Women in the Middle East are becoming more daring. This transformation today speaks volumes about their penchant for experimenting with new chic styles. They don’t want to drown themselves in their traditional costumes. They are bored with those monotonous styles and are looking to try something colorful and happening.

As the scope here for high-end fashion gets bigger, there is no denying that the region is close to experiencing a massive boom as a hot emerging market for the global fashion industry.

Whenever sophisticated women here go out for shopping in this part of the world, you'll never see them without their expensive clutches or handbags stashed with hard cash to procure trendy outfits.

It’s obvious that the demand for the hottest international brands is bound to skyrocket among women here whose knowledge of elegant fashion is outstanding. And the region’s well-established haute couture designers are ready to confront this reality head on with grand dresses with astonishing silhouettes that are simply world class.

One of them doing so passionately is Fadwa Baruni, a Dubai-based couturier, who is admired for her clean lines and sharp tailoring. In an exclusive chat with Arab News, she spoke about what fashion means to her and how the region is becoming a paradise for fashionistas!

Early fashion influences

It has always been her first love and she was always moved by it. It was a wonderland where she loved being herself surrounded by beautiful fabrics. “When I was a little girl, I used to cut up my mother’s curtains to make dresses for myself although I wasn’t always successful and it was something my mother never welcomed,” she says.

She hails from Libya, a country currently in turmoil. She says that in the 1970s and 1980s there weren’t many opportunities to get into the fashion business. On top of that, her family was against her joining this "crazy" business. “A career in fashion wasn’t something my family approved of or wanted to see me making a living from. I was at a crossroads. I was pushed to choose between the law, medicine and engineering. I couldn’t see myself dealing with blood, I still have a phobia about needles, or being able to stand reading endless legal books, so I chose engineering,” she says. “In the end I think this was a good choice which has proven to be very helpful in my later switch to fashion.”

She says fashion is her life after her family. "This is what I live for. I find it hard to imagine now working in any other business. But I feel it’s incredibly tough to manage the continual pressures on my time or to do what I want. If only I could devote myself to the design process, it would be so much more fun and less exhausting. As it is I spend the majority of my time running the business, dealing with staff and customers rather than designing.”

“On the whole, I wouldn’t change it because I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing ladies wearing my clothes and looking great in them. It’s just overwhelming.”

Choosing fashion over engineering

Baruni was happy with her work as an engineer. But deep inside, she knew she wanted to do something artistic. “Not many of us get a chance to change careers or the motivation to do so after starting down one road. In my case, everything went as I had anticipated. I reached a junction point in my career and was lucky to have the support to leave work and go back to learn. I managed to get a place at a great art school.” Before getting ready for her new career full time, she decided to take some evening classes to understand what she was getting into. "I did these evening classes for six months after which I felt I was fully ready to commit myself to this fascinating field," Baruni says.

After this, the real challenge was to get enrolled at a prestigious design school where she could learn the nitty-gritty of fashion.

It wasn't a harrowing task for her. Since she had spent some time in Europe, she knew which art school to join. "I spent a year at Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland before taking the decision to move to the UAE. This is a very good school and was a great place to learn the basics of fashion. I also studied at Telford College in Edinburgh, and in Sharjah when I returned to the UAE, just before setting up my business," she says. "These different courses were very useful in providing me with quite a different slant on the fashion business. The Edinburgh college gave me a great basis in the concepts of design while the others were practically oriented and provided the skills to manage pattern making and fabric selection etc."

Rationale behind launching her label

While working as a professional in Europe, she felt there wasn't much to choose from when it came to stylish and comfortable work clothes for women. "I was aware of a gap in the market for such garments. I thought there was room in the market for basic black and white with a focus on the working woman. I then realized that these styles, while popular, were basic items in a collection. I found I needed to broaden my palette to build my customer base," she says.

She believes all the great brands have invested in developing their businesses in the region on the basis that there is a significant and growing market for them. "I think women in the Middle East have access to the same high fashion brands as elsewhere in the world and are increasingly fashion conscious. Dubai has recently seen quite a significant growth in the number of fashion events and related courses."

When asked how fast the region was catching up with the rest of the world, she said: "It has caught up already and is now in some ways developing a significant lead over other parts of the world. The economy here has survived the financial meltdown much better than other areas of the world and this has supported the growth of the fashion business to a great extent in the area."

Her collection rocks

The theme of her A/W 2013-14 collections is "The New Independence" and is about the need to step out of the usual and define your own look. “It was really inspired by the independence I saw in the attitudes of women I worked and socialized with – it is a collection for them,” she says.

What sets this collection apart from her other work is a strong use of colors and strong fabric designs with a bolder feel. It shows the uncompromising style of women as they remain true to themselves.

She is using more silk in her collections. “I love the way it feels against the skin and how cool it is. It can be a challenge to work with it but it’s very compatible with the cut and style of many of my garments,” she says. “I want women wearing my clothes to look confident and comfortable and of course I want the clothes to look great on them. The style I hope is sophisticated and timeless in the lines and silhouette.”

Does she believe her collections represent her Libyan heritage as well? “Oh yes! Libya is a Mediterranean country and I think my collections are more influenced by the Mediterranean culture than traditional or Arabic culture. That said you can never escape your background and I am sure there are ideas that recur through the collections from my past. It’s certainly true that a number of customers have said that they can spot the Baruni design from the basic look of the garment.”

Inspired by her role model

There is only one legend from this field that inspires her a lot. “I just adore Coco Chanel. She designed fantastically chic dresses and her style and personal life are an inspiration. She started from very humble origins and succeeded in a tough competitive world. And nothing much has changed in the business. It’s still the same,” she says.

Baruni’s sober style going out

She makes good clothes but her style is a bit muted. She doesn’t follow ostentatious fashion. “I tend to dress down more often than not but I like a long cool dress in the evening. I tend to wear flat shoes to work and rarely dress up unless I have a business meeting,” she says. “Like many women I have a thing about shoes – the ones I like most tend to be the least comfortable. I put them on when I get out of the car and tend to take them off as soon as possible. I suppose I'm not really much of a fashionista.”

While she is designing modern outfits, she doesn't want to make a foray into working with traditional dresses such as abayas. "There are many abaya designers and I won’t be going directly into that market. However, for my Spring/Summer 2014 collection I have included a number of Kaftan-style garments which I think will work very well for the Ramadan/Eid market next year and these are themed similar to abayas in some ways but quite different in execution," she says.

The label 'Baruni Couture' has made great strides since its launch in 2008 and is evolving successfully. "I think I have been able to keep the collections fresh with a new emphasis or theme suited to each season. It's not easy and I am constantly looking for new inspirations to build a collection," Baruni says.

"It really has been an exhilarating time - displaying at the New York Fashion Week and making real progress in the markets here in the Middle East has been really exciting. But it has been very challenging too and it has been a lot tougher than I would have anticipated to achieve the progress we hoped for."

Her aspirations

Her eyes are fixed on making her presence felt in international markets. "I really want to break into this huge market more than I have been able to. If I can do this, I will be happy to say to myself that I have really made it as a fashion designer," she says.

Looking five years down the line from now, she hopes to open her first Baruni store in Milan and Paris. "I want to keep doing more of the same as far as my designs are concerned but get them out to a wider audience."

Her favorite city

Dubai is her favorite city in the entire world. "It's a fantastic place. We live here and get inured to its sights and sounds but when you stop to take a look at it, it really is one of the most dynamic cities on the planet with so much to do. It's just incredible," she says.