In July, Rami Al Ali made history. After years of showing off-calendar in Paris, the Syrian designer was formally invited by the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode to join the official haute couture schedule. In doing so, he became the first Syrian fashion designer to claim the rarest of titles: haute couturier.
For Al Ali, sending his looks down the runway in Paris was both triumphant and unnerving. “I have always looked at the official calendar and the names on it and thought: ‘This is an institution, these old brands, it’s farfetched.’” While “proud and happy” to be included, he admits to being “a bit intimidated that the work now is going to be seen more widely. It’s a bigger audience and my work is going to be examined thoroughly.”
If there is a theme to Al Ali’s career, it is careful, deliberate progress. “Whatever I’ve done with the brand since its start, I’ve always progressed forward. Small steps, very carefully chosen,” he explains. “From now on, the plan and the strategy need to be studied really well.”
But the newfound recognition does not mean he’s in a rush to get anywhere. “Moving forward is going to be still as careful, cautious and smart as it was before,” he says, assuring both himself and his audience.
Al Ali first arrived in Dubai in 1996, intending to stop over in the city before continuing his studies in the United States. “I was working on the internship and the paperwork and all of that. I took a temporary job in one of the old fashion houses in Dubai,” he says, “and that gave me a bit of confidence to stay a little bit longer.” Decades later, he is part of the beating heart of the city’s creative scene.
What kept him here was timing. The city was just beginning its evolution into a global fashion hub, with luxury brands setting up a regional presence and international editors flying in. “The clients became jet-setters and most of the fashion press and international brands started coming to the region,” he says of Dubai’s emerging status as a hub. The market was hungry for a potential entrepreneur to start something. There was high demand, but there was not enough supply. By 2001, he had opened his own atelier in the city.
About two and a half decades later, with his new title comes responsibility. “When you say ‘the first Syrian designer’, it is already a responsibility that you’re going to present the creative industry of a whole country,” he says. “It makes you feel proud.”
It also means he joins the exclusive club of Arab couturiers – such as Elie Saab, Zuhair Murad, Georges Hobeika and Mohammed Ashi of Ashi Studio – who, by carving out global recognition, created a lineage where none existed. “Graduating in 1995 and looking at the international landscape, I didn’t find an ideal who came from the same background. Someone who would give me hope to adjust my dreams to,” Al Ali remembers. “It was a low ceiling.”
Now, he hopes his own success can be the blueprint he once longed for. “It would give not only hope, but also a kind of manual for younger entrepreneurs, younger brands to look up to. And they will probably raise the bar.”
Al Ali knows better than to assume the role of gatekeeper. “Every day there’s younger talent that comes along that is cooler, edgier and more relevant.” But he believes the job of those who make it is to open doors. “I think it is our duty, when we get to certain places, to open those doors to the younger generation to make their dreams bigger.”
For Al Ali, couture is not only clothes, it is culture. “It’s a lifestyle. It is the ultimate luxury in the fashion industry. It represents the elite – not in terms of lifestyle, but in terms of taste.”
His latest collection draws directly from Syria – its crafts, its geometry and its overlooked history. “As always in my work, I go back to the craft, the artisan, the heritage. It is a permanent source of inspiration,” Al Ali explains. This season, however, he came with a special collaboration – a partnership with a Syrian organisation dedicated to archiving and restoring traditional craft.
“It is not only nostalgic, warm and very personal, but also a documentation of the identity that was lost and neglected over the past 12 or 13 years. Now we’re trying to restore it,” he says.
As we tour Al Ali’s Dubai atelier, the couture designer points to a look, with its geometric shapes inspired by Syrian mosaic and woodwork, punctuated with tassels for movement and modernity.
“It became a very strong reference. When you see it, immediately, you relate it to where it belongs,” he says.
As they say, you work for years and suddenly you’re an overnight success. Al Ali’s slow, steady and perfectly planned career means he now finds his name written beside Dior, Chanel and Balenciaga. A fact he finds surreal.
When asked if he has broken down some sort of gate that others can now get through behind him, Al Ali says: “I don’t think I’m the one who broke the gate, it’s my work. The creativity and authenticity of the work is what got their attention to put us next to those names.”
But this is only the beginning, the designer insists. “This is probably one of the major columns in building the brand globally. It’s a major one, but there are definitely still many other columns that need to come along with it to support going to the second floor, third floor and fourth floor in this high-rise building that we’re working in.”
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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