Discover the high stakes and transformative opportunities of the Fashion Trust Arabia Prize 2024, sewing dreams into reality for MENA’s fashion designers.
The coveted Fashion Trust Arabia (FTA) Prize is back for a sixth edition for the Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) fashion-forward designers to showcase what they’ve got.
This year’s competition is set to showcase the region’s talents among seven different categories. The categories include ready-to-wear, evening wear, accessories, and jewellery.
All entries in these categories must have been operating their brand as a business for a minimum of two years and a maximum of ten.
The region’s newly budding designers can also apply for the ‘debut talent’ category if they are currently enrolled in a fashion programme or have earned a fashion design degree from 2022, 2023 or 2024 and are in the process of launching their own brands.
There is also the ‘guest country’ category.
The FTA ‘guest country’ category was first introduced as part of the competition in 2021 as an opportunity for designers in emerging markets to connect with their MENA counterparts and exchange cultures.
During its debut, Colombia, in collaboration with the Inexmoda fashion institution, was the first ‘guest country’. Subsequent guests include Türkiye and Nigeria, with Spain becoming FTA’s latest guest.
A seventh design category has also been introduced for the first time this year – the ‘fashion tech award.’ This category is for those seeking to push “the boundaries of fashion by incorporating cutting-edge technology in their design and production processes,” the competition’s organisers said.
The newest category encourages designers to create original wearable technology – either for practical or innovative purposes. Sustainability in fashion is also highlighted within the ‘fashion tech award’ as entries may also centred on introducing technology to curb unsustainable practices.
What’s at stake?
Up for grabs in the ‘evening wear,’ ‘ready-to-wear,’ ‘accessories’ and ‘jewellery’ categories is a grant ranging from $100,000 to $200,000 to support the development of the future objectives of the designer’s brand. The grant is allocated according to the size and yearly turnover of the designer’s business. Successful entries will also receive one-year mentorship from experts at MATCHES, who will also carry their collection for a season.
Meanwhile, the British luxury department store, Harrods, will carry a collection for one season for the ‘evening wear’ category winner. The winner will also intern at Huntsman Savile Row in London, where they will be tasked with creating a capsule collection to be sold on the retailer’s e-commerce platform.
Successful entries for the ‘debut talent’ category are in the running for the Franca Sozzani Debut Talent grant. The prize ranges from $25,000 to $50,000 to assist in developing their brand.
Winners from each category will benefit from a dedicated one-year mentorship programme, spearheaded by FTA’s Retail Partners and from a network of industry figures, each specialising in varying fields relevant to the industry.
