Accessory Action: Dubai fashion's new 'IT' girl

A look at how handbag designer Nathalie Trad has become the it girl of Dubai fashion.

As Fashion Forward Season 8 closed last week, there was one label that everyone made a point to check out - Nathalie Trad. She has become the poster girl for 'Made in Arabia,' as her accessories label is now available in 25 stores, from London's Selfridges to Mumbai's Le Mill. A few weeks ago, Trad announced a collaboration with Rupert Sanderson. British shoe designer Sanderson is known for his fine craftsmanship; he is obsessed with the Italian craft of shoe-making, so much so, that he names every shoe after a daffodil. With the Trad brand being known for fine handmade bags, this was a marriage made in accessory heaven. In this region, Level Shoes stock Sanderson products.
Born in Beirut, Trad studied fashion in Paris and New York. Her eponymous accessory label is known for handbags that could double up as pieces of sculpture. Using materials such as wood, shell and bone, they are the bags that every fashion girl covets. Says Nez Gebreel, CEO of Dubai Design and Fashion Council (often spotted sporting a Trad clutch) explains the secret to the designer's success, "Nathalie's pride in her identity, roots, and heritage is reflected in her work ethic, but her aesthetic is very international. She is known for her signature asymmetric designs and geometric influences. Her strong penchant for contemporary design embraces the region's overall outlook towards global trends. Nathalie's work is playing an important part in elevating regional fashion to an international level, and we hope to see many up-and-coming Middle Eastern designers following in her footsteps." Trad is a frontrunner to win this year's DDFC/Vogue Arabia Fashion Prize (winner to be announced this week). If she does win, it will make her the first accessory designer to win the prize. Says Trad, "It cannot be denied that the accessories market is a crowded one and that in order to stand out, one must find a blue ocean and create an uncontested market space. I feel that as a Middle Eastern designer, I have to prove myself twice over, show proper consistency throughout the seasons, continue to innovate and push boundaries in order to be taken seriously in the western world."
There is no question that it is Trad's unique aesthetic that has given the label an edge. The original inspiration behind her label was the 18th century natural history book, Cabinet of Natural Curiosities by Albertus Seba. Having interned at Yves Saint Laurent and Proenza Schouler, it was Seba's detailed illustrations of animals, plants and insects that made her want to create bags that were curiosity boxes. In her handmade clutches you can see references to the Middle East's love of geometry, and a love for art deco design is apparent in all her collections.
"There is no direct translation between a specific architectural design and my clutches. Nevertheless, I would say some of our clutches embody a concept frequently applied by Zaha Hadid: 'There are 360 degrees, so why stick to one?' This principle of multiple viewpoints also known to cubists is what I strive to apply in my designs. What I love most about how this applies to clutches is that it allows them to morph into completely different pieces every time you look at them." For Fall 2016, her collection is called Utopia 2.0. A collection that the designer says, "takes us on an exploratory voyage through a wormhole, through space and time, across the cosmos and emerging on the outer edge of the Milky Way." Trad recently showed her Spring/Summer collection at Fashion Forward Dubai and in Paris during fashion week. Yet again, Trad takes you on another fantastical journey. "For Spring/Summer 2017, I set off on a journey to a fictional city, a place I named Republic 406. An imagined beguiling sanctuary one could only read about in the tea-stained pages of a novel; a world so flawlessly contained, it could very well be in a snow globe. This season, my collection was inspired by an imagined sensory voyage across the city, a universe of fantasy and paradox, where modernity and old-world glamour magnificently unite like a mirage. The aura, reminiscent of Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel." Trad's creativity married with her use of craft, ensures that her work has a distinctive handwriting that separates her from other emerging talent.
Trad believes that fashion's current state of flux has worked to her advantage. As the industry is trying to reorganise itself to understand both social media's influence and the importance of new markets, fashion is in a stage of transformation. "Dubai Design District, Fashion Forward and all the initiatives taking place support local and regional brands. This shows that Dubai has the potential to become a fashion hub for the region.
"In order to achieve that, it's important to change the common, lurking stereotype that everything here is copy-pasted; highlight the talent and unique perspective of designers from the Middle East globally. Social Media and Instagram more specifically, has played a crucial role in doing that in providing local designers with a voice to reach all corners of the world."
Trad herself is ready to take her brand to all corners of the industry. The collaboration with Rupert Sanderson has given her the confidence to become a full lifestyle brand; this is now about more than handbags. She already has a line of necklaces. Though she does not want to open a flagship store immediately, she sees e-retail as her focus for the next few seasons. Currently, she is in talks with stores on the distribution of her shoe line - like her bags, they are conversation starters. Says the designer, "I like to keep the clothes simple and let my clutches and shoes do all the talking. I enjoy wearing statement accessories, which in my opinion make the simplest outfit truly stand out." And if there is one thing this young designer knows, it is how to stand out from the rest.
- sujata@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai