Engineer Sarah Al Aidy has an eye for fashion, but conservative yet stunning dress she made for a wedding led to a new level of interest.
SHARJAH // Sarah Al Aidy’s day job involves the construction of bridges, towers and roads – but at night she swaps high-rises for high fashion.
The civil engineer has always had an eye for designer-made clothes but her interest was piqued after she created a dress to wear to a traditional family wedding.
The conservative event required all of the ladies in attendance to be veiled.
Rather than limiting her options, the strict dress code only helped inspire Ms Al Aidy’s imagination.
“Because veiled girls always face difficulties in choosing decent clothes covering hair, neck and hands, I designed a dress then posted a picture of me wearing it on Facebook,” the 24-year-old said.
“After that, a girl living in Canada sent me a message telling me she loved the dress and wanted one because in Canada they didn’t have decent dresses like this.”
The Palestinian now spends her spare time designing and selling dresses, under the label Hejabi Couture, although she admits her parents were not keen on the idea of their daughter swapping her career as an engineer for fashion.
Ms Al Aidy studied at the American University of Sharjah to qualify as an engineer and has worked for companies in the UAE.
“I love the major I studied and I love my job but when I have to choose between both, I will definitely choose fashion because it will be my own business not working for others.”
For now, she is happy to balance her day job with her passion for creating clothes.
“After work, I spend five hours going to cloth shops and buying fabrics, then I go to a tailor I deal with. I give him the designs that are in my head,” she said.
“Now I am taking an online course to learn drawing and I need two months to finish.”
After two years supplying stylish ladies with their dream outfits, Ms Al Aidy has expanded her range from evening dresses to casual wear, tops, capes, and kimonos.
She has an unusual approach to dressmaking, with each outfit being unique.
“All the designs are from my mind and I have never asked any of my customers about the design she wants, because I want all my collections to be my creation and maybe I didn’t like the design a lady wants so this will reflect badly on my business and my reputation,” she said.
Most of Ms Al Aidy’s customers are Arab expatriates living in the UAE, US and UK. She rarely sells to Emiratis.
“Most expats have mixed weddings, with males and females together, unlike Emiratis, so veiled ladies have to find a decent dress. That is why most of my customers are expatriates.”
The civil engineer is setting up her own workshop for her tailors and an online store to display her goods.
“The idea behind the tailoring shop is to make all my dresses for delivery to Jordan, Kuwait, Dubai, the US and Canada.”
After that she plans to open a shop where people can come in and view and buy her unique creations.
Hejabi Couture can be found on Instagram.
roueiti@thenational.ae
