First Saudi Fashion Week debuts to women-only VIPs clothes they cannot wear in public
Up to 1,500 people pay US$133 per show with models in shoulder-baring dresses at women-only event, as conservative Islamic kingdom opens up
In the lobby of Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel, two Russian models with slick high ponytails glide past a woman draped head-to-toe in black.
Heading for a cigarette break during Saudi Arabia’s first-ever fashion week, Naya Efimova and Ira Titova said they were excited and bored.
Excited to be “part of history” as the conservative Islamic kingdom opens up, Titova, 25, said. Bored, because they’d been told they couldn’t leave the hotel without a male chaperone.
The Riyadh edition of Arab Fashion Week – which started last Tuesday and ended on Saturday – showcased local and foreign designers, and was another example of the government’s efforts to ease social restrictions – and the internal tensions it creates.
Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is trying to overhaul the oil-dependent economy, the government lifted a longstanding ban on women driving and started holding mixed-gender concerts.
Contrary to what the Russian models had been told, many women go about the city on their own.
Still, the kingdom is a deeply traditional society, and sometimes it seems as if officials are not sure how far they can push.