Ibteihaj Al Ahmadani, Head of Health Committee at Qatar Chamber, and Qomasha Al Jabor, Head of Exhibition Technical Support Section at QTA, during the grand opening of Heya Arabian Fashion Exhibition which took place at DECC on Thursday. Below: Creations
The 10th Heya Arabian Fashion Exhibition opened on Thursday at the new Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre, with over 200 designers and brands under one roof, showcasing latest creations.
Heya showcases authentic Arabian fashion designs of abayas, kaftans, veils, jalabiyas, shaylas, and evening gowns with over 220 booths from high level designers.
It has attracted its largest number of home grown talents to participate in this year’s edition including Al Motahajiba, Debaj, Al Dukan and Ckali.
The opening of the exhibition follows a series of tours by the organising team to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait etc. This has resulted in an increased number of regional designers taking part. Visitors have the opportunity to see the latest collections from M2me by Maali Alsaleh, Naseem Alandaos, Butterfly Abaya and Ghudfah, among others.
“The 10th exhibition of Heya is amazing and unique in its own style. Every Heya Exhibition surprises us. Many new designers have done a mind-blowing job with their new collections this year. Reaching out to the world of Qatari designers those arrived from
New York, China, India, Australia, Jordan, Lebanon and many more designers have showcased their outstanding work this year,” Ibtehaj Mohamed Al Ahmadani, Deputy Head of Qatar Chamber, told the media on the sidelines of the opening ceremony.
“The Heya Arabian Fashion Exhibition offers a unique fashion platform with many marketing, positioning and branding opportunities available to Qatari and regional designers, both new and established. We are proud to say that visitors can expect a complete Arabian fashion experience from Heya. Our long term objective is to help play a key role in Qatar’s journey to becoming a global hub for international conferences and exhibitions”, said Jawaher Alkuwari, Head of Advisory Committee for organisers Design Creationz.
“I have always participated in Heya’s all editions. This time I have come with my own brand as I have a lot of special customers here. I found Heya the best exhibition in Doha,” Xiaohui Sui (Mariam), designer from Nigwah Al Khaleej Tailoring House told The Peninsula.
Jyotssna Jain, Nirraamyaa Indian designer, said: “We transform Indian ideas into Arabic designs. We do a lot of Jalabiyas, capes and gowns.The phenomenal response from Doha brings us every year to Heya; we have been here for six years now." Additionally, there are workshops and forums with brands participating from regional countries including Debaj from Qatar, My Boutique by Sahar Al Hamoud from Kuwait and Naseem Alandalos from Bahrain. In line with Qatar’s cultural traditions, Heya is a female-only event and visitors should be aged 13 and over. The exhibition is free for visitors throughout.
