Fabric & Finishes in Dubai
Posted on February 08 2012
My plane touched down late in Dubai last night & I can't tell you how lovely it was to step outside into the warm, desert evening. I'm here for 4 days with Mumsie, and we're staying with some lovely old family friends on the Palm Jumeirah, which is an incredible place. The last time I was in Dubai was a few years ago & I have to say, I love the place just as much now as I did then.
[caption id="attachment_187" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mumsie & Angela getting carried away"]
[/caption]
Stopping over in Dubai made sense as it stalled some time to allow the cotton order to reach the factory in India, it made our ticket to India phenomenally cheaper & more importantly, it was the perfect excuse to spend some time with our wonderful friends, Angela & Tony. Although it definitely feels like a holiday & I can already feel the knots in my back relaxing, there's still lots of work to be done. After a hilarious morning on the phone to Bangalore trying to book a bus ticket (I'll post a video later - it's ridiculous) we made our way to the fabric souk in downtown Dubai to get some ideas for the finishing touches on the new Marzipants.
We wandered around shops, bursting with every fabric in every colour that you can imagine. I'm looking for a nautical style blue & white stripped material for one of our limited edition pieces & I wasn't disappointed. Rolls of fabric were spread out before us, with stripes in every colour & every design possible. I've got lots of samples to take to India with me, as it's always much easier to show a sample of what you want, rather than trying to describe it in very limited Hindi!
[caption id="attachment_185" align="aligncenter" width="250" caption="Boxes of buttons"]
[/caption]
The most exciting bit of all was the haberdashery (it's not often you hear that!). In every nook & cranny there were rows upon rows of ribbons, buttons, zips, cords, handles, poppers, trims and fastenings out on display & in the background there were hundreds of boxes piled high, containing even more goodies.
I've never seen such a huge variety of colours, textures, patterns, finishes & fabrics. We were in seventh heaven & there was enough inspiration there to design collections for the next 10 years. I've decided I'm going to have to expand to tops, bags & accessories, just to be able to incorporate some of these beautiful pieces. What a perfect start to an amazing trip.
[/caption]
Stopping over in Dubai made sense as it stalled some time to allow the cotton order to reach the factory in India, it made our ticket to India phenomenally cheaper & more importantly, it was the perfect excuse to spend some time with our wonderful friends, Angela & Tony. Although it definitely feels like a holiday & I can already feel the knots in my back relaxing, there's still lots of work to be done. After a hilarious morning on the phone to Bangalore trying to book a bus ticket (I'll post a video later - it's ridiculous) we made our way to the fabric souk in downtown Dubai to get some ideas for the finishing touches on the new Marzipants.
- Rolls & roll of brightly coloured ribbon
[/caption]
The most exciting bit of all was the haberdashery (it's not often you hear that!). In every nook & cranny there were rows upon rows of ribbons, buttons, zips, cords, handles, poppers, trims and fastenings out on display & in the background there were hundreds of boxes piled high, containing even more goodies.
I've never seen such a huge variety of colours, textures, patterns, finishes & fabrics. We were in seventh heaven & there was enough inspiration there to design collections for the next 10 years. I've decided I'm going to have to expand to tops, bags & accessories, just to be able to incorporate some of these beautiful pieces. What a perfect start to an amazing trip.
0 comments