teriyaki sauce and black marks spread out (in the middle of the event) . Naturally I freaked out, but it was caught on camera how I got them off using Ariel 3D Microboosters! The product worked like a charm cleaning the stains preserving my delicate garment.

Many would wonder why Ariel collaborated with a Couture brand? Its simple. Even Couture needs to be cleaned and I choose to take the matters by hand!

 

The AIISHA collection presented at this fashion show will be officially launched in October in the UAE and in other parts of the world. Stay tuned as this is the dearest collection to my heart!

 

AIR, P&G and H&K - Some of many brains behind the event

 

I’d like to thank everybody who worked on this event and topping the list: P&G for their continuous support, H&K for a great opportunity, AIR for their first ever 3D production in the Middle East and June Ambrose for changing my life in a matter of few days.

More coverage of this unique event, including the video, soon.

 

Aiisha awarded at the Gr8! Women Awards

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On the 15th of April at Madinat Jumeirah, I was awarded at the Gr8! Women Awards first edition in the UAE for my Fashion achievements. This ceremony, brought to us by Petrochem, celebrates women, their beauty and strength and promotes breast-cancer awareness. From India in general, some of the awarded women were Aishwarya Rai, Preity Zinta, and Zeenat Aman. From the UAE besides myself, some truly amazing ladies were awarded such as Lara Satrakian, Nayla Al Khaja and Sarah Belhassa were recognized for their work. In fact, most of the winners were ladies who made a difference to the world by being more like philanthropists.

This is where I felt speechless. Here I was, not exactly Alexander Mc Queen and have not publicly taken children off the streets and I was being awarded. From one side, I felt great for being recognized for my efforts and from the other side I thought, maybe its time to make a serious positive difference to this world. And it takes two to tango. I’ve always had a dilemma on whether being considered a celebrity would mean that I’m exploiting a cause I publicly support, or if  I’d promote it better.

When it came to the speech (yes we had to make a speech that I wasn’t prepared for), with some serious help, I came up with a simple yet witty speech that made people laugh.

I thanked the organizers for the award, congratulated my fellow winners and shared a quote by Nancy Reagan: A woman is like a teabag. It’s only when she’s in hot water that you realize how strong she is. My designs are inspired by the woman’s inner beauty to reflect on her outer one.

Thank you Petrochem for this beautiful award!

Aiisha on Ana Zahra

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For those familiar with the Arab Media, Zahrat Al Khaleej magazine is one of the top 3 in the GCC. The team behind Zahrat Al Khaleej has come together to extend their vision into an Arabic only website under the name of Ana Zahra. Incidentally, Ana Zahra means (I’m a flower). The website will be under www.anazahra.com

It will be covering lifestyle, fashion and beauty. Contributers will be from Paris, Saudi Arabia, Beirut, and of course the UAE.

A few months ago, I was approached by Zoya Sakr, most likely the tallest lady I’ve ever met. But also one of the finest, most elegant and has some mystery in her eyes. She observes a lot.. she appreciates well.

After hearing about my lifestyle and all that I do, I was immediately categorized as one of their Inspirational Women and was requested to write my diaries to Ana Zahra.

Aiisha Contributes to Ana Zahra

The challenge to me was to write in Arabic. I “was” the top student in high school with my Arabic, but that kind of evaporated  throughout the years for the lack of practice. However, when I started writing, it all started flooding. I had a style in writing. Its easy yet deep. At least thats how I like to think about it. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

The first few articles will be more like an introduction and talking about my history on how I got into Fashion, talking about each collection, what was behind it and what it meant to me, my styling career and lots about my family.

Its about my personal fashion oriented life.

My policy was to delete as less as possible. Just let it out, be myself and within the borders of respecting the public.

Experts and contributors will include the likes of Joelle Mardinian, who looked stunning wearing one of my Love Affair dresses at our group photoshoot. I’ll write a separate blog about that.

For now, I’d like to thank Zoya, Ana Zahra Team, my family and all of those who have supported me.

Do check out www.anazahra.com and I really hope you’ll enjoy it.

Emirates Woman – Fashion with a Heart

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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.

Aiisha and Evian – Live Young and Give Back..

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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)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQcVllWpwGs

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

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

My start with Valerie Campbell

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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

To be able to give back to the society and to raise awareness is one of the most challenging things one could ever do as cliche as this may sound. I post this because this year is a lot about giving back. Its about time..

Braun Silk-épil Xpressive Wet & Dry keeps you smooth as a dolphin!

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I’m a busy woman. Very busy that I don’t have all day to groom myself, not even everyday. So I chose laser for the most obvious areas in my body and finally after few years, it started to work out. However, for the less exposed parts of my body, that was a nightmare as waxing for me is as painful as it looks in the 40 year-old virgin movie played by Steve Carell!

This is when I discovered that Braun Silk-épil Xpressive Wet & Dry is my time and pain savior as it works in water as well as above. Just like exercising, anything in water becomes less painful and more effortless. In this case, your bath time can be your epilation time with this rechargeable device.

To get the true feeling, a bunch of press ladies and myself were invited to the Atlantis Hotel Dolphin Bay were we experienced touching, dancing and swimming with the dolphins. Nothing could ever beat that experience.

Dolpin kissing Aiisha

Dolpin kissing Aiisha

I’ve been to great events, met with amazing people, been here and there but I promise you, nothing beats the incredible feeling of swimming with a dolphin that is smart, beautiful, extremely soft and incredibly loving.

Aiisha with Dolphin

Aiisha with Dolphin

Thank you Braun for such an amazing experience!

Meeting with Chris Hassall

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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.