Dubai Shopping Festival launches Dubai Fashion 2004

Visitors to this years Dubai Shopping Festival will be able to enjoy Dubai Fashion 2004 - a sensational four-day event that will bring world-class collections from Ungaro, Givenchy, Lacroix and Dior to the city for the very first time.

The four-night spectacular starts on Thursday 5 February with 700 tickets now going on sale for each of the four days. Proceeds from the shows will go towards supporting two Dubai-based charities - the Dubai Autism Centre and Dubai Handicapped Centre.

It is the second year that DSF has brought the very best of international fashion to Dubai and the event is being held under the patronage of HH Sheikha Hind Bint Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, the wife of HH General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence.

Each of the four prestigious fashion houses will be bringing their full show to Dubai from the catwalks of Europe - showcasing Spring/Summer collections, before moving on to the USA. It will also be the last chance to see an Haute Couture collection for women designed by Julien Macdonald for the legendary Paris fashion house of Givenchy. The Dior show will feature the designs of the renowned John Galliano.

The 1,000 strong audience at each show will witness the same quality of exclusive design, elegant models that will have been witnessed on the catwalks of London, Paris and Milan. The exclusive collections will be shown by 22 international models being flown in from Europe to participate in the event.

Mr. Saeed Mohammed Al Nabouda, Chief Executive Officer, DSF said: "This will be a unique event for Dubai that provides an unrivalled opportunity for lovers of fashion in the city to attend truly spectacular shows. By attracting four of the worlds leading fashion houses to DSF it once again positions Dubai as a major international city and will help its growth as a future centre for world-class design and fashion. This will be the highest profile fashion event ever hosted by Dubai and DSF is proud to have led the way in bringing such a prestigious international event to the City.

"Dubai Fashion 2004 builds on the success of our first event in 2003 with the scale of the shows having grown to accommodate audiences of up to 1000 strong in the fabulous setting of the Rashid Auditorium at the Dubai International Convention Centre."

Dubai Fashion 2004 Supervisor, Khuloud Al Thani, added: "The production values of the show will be world-class. We are creating a special X-shaped catwalk to allow the audience the very best visibility for the models as they show off the very best of contemporary design and fashion for 2004.

"Three of the designers, Dior, Givenchy and Ungaro are new to DSF with Christian Lacroix returning for the second time following their hugely successful Haute Couture show during the inaugural Dubai Fashion event in 2003.

"We would like all corporates to participate in the event and contribute to the cause of the charities." 

Maryam Al Hashimi, Director, Dubai Autism Centre, said: "We are delighted that DSF has decided to support our work through donating some of the proceeds from this wonderful event to the Dubai Autism Centre and are grateful for the continued generous support of HH Sheikha Hind Bint Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum."

Nadia Khalil Al Sayegh, Vice Director, Special Needs Centre, added: "We hope that the support given to us through this event will also help to focus wider understanding and awareness of the challenges faced by the handicapped in Dubai and how everyone living and working in the city can help to support our charity. We are very grateful for the generous support from DSF for our cause."

The four night event opens on Thursday 5 February with Ungaro, the Spring/Summer collection from Givenchy on Friday 6 February, Christian Lacroix on Saturday 7 February and the final show from Christian Dior on Sunday 8 February. A jewellery exhibition featuring the finest from Christian Dior will also be held at the Royal Mirage Hotel in Dubai from February 9-11.

Every show will start at 8.30 pm apart from the Dior shows which will commence at 5.30pm and 8:30 PM respectively. 

Tickets for the event, which includes dinner, are priced individually at Dhs 300 or Dhs 3,000 per table and are available to both women and men. A table can be booked for all four nights for Dhs 10,000.