Fashion Trust Arabia announces 2024 Award finalists

The non-profit organisation, Fashion Trust Arabia (FTA) is proud to announce the designers who have made the finalist list for the FTA 2024 Awards.

The FTA 2024 Advisory Board was responsible for selecting 18 designer finalists from applications submitted by emerging talent from across the MENA region for a chance to win one of the six FTA Awards. The advisory board also shortlisted four finalists in the Guest Country category, which is Spain this year.

This year’s FTA Advisory Board included Adam Baidawi, Ana Khouri, Beka Gvishiani, Carlos Nazario, Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, Caroline Issa, Carmen Busquets, Erdem Moralıoğlu, Gabriella Karefa Johnson, Gaia Repossi, Law Roach, Ludovic de Saint Sernin, Michael Ward, Nadia Dhouib, Nina Garcia, Peter Dundas, Saif Mahdhi, Sara Sozzani Maino, Sarah Andelman, Sofia Guellaty, Susie Lau, Kevin Tekinel & Charles Levai, Ugo Mozie, Kelly Wearstler, LaQuan Smith, and Delfina Delettrez.

The finalists will present their work to the FTA Jury in Marrakech on October 24th, 2024. The seven winners will be announced during the evening’s FTA 2024 Awards ceremony.

The 2024 Finalists

The finalists for this year’s FTA 2024 Awards are:

Ready-to-Wear Award – Kawthar Alhoraish (Saudi Arabia) – Nadine Mosallam (Egypt) – Naïma Trabelsi (Tunis)
Evening Wear Award – Hamza Guelmouss & Valentin Nicot (Morocco) – Tara Babylon
(Iraq) – Yasmin Mansour (Egypt)
Jewelry Award – Karl Toufic Yazigi (Lebanon) – Noura Alserkal (United Arab Emirates) – Sara Naif AlSaud, Noura Abdulaziz Al Saud, Mashael Khalid Al Saud (Saudi Arabia)
Accessories Award – Dara Hamarneh (Jordanian/Palestinian) – Jihane Boumediane
(Morocco) – Reem Hamed (Egypt)
Franca Sozzani Debut Talent Award – Mahmood Al Safi (Iraq) – Mira Maktabi (Lebanon) – Sylwia Nazzal (Palestinian/Jordanian)
Fashion Tech – Batoul al-Rashdan (Jordan) – Hazem Samy Ali (Egypt) – Sarah Salameh
(Palestine)

Guest Country Partnership – Spain

FTA has invited Spain as a guest country to take part in the upcoming 2024 edition of the FTA Awards through a separate seventh prize – the Guest Country Award.

The Spanish designers will undergo the same judging process with the FTA Jury as the other FTA finalists. This collaboration, in partnership with HEAD GROUP, emphasizes the importance of helping young creatives in different markets build a global network of contacts and a support system.

The finalists for the Guest Country (Spain) Award are:

Acromatyx (Francisco Barroso & Javier Garcia)
Ernesto Naranjo
Juan Vidal
Leandro Cano

FTA Grant & 2024 Mentorships

The winning designers receive a financial grant of $100,000 to $200,000 cash prize, depending on the size of their business; with $50,000 for the Franca Sozzani Debut Talent Award.

Evening Wear, Ready-to-Wear, Accessories and Jewelry category winners’ collections will be carried by FTA’s retails partner, Harrods, for one season.

In addition to retail opportunities, FTA offers all winners incredible benefits, including a year-long mentorship with The Bicester Collection.

Huntsman will offer the Ready-to-Wear category winner an internship in London. As part of the internship the winner will be creating a capsule collection to be sold on the retailer’s e-commerce platform.

Luxury ethical fashion retail platform Maison De Mode will offer a tailored mentorship to all seven winners that focuses on the importance of sustainability and ethical fashion practices.

The winning designers will also take part in a two-day bespoke FTA mentorship program in London in partnership with The Bicester Collection, Brand x Society, and the British Fashion Council.

For further information and enquiries please contact:
Marta Hraoui
E. [email protected]
T.+961 3 998 608

About Fashion Trust Arabia

Fashion Trust Arabia (FTA) is a non-profit organization focused on scouting, funding and nurturing design talent across the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, while bringing global awareness to its burgeoning fashion industry.

Born out of the success of Fashion Trust UK, FTA launched in 2018 under the patronage of HH Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser as honorary chair, with co-chairs HE Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani and Tania Fares.

The first initiative of its kind in the region, FTA provides catalyst opportunities in the form of financial awards and strategic world-class industry mentorship for MENA region design talent who are ready for the international market.

The winners of last year’s FTA 2023 Awards, include Amir Al Kasm (Evening Wear, Syria), Cynthia Merhej (Evening Wear, Lebanon), Ahmed Amer (Ready-to-Wear, Lebanon), Katarina Tarazi (Jewellery, Lebanon), Omar Taha & Lily Max (Accessories, Egypt) Adam Alaoui Elyasse (Franca Sozzani Debut Talent Award, Morocco) and Adeju Thompson (Guest country Award, Nigeria)