Rita Ora wears look by Saudi designer Ashi Studio at MTV Europe Music Awards

The couture brand is proving its chops as a go-to for celebrity red-carpet dressing

Rita Ora arrives to the MTV Europe Music Awards 2024 in an Ashi Studio gown. PA

British singer Rita Ora wore a striking dress by Saudi couturier Ashi Studio to the MTV Europe Music Awards in Manchester last night.

As a host of the evening, Ora had multiple custom changes. However, she set the bar high for what the audience could expect by arriving in a dramatic champagne-coloured gown, covered in horse hair by Saudi designer Mohammed Ashi.

From his brand's autumn/winter 2024 collection, the strapless dress was described by the house as being inspired by a wisteria tree, with the trails of hanging flowers represented in “wisps of horsehair”. The gown was covered in individual pieces of hair to create a blurry, almost shaggy effect. The designer said the look was “couture born from the Earth, and transformed by light to create an ethereal feeling of floating in the clouds”.

Ora is not the only one who has fallen for the beauty of creative director Ashi's work. In 2020, Queen Rania of Jordan wore Ashi Studio for the official portrait of her 50th birthday, choosing a long-sleeved crepe gown in cream with embroidery and button detail.

Earlier this year, Sabrina Elba, model and wife of actor Idris Elba, wore a sculpted black Ashi Studio look to the Baftas, while Ambani bride Radhika Merchant wore an embroidered silver-on-pink sari-style dress by Ashi Studio for her pre-wedding party in Jamnagar, India.

For the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, Indian actress Deepika Padukone stepped out in not one, but two Ashi Studio looks, including a wrapped gown in burnt orange. Model Jordan Dunn attended the same event in a tailored minidress with a huge overskirt – all in baby pink.

The year before, Beyonce donned a vibrant, fluted hot pink look to perform at the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela at 100 event in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Last September, singer Kelly Rowland arrived at the Harlem Fashion Row awards wearing an Ashi Studio corseted black and white dress. The same year, model Poppy Delevingne wore a cropped top and fluted skirt covered in dense silver beadwork to the British Fashion Council red carpet, while actress and model Diane Kruger attended the Marrakech Film Festival in an Ashi Studio black tulip bustier over an ecru silk skirt.

During last night's ceremony in Manchester, Ora also paid an emotional tribute to One Direction singer Liam Payne, describing him as “one of the kindest people that knew. He brought so much joy to every room he walked into and he left such a mark on the world”.