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.
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.
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
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..
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
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.
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.
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.
I don’t usually write about events I attend, but the fact that Olay and Warner Brothers invited us to the first screening of the movie Valentine’s Day, just few days before the famous occasion is pretty exciting on its own. The movie was from the same spirit of Love Actually, and have a star studded line-up of Hollywood actors and actresses, of which, my very favorite Julia Roberts and her very short – yet moving role.
Its a nice movie, made me laugh several times. Watch it when you just want to relax.
On the red carpet, Olay Regenerist Micro-Scultpting Cream team greeted us with a skin analysis – which revealed pretty interesting information for me, samples and a whole load of fashionistas.
The thing about aging creams is that you don’t need to wait till you age for you to try to reconstruct the damage. In fact, attack aging before it attacks you. In other words, delay it.
So thanks Olay!
Oh! and Happy Valentine’s Day…
Olay Regenerist is in stores, the movie opens this weekend.
Hellwafashion.com was at the event, and she had it covered in pictures.
This by far is the longest post that this site has so far, and its there to thank every individual who has provided us with support and has been a part of this great success. So I list them at no particular order.
A Love Affair
Production
Stefan Cebula, an amazing human being. You look at him and you realize that everything will be alright. Building the stage on ice, hanging himself from the rooftop, taking care of every (production) aspect was never an easy job. Stef has produced Valentino shows and The World Summit in Johannesburg among many others. He is the best!
Stefan Cebula
Among many others, Vartan Kelechian was a true positive vibe for me. Everytime I felt the world crashing around me, he assured me it will all be fine and it was!
Jihad Mawed is the man behind my logo. I paid 5 companies for a proper logo and I ended up using none. Instead I used the one from my childhood friend. He’s a true artist and a very dear brother. Along with my husband, Jihad also designed the Love Affair backdrop, which I think was sensational
A Love Affair Backdrop
Lights
Liz Berry, What can you say about a (Super Lady) who has produced the lights for London Fashion Week and Robbie Williams concerts? She’s a Super Lady!!
Models
Carole B, Hana Nitsche, Alexandra, Zeljka, Cole, Ying, Maja and Sophia from Bareface, Kate and Nicole from LMM, Dima, Anastasia, Katryna, Katsyarina, Rene and Anna. Everybody spoke of their beauty and grace. They really made me proud and were gorgeous! Unlike other models, they were all lovely, patient and simply professional.
A powerful opera singer who’s full of passion and has previously opened at Twickenham for 80,000 people. He was sensational!
Andrew Amdur (Tenor)
Natasha Alexandra Kemball
A graceful figure skater, who started the evening off with twirls and elegant moves, using the soaring voice of Opera Singer – Andrew Amdur for inspiration. It was so passionate and truly brought me tears.
Natasha Alexandra Kemball
Photographers
All the photographers stood side by side to document every breath we took, every move the models took and every shine of Victoria Casal pieces. Joseph Bassil was their leader and his photos speak for themselves.
All 4 Media. These guys got me speechless everytime I saw them around me either filming or solving a problem or simply reassuring us that everything is gonna be alright. They were true soldiers. The filming was conducted in HD and transfered on the massive 20meter x 10meter screen at Dubai Mall. Thank you, Roland, Raymond and all the incredible staff.
Music
Thanks to my incredible husband, we truly brought Paris to Dubai for the night. The mix was sensational.. I listen to it almost everyday and never get enough of it – Because we truly worked on it from our hearts. Please visit the links to taste the music.
What an pleasure to have met this legend. With his beautiful fuchsia shoes, both Victoria and myself were honored and so glad to have met Manolo. The 3 of us shared 2 photoshoots (exclusive for Harper’s Bazaar and Zahrat Al Khaleej magazines). It’s great as it makes the lady wearing Manolo’s feel like a princess, but also meeting the lovely legend behind it, is thrilling. Truly, to have Victoria and Manolo on my sides was a dream I never thought would come true!
Manolo Blahnik, Victoria Casal and Aiisha
Our stylist Noni, a passionate lady so eager to become a professional stylist, I tell her thank you for your dedication and your precision. I couldn’t have done it without you.
The models looked like they went out of the 60’s Vogue (I quote from the Khaleej Times). Steve from Pace e Luce Al Manzel – Burj Dubai Downtown – made me and Victoria look like 60’s divas for our clip. We simply looked sexy. Put the same look on the naturally perfect models and tell me what you think! The entire team of Pace e Luce blew us away by their work.. Thank you guys! If you know great hair professionals, Pace e Luce will always be on the top of your list!
When it comes to Max Factor (part of Procter & Gamble), I can’t help but think: Family. P&G and their PR company MS&L have supported me from my early beginnings and we remain loyal to each other. Not only are they professionals, but also friendly and easy going. When it comes to mastering Max Factor, Samira Olfat is my favorite makeup artist. She has worked with the best companies and designers from Galliano to Christian Lacroix to Aiisha and Victoria Casal! Max Factor had their iconic Lipfinity in its 6 shades worn to stay on the lips. I don’t know of any woman who has tried them and not felt grateful for this invention..
As you know, I’m the spokesperson for the HP Fashion Products, including the Vivienne Tam netbook. To continue what we have started, HP supported us with their latest pink edition, which simply happens to be divine!!
Another supporter from Procter & Gamble. Camay, the luxurious soap brand, has 5 exquisite variants for every woman: Dejour, Crème Delice, Passion, Parfum, and Pink. I have designed 5 dresses that reflect each of the Camay 5 scents. Each of them appeals to a mood / character that every woman may embrace. In each character, I see myself. We’ll cover that soon in a different post.
Did you know that Sweet Stuff made a special Aiisha and Love Affair Cup Cake editions for the fashion show? Not only that, but these cup cakes are being sold in their store on Jumeirah for a month after the show. I’m really flattered!
Sweet Stuff / Aiisha Cupcakes
Graziella Kamel
Its a true honor to have had Graziella as our MC. Graziella and I have worked on Dubai TV for a fashion styling program. I was always fond of Graziella’s ocean of talent. She was a sense of fashion that this region needs to nourish from. She’s multi-lingual and its simply sexy.. And she’s smart. Did I forget to mention how beautiful she really is? Hard luck for the men out there, she’s taken by a wonderful Ralph!
Danielle Wilson. For very long months, Danielle has worked so hard day and night and has always had faith in me. For that and much much more, I’m grateful. I couldn’t have done it without you..
Danielle Wilson with Aiisha and the Sweet Stuff at the event
My partner and my lover! Every member of Victoria Casal Paris to the Dubai branch made all the difference with their support. Thank you for making this Love Affair happen. I lived my dream with you..
Victoria Casal and Aiisha on the catwalk
Press
Every writer, reporter, journalist, blogger be it positive or negative (and it was truly positive), THANK YOU!
Press at the Love Affair
Our friends, family and the working team behind “Aiisha”.. thank you for your continuous support. I love you!
@aiisharamadan Get Your FREE $500 TicketMaster Gift Card and See Your favorite concerts! Get Yours @ http://tiny.cc/iqdcc - posted on 27/08/2010 16:51:52
@lamodadubai Abso-f'in-lutely! - posted on 26/08/2010 02:37:11
@lamodadubai Merci cheri! Feel free to use Google Translator if u feel that Arabic sounds like Chinese to y - posted on 25/08/2010 23:17:55
Lately everytime I tell someone that I have great news, (s)he responds by: OMG! Ur pregnant! P.S If I were pregnant, U'd be the last to know - posted on 25/08/2010 23:16:06
@aiisharamadan Get to see Your Favorite Concerts 4 FREE! Enter email to win $500 TicketMaster Gift Card @ http://tiny.cc/34l8z - posted on 22/08/2010 08:09:28
@aiisharamadan Love the proofs from the AnaZahra shoot! You looked stunning! - posted on 22/08/2010 01:01:22
@aiisharamadan I remember and I'm very flattered. Thank you! - posted on 18/08/2010 19:22:57
@lamodadubai Remember what I call you my friend. You've earned it well - posted on 17/08/2010 22:34:10
A gum stuck to my shoes disgusting manners.. That's why there're bins!! - posted on 12/08/2010 23:07:03
@ShireneRifai Inti a7la hayeti! - posted on 02/08/2010 23:17:37
@ShireneRifai I just noticed that you look a little like Rachel Zoe - posted on 02/08/2010 22:19:37
I received a call this morning from 056-7424250 saying that I won 500,000 Dhs - According to the police this is the 5th complaint abt this # - posted on 02/08/2010 19:54:33
@ShireneRifai Ok.. I'll rest my jealousy on the side and look at the bigger picture - posted on 02/08/2010 19:32:51
@ShireneRifai I'm jealous - posted on 02/08/2010 18:43:51
- posted on 25/08/2010 23:17:55
disgusting manners.. That's why there're bins!! - posted on 12/08/2010 23:07:03