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The Dubai Design and Fashion Council held its inaugural board meeting recently in Dubai, in order to review the Council's mandate and present its high-level strategy.
Following the decree issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai earlier in the year, the Design and Fashion Council was established to raise the profile of the Emirate as a regional and global destination for design and fashion, and keep pace with the global developments in the area.
The Council aims to achieve the following:
- Raise the profile of the emirate as a regional and global destination for clothing and fashion design, and keep pace with global developments in this area
- Promotion of the Emirate of Dubai as a hub of the fashion and design industry
Attract companies and institutions working in the field of design and fashion to locate to the Emirate
- Ensure that the fashion and design industry will contribute to achieving a sustainable development in the emirate, and will stimulate tourism and trade in alignment with the Emirate strategy
- Developing local fashion design talents
Priority initiatives around these pillars were agreed upon, in line with a short and medium term plan spanning across one to three years. The main objectives to come out of the meeting were:
- Establishment of both vocational and academic educational facilities in Dubai
- Creation of an incubation facility to nurture talent
- Provision of mentorship, training and access to resources
- Development of a yearly calendar of events related to the design and fashion industries in Dubai
The Design and Fashion Council Board members were named by The Executive Council according to the resolution issued by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council. Chaired by Dr Amina Al Rustamani, Group CEO of Tecom Investments, the board members consist of fifteen individuals who represent a mix of key stakeholder groups, including government, academic, not-for profit and private sector experts. Board members were selected due to their leadership, experience and proven track record to deliver industry level initiatives.
The Board members include Laila Suhail, CEO at Dubai Festival and Retail Establishments who acts as Vice Chairman to the Council; Mohammad AlShael, Executive Director of Commercial Licensing at Department of Economic Development; Robert D. Booth, CEO of Real Estate at EMAAR Properties; Iyad Malas, CEO of Majed Al Futtaim Holding; Khalid Al Tayer, CEO - Retail of Al TayerGroup; Ashok Sawlani, Former Chairman of & Current Honorary, - Member of Managing Committee at Dubai Textile City; Farida Abdulla Kambar AlAwadi, President of Association of Professional Interior Designers in UAE (APID) and Managing Director of Cinmar Design; Reem Acra, Founder and CEO of Reem Acra; Ali Jaber, Dean of Communication and Information Studies at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Communication at American University of Dubai; Patrick Chalhoub, CEO of Chalhoub Group; Raja Trad, CEO Leo Burnett and Publicis Group of Companies MENA; Gassan Harfouche, Group CEO of Middle East Communication Network (MCN); Nisha Jagtiani, Director of Landmark Group and Azza Fahmy, Chairwoman & Chief Designer of Azza Fahmy Jewellery.
Nez Gebreel has been appointed as CEO of the Council bringing a wealth of experience in strategic development of global brands. Adept at managing complex relationships amongst key business stakeholders, Nez is also highly creative with experience in IP concept creation, commercialisation and new business development across a wide range of industries including fashion, music, sport, television, and talent management, both in-house for established companies and as well as start-up environments. This, along with Gebreel's experience in working with both Western and Arabic cultures, means she is ideally positioned to enable the Council to achieve its remits.
