Faissal El-Malak is a Palestinian designer brought up between Montreal, Canada and Doha, Qatar. He trained as a fashion designer in Paris’s Atelier Chardon Savard and moved back to the Gulf, settling in Dubai in September 2014. El-Malak has developed his contemporary Middle Eastern design identity by bridging traditional artisan work with modern design. With a first collection incorporating Yemeni handwoven textiles, his subsequent seasons focus of traditional handwoven fabrics from the Medina of Tunis and the cotton jacquards of Upper Egypt where he has worked closely with the artisans to develop modern interpretations of their textile and silver jewellery.

This look is from El Malak’s Spring Summer 18 Vogue Arabia DDFC Fashion Prize winning collection. For the coat, he used a motif from a traditional Yemeni men’s sarong called the ‘Me’waz’ or ‘Futah’. This motif was then used to mirror the shape of a corset in the front of the garment using embroidery made in his workshop in Dubai. The coat is made from Japanese cotton, a development of the Middle Eastern stripes and silhouette from an earlier suit in his SS16 collection. The dress underneath is made from cotton mesh with horn buttons. The contrasting flap details were inspired by a Vionnet dress from the 30s.