Saudi Arabia held its first historic fashion show on Friday featuring models in swimwear, marking a significant change in a country where women had to wear body-covering abaya robes less than a decade ago.
Saudi Arabia holds its historic first swimwear fashion show
The poolside event featured Moroccan designer Yasmina Qanzal’s collection, which mainly included one-piece swimsuits in shades of red, beige and blue, AFP reported. Many models had their shoulders exposed and some had their midriffs partially visible.
A step towards softening austere image?
“It’s true that this country is very conservative but we tried to show elegant swimsuits which represent the Arab world,” Qanzal told AFP.
“When we came here, we understood that a swimsuit fashion show in Saudi Arabia is a historic moment, because it is the first time to have such event,” she said, adding it was “an honour” to be involved.
The show took place on the second day of the opening of Red Sea Fashion Week at the St. Regis Red Sea Resort, off the west coast of Saudi Arabia.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s social reforms
The complex is part of Red Sea Global, one of the central megaprojects of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 social and economic reform program, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Since becoming first in line to the throne in 2017, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has instituted a series of social reforms aimed at softening the austere image of Saudi Arabia, historically characterized by a strict form of Islam, the Wahhabism.
These reforms included the elimination of the baton-wielding religious police who once enforced prayer hours in shopping malls, the reintroduction of movie theaters, and the organization of co-ed music festivals. However, these changes have been accompanied by increased repression against dissent, including repressive measures against conservative clergy who might oppose such moves.
Fashion industry’s contribution
Shouq Mohammed, a Syrian fashion influencer who attended the show on Friday, noted that this is not surprising given Saudi Arabia’s efforts to open up to the world and develop its fashion and tourism sectors, AFP reported.
The fashion industry contributed $12.5 billion, or 1.4 percent, to the national GDP and employed 230,000 people in 2022, according to a report published last year by the Official Saudi Fashion Commission, AFP reported.
