Fashion shoot: Shifting sands in Sharjah - in pictures

In an abandoned village where the desert is slowly reclaiming the land, high fashion makes a stylish stand

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  Dress, Dh17,571; and earrings, Dh3,600, both from Givenchy. Shoes, Dh2,600, Tod’s. Top; and socks, both stylist’s own On the cover, dress, Dh31,721, Oscar de la Renta. Top (worn underneath), Dh365, Layeur at The Modist. Shoes, Dh5,839, Gucci.

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  Dress, Dh1,627, Solace London at The Modist. Trench coat, Dh33,250, Bottega Veneta. Shoes, Dh4,477, Dolce & Gabbana.

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  Dress, Dh28,631; earring, Dh8,300; and ring, Dh1,024, all from Givenchy. Boots, Dh2,185, Stuart Weitzman.

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  Top, Dh14,000; trousers, Dh11,000; and shoes, Dh5,000, all from Hermès.

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  Dress, Dh26,800, Gucci. Shoes, Dh2,600, Tod’s. Earring, Dh1,064, Amy Gattas. Top, stylist’s own.

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  Dress, Dh20,850, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello. Turtle-neck dress (worn underneath), Dh1,695, Kristina Fidelskaya. Shoes, Dh4,477, Dolce & Gabbana. Earrings (just seen), Dh1,800, Dior.

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  Dress, Dh65,000, Dior. High-neck dress (worn underneath), Dh1,695, Kristina Fidelskaya. Shoes, Dh5,839, Gucci.

Despite living in a country carved from the desert, most of us are blissfully unaware of the constant ebb and flow of the omnipresent dunes, which prompted our choice of location for this month's fashion shoot. The abandoned old town of Al Madam in Sharjah, once lived in and now forgotten, is testament to what happens in this region when the people leave.

Barely a village – just a scattering of single story houses watched over by a small masjid – it has been almost entirely reclaimed by the sand. With no doors or windows to hold back the persistent creep, rooms are filled, sometimes almost to the ceiling, with banked drifts, which lean against walls and slide across floors.

We tasked international photographer Ezra Patchett to capture its eerie beauty, and he used the warm glow of the sand and the textures of the buried homes to capture our model, Anna, wearing the latest pieces by the likes of Bottega Veneta, Hermes and Givenchy, to name but a few.

Photographer: Ezra Patchett

Stylist: Sarah Maisey

Model: Anna at Mikas

Hair and make-up: Sharon Drugan

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