Saudi 100, the fashion incubator arm of the Saudi Fashion Commission, is hosting a Dubai pop-up showcasing four of its emerging designers.
Running until January 14 at La Galleria, the concept store at Bvlgari Resort Dubai, the pop-up features new pieces from Aram, RBA, Rebirth and The Untitled Project, including resortwear and a preview of their spring/summer 2026 collections.
Visitors can shop select designs from the Saudi labels ahead of their wider retail release, with the temporary collections displayed alongside La Galleria’s own resort-focused offering.
Aram
Arwa Alammari, the designer behind the award-winning label Aram, is presenting a resort collection of colourful pieces inspired by the Red Sea.
Made in glossy silk, the collection features bold stripes and tartan-like motifs, nodding to the clothing once worn by fishermen. Holding up a lightweight, tartan-style bomber jacket, in tones of cream on taupe, Alammari explains that she was "inspired by the sailors in Saudi Arabia who used to wear a pattern similar to this one. I created our own pattern to update it and bring it to modern life."
A tailored jacket in blues and reds has a similar inspiration, while also showing a collection of roomy dresses, knitted tops and even a 3D-printed handbag.
Created in bright red, a colour that features throughout the collection, the bag is shaped like a cruise ship. A play on words, cruise is also another term for a resort collection. The top handle bag is fun and eye-catching, a nod to the cruise ships “going from one island to another in Saudi Arabia," explains Alammari.
Rebirth
Tala Abukhaled's Rebirth, meanwhile, focuses on artisanal, handmade pieces shown as a collection called Tactile Gestures. “A lot of pieces are slow-made,” she explains. “They take a lot of time. We have different techniques of craft, from knitting to beading, and we use unconventional materials, such as raffia."
Raffia is a strong, flexible, natural fibre found in the leaves of the Raffia palm.
The latter is a nod to her Saudi heritage, because "Saudi is known for its beautiful palm trees and raffia comes from the palm trees.”
Pieces include a cream jacket and trouser set with a wide fringe of beading and a strapless, floor-length dress made from long strips of natural raffia. A strapless corset top is made from plaited fabric and decorated with wooden beads, while a short jacket is made from tiny strips of chiffon.
“We don’t produce in bulk, as each piece takes so long to make. It's all handcrafted," Abukhaled explains. Already a fixture at Riyadh Fashion Week, Rebirth has been part of Saudi 100 for three years.
“Honestly, it gets better and better. The mentorships, the exposure, taking us to new markets – it has opened up a lot of doors for us.”
RBA
RBA is a unisex ready-to-wear brand, established in 2017 in New York by Saudi designer Rakhaa Binahmed. Known for its loose fits and urban attitude, RBA merges sustainable fabrics such as cotton and linen with traditional, relaxed silhouettes.
Making pieces that can be worn several ways by either gender, Binahmed was inspired by her own experience living in the US. “The versatility, the wearability and the diversity of styles are all from New York," she says.
Being genderless is a key ethos for the brand. “I like my customers to have the freedom of styling themselves, not only buying one piece and wearing it as is. They can pair it with different things depending on the occasion.” Dressing up and dressing down is part of the fun, she says, but there is deeper thinking behind it. “The brand speaks about versatility, and it’s a bit earthy, so we like to leave rough edges.”
For example, in her double-layered cream linen shirt, Binahmed points out how the woven, selvedge edge of cloth is used as a design element, despite being something that other brands routinely discard. “It becomes something artistic, we don’t cut it, we just use it as is.”
Working exclusively with 100 per cent linen, from fine Italian fabrics to more standard weaves, Binahmed favours the material for its suitability to the hot Middle Eastern climate.
She describes linen as both lightweight and highly breathable, pointing to a long belted jacket designed to be worn in several ways. “It could be worn as a dress by a woman or as a cardigan by a guy,” she says.
The Untitled Project
Israa Allaf's The Untitled Project is a women's wear brand known for its vibrant, almost whimsical take on traditional abayas and resort wear. A blend of the fantastical – think linen dresses decorated with tiny metallic fish – Allaf aims to allow women to be whomever they choose.
“We are called The Untitled Project because you don’t have to be in a specific box, you don’t have to wear something or for it to represent you in a specific way. It's how you wear it, and the power of you is what makes it important.
“If there is one thing I can give women, it is to make them feel more confident. I want my women to be the most confident they can be."
Creating deceptively simple pieces, Allaf’s collection of what she calls “un-abaya abayas” goes beyond traditional modestwear. Founded in Jeddah in 2019, the label draws on the relaxed, waterfront lifestyle of her home city.
The company name has its own intriguing backstory. “I am a movie buff. In the production stage of a movie that doesn’t have a name, it is called 'the untitled project', and I knew this would be the branding even before the pieces came out."
Drawn to the belief that every new idea offers a blank slate, Allaf offers simple silhouettes with carefully considered patterns to make women feel more confident. For example, abayas printed with patterning that runs down the spine, which she says "gives the illusion of better posture". Meanwhile, other pieces are discreetly decorated with the company’s palm tree logo.
