Hala China, a joint initiative between Meraas and Dubai Holding, is gearing up to bring Dubai Fashion Days back to the emirate. The five-day fashion festival will showcase upcoming and established designers from China, the UAE, and the wider Middle East.

Set to run from 8 to 12 December 2019, the glamorous event will reaffirm Dubai’s position as a global platform capable of elevating the Chinese fashion industry and a vehicle for international cooperation for China and the UAE as they build a joint fashion industry ecosystem.

The inaugural edition of Dubai Fashion Days in 2018 brought 30 of the most influential fashion institutions from China to Dubai and attracted more than 20,000 visitors. Building on its success, the second edition will seek to once again transform Dubai into a sprawling catwalk with multiple activations at key destinations, including Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai and Dubai Design District (d3). What’s more, this year will see fashion and design students from Dubai play an active role in organising the event.

Dubai Fashion Days 2019 is supported by the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Dubai, and the Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality. The event is organised in strategic partnership with China Fashion Association, the Dubai Design & Fashion Council, and d3, and in collaboration with the Miss Model of the World International Organization.

A testament to the international appeal of Dubai Fashion Days, Hala China will invite Chinese fashion brands to set up design studios in Dubai for the week to showcase their creations in the diverse market. The event will feature retail pop-ups, industry talks, exhibitions, and a gala evening.

China’s ‘Father of Fashion’ Jerry Zhang, who started China’s first modelling agency, New Silk Road, in 1992, and launched several Chinese fashion brands and models overseas, will step in as Director of Dubai Fashion Days.

The opening fashion show will feature Heaven Gaia by Xiong Ying, a pioneer of contemporary Chinese fashion creativity, and see the winner and first runner-up of the Miss Model of the World beauty pageant sashay down the catwalk.

Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Hala China, said: “As a global phenomenon, the fashion industry is becoming increasingly diversified and multicultural – much like Dubai’s personality. Dubai Fashion Days is a celebration of the strengthening creative and cultural exchange between the UAE and China, with China’s luxury fashion boom promising to create new opportunities for businesses in the emirate.

“Arab designers have made giant leaps on the international stage, and this event will offer them an ideal opportunity to collaborate with their counterparts from China. More importantly, with its bigger and better calendar of events, Dubai Fashion Days 2019 will elevate Dubai’s status as an integrated fashion ecosystem and a global one-stop shop for all fashion needs.”

His Excellency Li Xuhang, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Dubai, said: “In recent years, the leaders of China and the UAE have exchanged successful visits, and the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries has been developing steadily.

“In order to implement the important consensus reached by their leaders, enhance productive cooperation in various fields, deepen the friendship between the two nations, and work together on a new chapter of the Centennial Plan of Sino-Arab Relations, the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Dubai is supporting another Hala China key event – Dubai Fashion Days.”

Zhang Qinghui, Chairman of China Fashion Association, said: “We look forward to this year’s Dubai Fashion Days, a grand fashion and cultural extravaganza that will draw the participation of notable brands and designers from China, the UAE, and the wider Arab region. We are delighted to strengthen our fruitful, sustainable partnership with Hala China in shaping a fashion industry ecosystem.”

Miss Anna, Chairwoman of the Miss Model of the World International Organization, said: “Through featuring international top models at Dubai Fashion Days, we seek to add value and diversity to Dubai’s fashion industry.”

The agenda of the event will include talks with industry experts, investors, designers, and other stakeholders that offer a glimpse into the world and business of fashion, and provide in-depth insight into the opportunities the two countries present for each other.

According to research based on UnionPay transaction data for the 2019 McKinsey China Luxury Report, China accounted for more than half of the global growth in luxury spending between 2012 and 2018, and is expected to deliver 65 per cent of the world’s additional spending by 2025. The country is well on track to overtaking the US as the world’s largest fashion market for the first time in centuries.

In its first year, Hala China organised a wide range of high-profile events and activities that have seen the Chinese community in the UAE and Chinese businesses foraying into the Middle East markets to explore new and exciting opportunities. Key events included two China Film Weeks in Dubai, the largest Chinese New Year celebrations hosted outside of China, a photography art exhibition in China ‘Through Chinese Eyes’, the ‘Silk, Tea and Celadon: An Intercultural Dialogue on the Silk Road’ exhibition in Dubai, and the first Chinese group wedding at Dubai’s picturesque Love Lakes.