Meet the designers pioneering Saudi Arabia’s fashion revolution: Mohammed Ashi just became the first to show at Paris Fashion Week, while Yousef Akbar has returned to Riyadh, signalling changes ahead

Jul 10 , 2023

Fashion designer Mohammed Ashi poses after his women’s autumn/winter 2023/2024 haute couture show at Fashion Week on July 6. Photo: AFP

Mohammed Ashi and Yousef Akbar already dress the likes of Cardi B and Nicole Kidman, but now the kingdom’s investment in fashion is gaining traction, with Riyadh hosting its first fashion week in October

The Saudi Fashion Commission claims new freedoms around public dress and a growing private sector will see retail sales surge to US$32 billion by 2025 – others see a soft power smokescreen

Saudi Arabia is continuing its multibillion-dollar entry into all aspects of global culture, hitting a new milestone on Thursday with the first Saudi designer presenting at Paris Fashion Week.

Ashi Studio presenting at Paris Fashion Week. Photo: Getty Images

Mohammed Ashi’s haute couture show – his first as part of the official roster after years of dressing top celebrities – is “the peak of my career”, he told journalists at the Ritz Hotel in Paris this week, part of a lavish Saudi PR campaign throughout this fashion season.

Mohammed Ashi has dressed the likes of Cardi B and Queen Rania of Jordan. Photo: Getty Images

Ashi forged his own path, having left the kingdom three decades ago, but his promotion to the top league is neatly timed as Riyadh announces its own fashion week in October and says new freedoms will create retail opportunities worth US$32 billion a year.

Ashi Studio presenting haute couture at Paris Fashion Week. Photo: Getty Images

Fashion is just one strand of a strategy that has seen de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman divert its oil wealth into films, sports, video games and tourism, while overseeing dramatic social changes within the kingdom.

Many worried it was all just a smokescreen to defuse criticism of his human rights record, especially after the gruesome murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

Designer Yousef Akbar says that he initially had trouble believing that Saudi Arabia would change its attitude to fashion, but has been pleasantly surprised. Photo: @yousefakbarofficial/Instagram

But the changes ran further and deeper than almost anyone expected.