Led Zeppelin, philosophy and punked-up Hollywood at Dubai Fashion Week

Blistering evening showcases free spirit in many guises

Dubai Fashion Week's spring/summer 2026 showcase is currently underway at Dubai Design District.

Here we take a look at some highlights from days two and three.

Lama Jouni

Blink and you would have missed it. That's how short the show by Lebanese designer Lama Jouni was at Dubai Fashion Week, which concludes this weekend.

To the pounding guitar of Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love, Jouni sent out her models in pairs, dressed in breezy, jersey separates that were a declaration of freedom. And it was all over and done with in less than two minutes.

“I don't want to bore my audience,” she laughed. “I like to, you know, make it strong, quick and efficient.”

With a decade of experience reworking wardrobe essentials, Jouni knows exactly what her clients want and this light, sassy collection of shorts, loose trousers and high-low hem dresses was aimed at women the designer describes as “young, vivacious and powerful” as well as something that they don't know they need.

The slogan T-shirts and baseball caps, worn with micro shorts and slinky dresses, are classic Jouni territory, now in super relaxed jersey and comfortable enough to take her customer from day to night. This kind of effortless living is what Jouni embraces. “Women should be more forward, take more risks and live life fully,” she said.

Her clothes, she explains, are there to enable women to live their best life and feel “strong, powerful and flirty at the same time”.

Jozeph Diarbakerli

Bold and filled with attitude, the Jozeph Diarbakerli show was riotous fun. Photo: Dubai Fashion Week

Half-Syrian, half-Armenian designer siblings Jozeph and Cintia Diarbakerli made their runway debut at Dubai Fashion Week.

The pair, who founded the Jozeph Diarbakerli brand in Canada in 2024, brought their high-octane vision to the UAE with a high-octane show and booming techno soundtrack. Hollywood was the inspiration, drawing on the “aura of this persona, this celebrity, this woman”.

Cintia explained: “She has feelings, mysteries, rumours and everything is behind her facade. You saw them all on the runway tonight.”

The result was a riotous mix: it was upper-class Duchess meets Berlin's notorious Berghain nightclub. Models wore banded bodycon dresses, ostrich-tuffed mini dresses and a high-waisted hobble skirt or tailored trousers, with a sparkling bra top and opera gloves.

There were sheer lace body suits worn with black tights and second skin, kick-flare white dresses. Trouser suits came wide-legged and power-shouldered, or sheer and twinkling with sequins. Instead of the traditional white wedding gown that usually ends a couture show, the finale featured a dark, Victorian-inspired look: a bodysuit paired with a knee-length black lace veil

“We did that last minute, actually,” said Jozeph. “We didn't want to do the typical bride, so we went with our own twist.”

And the perfect finishing touch? Every look came with black ostrich-feather-covered shoes. It's a rebellious, decadent and fun look, and if the Diarbakerli duo can manage a show this assured after only one year, then they are definitely ones to watch.

XD Xenia Design

The XD Xenia Design collection at DFW was inspired by the Japanese philosophy of Kintsugi. Photo Dubai Fashion Week

After her show, Croatian designer Xenia was in a sombre mood backstage due to the death of Giorgio Armani.

Her collection was pensive, drawing on the Japanese philosophy of kintsugi (in which things are repaired with gold). “It's a good life philosophy because we all make mistakes, but this does not mean it is bad,” she said. “Instead, from every mistake we learn something new and get better.”

Delivered as one of her couture collections, which she creates every two or three years, the clothes balanced the visible and the hidden through transparent devore fabrics and layers of plisse tops and jackets that became lightweight armour.

Dresses were cut with skirts made of huge squares of light gauze that hung in cascades at the sides. One trapeze dress, in the lightest of sheer, stiff chiffon, hung just so on the shoulders, seemingly held up by air.

Each look showcased Xenia's decades of experience, featuring complex and highly technical constructions. Ethereal in an unstructured way, the almost all-black collection was built in sheer layers to create countless tones of grey, broken with blasts of zesty green, silver, gold and vibrant red.

Coiled headpieces nodded to kanzashi, hair pins worn by Geisha, while shoes such as heels and chain looped biker boots were all elevated on blocks like wooden geta shoes.

“I love asymmetry, unusual silhouettes, and unusual cuts,” Xenia explained. “I think the signature of the future is not symmetry. In nature, there's always asymmetry, and I have been following the same principles while designing this collection.”