Sawa partners with That Concept Store to showcase regional design talent

More than 60 creatives bridging fashion, jewellery and beauty will exhibit at Mall of the Emirates

More than 60 brands will be presented across two floors at That Concept Store ahead of Ramadan. Photo: That Concept Store

Sawa, the fashion and lifestyle platform founded by Emirati jewellery designer Salama Khalfan and The Modist founder Ghizlan Guenez, is teaming up with That Concept Store to present a showcase of regional design talent ahead of Ramadan.

From March 17 to 20, more than 60 brands, bridging fashion, fine jewellery, beauty and food, will be presented across two floors at the multi-brand concept store in Mall of the Emirates. As part of the event, Sawa will also host a roster of talks and workshops, focused on retail entrepreneurship and supporting the growth of small businesses.

“Majid Al Futtaim has long supported rising local and regional talents from a plethora of different creative industries and been a pioneer of CSR in the UAE,” says Thierry Pichon, managing director of That Concept Store.

"Today, That Concept Store continues to reinforce the legacy of Majid Al Futtaim by creating a platform of talent that provides equal opportunities for all artists and designers to express their work. We are very proud to host Sawa’s second edition over four consecutive days, in what can be seen as the first step towards our much bigger community activations in 2022."

This is the second outing of Sawa, which means “together”. Founders Khalfan and Guenez are committed to providing a platform for local labels that, because of the costs of rents and overheads, might not otherwise be able to promote their products to such a wide audience.

“Sawa is really a group effort," says Khalfan. "It’s a collection of very passionate people who lead small-to-medium businesses in the fashion or creative enterprises landscape. Sawa exists as a platform to enable, not disable, these small businesses and individuals, from being able to commercialise their collections and present them to the public.

"As two entrepreneurs and women in business, who have witnessed friends and creatives around us who have gone through the pandemic and had the most difficult time from a business perspective, our goal was to come together and find a way to support each other."

“We are very excited to continue the journey of Sawa and especially thrilled to be collaborating with That Concept Store and Majid Al Futtaim," says Guenez. "Our alignment of values including supporting our ecosystem and recognising young talent and nurturing it, makes working together very fulfilling and we can’t wait to show our visitors over the few days of the event what we have in store for them."