Sakina Shows how her fashion combines Arabic techniques with French femininity

As the first Saudi-French designer to graduate from the esteemed Chambre Nationale de la Haute fashion in Paris, Sakina Shbib has spent the last decade fusing elements from both cultures together for her collections.

She is proud to mix Western and Middle Eastern identities and likes to “celebrate the intersection” of them. In addition, she splits her time between the French capital, home to her Sakina Paris atelier, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as she aims to capture the spirit of both for her growing number of fashion fans.

“My style combines French femininity with bright, cheerful colors and a love of handmade embroidery, which is so beloved in Arab culture,” she says. national team.

Shbib’s knack for fashion was ignited at a very early age by her mother, who became her “lifelong inspiration”.

“She was a seamstress and I grew up watching her creativity and hard work,” she says.

As a junior, Shbib began taking sketching classes and developed a strong appreciation for creativity. “I loved that meditative time when I would just watch my mom sketch out a pattern with a pen or use sewing needles to finish dresses for her clients,” she says.

In addition, it was the “peace and beauty” found in a fashion atelier that captivated her.

On her 15th birthday, Shbib’s mother gave her a Singer sewing machine and, by the age of 18, she had learned how to make a dress herself.

“People were always telling me my wardrobe was beautiful and asking me where my dresses came from. I thought people’s reactions were the best fun and that’s when I started thinking seriously about a career in fashion,” she says.

Today, Shbib designs, manufactures and sells her pieces in her atelier in Paris. Her clothes are for women “who want to be elegant and appreciate quality” and she describes her style as “classic, but with a twist of color”.

The Sakina Paris woman is “active, successful and still elegant without being intimidating or outdated,” she says. Shbib aims to create contemporary pieces that will be worn in 2022, though he hopes they will stand the test of time and still be in style as the decades pass.

She says her “entrepreneurial inspiration” comes from her Saudi husband, who has taught her to “dream big but take few risks” along the way.

Shbib also looks to designers of her generation, such as Amina Muaddi or Jeanne Damas. “I love how they built their brands with a strong artistic vision that became not just fashion items, but an entire lifestyle for girls to relate to.”

And she also learned from the biggest names in international fashion, including Chanel, Givenchy and Alexandre Vauthier after graduating from the Chambre Nationale de la Haute in 2012.

“Immediately, I began to build my technique at the Chanel atelier, initially as an embroiderer within haute couture and metiers d’art collections,” she adds.

After a few years, she also worked in quality management, saying: “I learned the rigor of high fashion and the specifics of the demands of the elite clientele.”

She joined Alexandre Vauthier in 2015 and spent a year as a tailor’s assistant, after which she joined Givenchy as a designer for ready-to-wear collections.

Shbib launched her brand in 2017, at the age of 28, when she “felt strong enough to take on the challenge” and opened a small atelier in the 8th arrondissement of Paris with a small team of three assistants and a PR agent.

“What I’ve learned working for big fashion companies is that success requires a broad team of diverse technical experts and every department depends on every single talent forming a great chain through strong management,” says Shbib, now 33 years old.

The most important element of any high-end outfit, however, is the finish, she says. “This is the first thing I learned working in French maisons de couture, so I choose to have, for example, French seams on my dresses, instead of a simple closure, or to have a blind hem worked with hand in my coats.”

These details strongly reflect French savoir faire, but its Saudi influences come through “a strong expression of beauty with a more sophisticated approach.” “French style is elegance with a certain minimalism,” she says.

She designs exclusively dresses and defines her signature piece as a fitted garment that “carries beautiful lines, well-finished construction.”

“I don’t promote pants, for example, simply because the symbol of femininity is dear to me,” she adds. “I love when a dress can bring out some beauty elements like accentuating the waist, or a slit in the leg that reveals the fluidity of the walk. No matter if the dress remains classic or tastefully seductive, as long as it’s feminine, above all.

“I want women to feel strong and empowered. A dress is like armor. It protects you, but it’s also a style element that gives you confidence.”

In her latest collection, she uses specific materials and style references that echo French folklore, such as Dentelle de Calais-Caudry, which is a lace that is only produced in the north of France, while Vichy designs celebrate grass culture and polka dots. points “take you back to the summer south of France”.

“However, my color palettes are inspired by my Middle Eastern heritage,” she adds. “I especially like to use reds, oranges and pinks. My signature on a couture dress is hand-embroidery and crystals – this is a style element that is dear to Arab women.”

Looking back on her career, Shbib says her journey took a slightly different path than she had originally envisioned. “I was a little naive about what it means to be an entrepreneur,” she says.

“I thought I’d spend days and days in my studio sketching, prototyping clothes, and sourcing materials to the fabric market. But instead, I became a small business owner whose interests are primarily centered around management, recruitment, staff training, work organization, logistics, accounting, budgeting and meetings to the point that the expression of your creativity becomes challenged by other obligations.”

She says she wouldn’t “trade the role for anyone else in the world” as seeing her artistic vision come to life is extremely rewarding.

“What is also a fundamental element of a fashion career is the relationship with the client,” she says. “You have to know what women like, what they want and what they don’t want to wear.”

When she started, Shbib remembers thinking that all women had the same body type and lifestyle.

My first collection was mostly super glamorous dresses with the same construction,” she says. “I based my creativity on my ideal woman and not on real women.”

When she worked for high fashion houses, the prototype size was 36 and the models on the catwalk had the same body structure. “As I became more mature in my vision, I realized that most women have some insecurities,” she says. “Most of them don’t like their hips and legs, or they tend to prefer stretchy fabrics for more comfort.”

She realized that “good designers” should think about practicalities before presenting a collection, while offering a variety of dresses that relate to different lifestyles and body types. She also wanted to master this art without changing her artistic identity.

“With the importance of social media as a way of communication, it’s also very useful to get customer feedback and gather information about what women like best,” she says.

While her business remains in Paris and her dresses are available to buy online, she hopes to one day expand to the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia. “I believe the country will be booming with new talent in the next five years,” she says.

In particular, Shbib mentions the government’s new plans for the fashion sector as an opportunity. “This means that the young Saudi generation can learn creativity, artistic inspirations and a range of techniques from the fashion industry without having to move to Paris.

“I believe that girls of my generation want to be financially independent, successful in business, but still beautiful, confident and honest,” she adds. “We live in a generation where self-expression through social media is more important than ever.”

Updated: August 26, 2022, 03:21