As Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week officially launches its first day of fashion shows and hosts an evening of fashion icons and celebrities attending “Fashion Night Out,” Saudi fashionistas will no doubt congregate online, checking Twitter and Facebook accounts to see who went where, and even more importantly, who wore what.
However, just because you’re stuck wearing sun-absorbing black in 38-degree weather doesn’t mean you have to live vicariously through vogue.com. Thankfully, Staff Sale is here to give us our NYC fashion fix!
Located in Jeddah’s Le Mall on Tahliah Street, the concept of the store is brand new to the Kingdom. Staff Sale is a pop-up, which means the retail space is only temporary. It involves “popping-up” one day and then closing shortly thereafter. The idea is as trendy as the clothes the store sells.
Events, such as Staff Sale’s “Vintage Vantage,” and “Arabian Nights,” which included celebrities, such as TV personality Muna Abusulayman and poetess May Kutbi, were great successes and got Jeddah’s fashionistas together for desperately needed post-iftar shopping binges.
Sadly, Monday Sept. 12 marks its last event before the store closes. BACK TO STYLE is a unique fashion event that brings together Jeddah’s fashionistas for an evening of fashion, beauty and hopefully, some juicy gossip! A competition that invites ladies to use the store’s racks as their very own personal closet, the event marks the departure of a month of thobes and kaftans! If that wasn’t incentive enough, the person with the best make-over at the end of the night gets to keep what she’s wearing for free! Destination Jeddah is bringing together Jeddah’s fashion-forward youth, as well as a panel of fashion editors and bloggers to advise customers on new trends, while EVE Haute Couture and Spa’s resident make-up artist and hair stylist give demos and tips on how to manage this season’s beauty trends — as well as September hair frizz!
Although initially intended to only be open for the month of August, Staff Sale was asked to prolong its presence in Le Mall due to the overwhelming pleas from women who while having too much fun in Cannes and London, forgot to stock up on this fall’s must-haves. Thankfully, the store has said it will be open until Sept. 16, or until their stock runs out.
While the super brands, like Chanel, Dior and Valentino will always be in our hearts, as well as in our high-end malls, the void in the fashion hierarchy in Saudi Arabia lies in the niche, boutique brands. Fortunately, a group of fashion editors from Jeddah and NYC decided it was time to fill that void with the designer fashion at discounted prices.
Even with Marni, Moschino and Carolina Herrera present, the real gems of Staff Sale are fairly unfamiliar brands to the Kingdom. Charlotte Ronson, Rebecca Minkoff, and Brian Reyes are New York heavyweights whose contemporary designs are seen up and down Manhattan, from a hipster hanging out in SoHo to a weekend warrior in the Meat Packing District.
Further up, in the Upper East Side, you have the looks by Eleanor Waldorf and Jenny Humphrey in the hit show, “Gossip Girl.” The Waldorf label is actually created by Abigail Lorick of Lorick. The sophisticated brand that aims to bring “elegance back to our way of living” will be also available for the first time ever in Saudi Arabia. What’s classier than dressing like the Queen Bee herself?
The buyers of the Staff Sale also searched out celebrity lines with more fervor than the paparazzi on Sunset Strip on a Saturday night! The work paid off, and for the first time ever, Jeddah will offer Justin Timberlake’s William Rast line, as well as Lindsay Lohan’s 6125 and Gwen Stefani’s highly successful brand, L.A.M.B.
Now, we finally get to snatch up coveted cocktail dresses by the “Cynthias” (Rowley and Steffe), as well as Thakoon and Tibi creations to boast just how fashionably cultured we truly are. Alexander Wang, Rick Owens and Jill Sander show us that minimalism doesn’t mean simplicity, but rather ultra-modern cuts of the most complex proportions. Discounted evening gowns by Dennis Basso and Vera Wang tempt one to stock up for the numerous weddings we’re obligated to attend this post-Ramadan season.
With runway veteran Vivienne Tam and TV celebrity favorite Vena Cava abundant (and on sale!) at Staff Sale, Mercedes-Benz can wait because this fashion editor is jumping into her Cadillac and getting her hands on some real NYC fashion! Not in Jeddah? Don’t worry; I’m sure I’ll tweet about it!
Indulge in the Drama