Shoppers and guests alike were treated to a fashion extravaganza at Wafi City, which showcased the latest designs in time for the forthcoming Dubai World Cup.
From metallic mini-dresses to glittering abayas, a total of four shows highlighted this year's top fashion trends in both men's and women's clothing.
Big hit
Fascinator hat-pieces were a big hit among the crowd, who reserved seats via the Wafi City Select loyalty card programme and filled the events to the brim. Many more shoppers stopped to watch the shows, which spanned two days and highlighted fashions from nine Wafi stores.
Designer fashions from Anna Sui and Betsey Johnson were worn by the elegant models who strutted their stuff in a range of cuts, styles and colours. Metallic materials in gold and silver were a big hit, and this year's hat trends focused on purples and pinks, as opposed to last year's autumnal brown shades.
Diverse
Victoria Smith, group marketing director at Wafi City, said: "The fashions for this season are very diverse. There are lots of bright acid colours, but black also featured heavily in all the collections. Polka dots are popular and there were lots of short, little dresses along with glamorous full-length ones.
"Wafi has always attracted stores that can provide something more special and eclectic," Smith continued, "therefore it is ideal for people who want to express their own sense of racing style and be a part of the thrilling and ever-changing fashion fest for the Dubai World Cup.
Unique handbags
"From custom-made hats at Oasis Fashion and celebrity designers from the many exclusive boutiques to unique handbags from Crystal Temptations, Wafi offers a collection to suit everyone." Audience responses to the shows were positive with many shoppers who stopped to see the designs later asking where the clothes were sold and who had designed them.
The spring-summer lines shown at the event included long and shorter dresses, men's suits and casual wear,
designer abayas, hats and fascinators, shoes and accessories. Bold designs, sequins and beads, over-sized
handbags and modern interpretations of sharply-tailored suits are all in for this season's look.
Fascinators
Angela Walton, of Oasis Fashion, in Wafi City, said: "Everything this year is fascinators, fascinators,
fascinators. Dresses also seem to be shorter this year, although we did show some long dresses at the
event. As a material rayon-jersey is very in this year, as are handkerchief dresses."
FACEStockholm provided make-up and artists for the event, while Kevin Oliver choreographed and Contempo
was responsible for the set-up.
The lowdown
Anna Sui
n Anna Sui's colourful designs never fail to wow audiences the world over. She has been called a designer who "never panders" by the New York Times and was named on Time magazine's list of the decade's top five fashion icons.
Sui's spring-summer 2008 collection includes metallic minis, pink florals and women's suits.
Betsey Johnson
n In 2002, Betsey Johnson was included in the fashion walk of fame and has designed for celebrities including Salma Hayek, Heather Graham and Minnie Driver. New arrivals for spring 2008 include colourful summer dresses and accessories with bow motifs.
Valentino
n Valentino Garavani first opened a design house in the late 1950s and is an haute couture veteran. His spring-summer collection is highly tailored and features pastels.
