Emirati Business Women bring Talli craft to Italy’s fashion week

Sharjah Business Women Council (SBWC) attended Accademia Italiana’s fashion show in Rome recently where they showcased the Emirati craft of ‘Talli’ in their designs for AltaRoma AltaModa, Rome’s celebrated Fashion Week. 

Accademia Italiana students, who are showcasing their flair for fashion, have incorporated ‘Talli’ in their designs and a delegation from SBWC, who brought the craft to them, were there to cheer them on including Her Excellency Ameera Bin Karam, SBWC Chairperson; Olimpia Z. Tabbach Mascolo, SBWC Secretary General, Raghda Taryam, board member of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Sally Denton, Development Senior Manager on Irthi ethical crafts council.

Accademia Italiana, one of the world's most prestigious institutes for fashion and design, has signed a partnership with SBWC which has seen their students use the intricate embroidery craft of ‘Talli’ in their work as well as facilitate longer-term student exchanges.  This powerful partnership has enabled students to fully embrace and understand not only the traditional process involved, but also the cultural heritage and economic importance of the Emirati women whilst in return these unique designs have offered a new beginning and fresh perspective for the ‘Talli’ craft.

Women in the UAE are learning ‘Talli’ through SBWC’s Bidwa programme, which aims to empower Emirati women working with traditional crafts. The Bidwa program comes under Irthi platform, created by SBWC to bring together individuals or organizations which use ethical practices to create products in the Middle East, North Africa and South East Asia regions. SBWC seeks to empower women who wish to work within traditional and non-traditional sectors in the UAE.

Fatima Mahmoud “Umm Ahmed” is spearheading the vocational training for the Bidwa project and over looks women of Diba Al Hisn in producing the Talli as per the students’ orders of colours and patterns. The 65-year-old Emirati woman from Dibba Al Hosn, used more than 1000 yard of Talli woven by SBWC’s Bidwa Women over an eight month period for designs utilized by the students. 

HE Ameera BinKaram said, “We’re here today to express how proud we are to see the results of our collaboration with one of the most respected fashion academies in the world, Accademia Italiana. Talented Emirati women have been training and producing their craft for generations and now, with the support of SBWC, we are seeing this craft on a world-leading platform for fashion, AltaRoma AltaModa. This follows our vision of helping to empower women to become economically independent.”

BinKaram underlined the eagerness of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi to empower and support Emirati women to become successful in all walks of life. “With the support and patronage of Her Highness, Emirati women in the UAE craft sector are marketing their creative products on a global scale and incorporating them into fashion and other products. Her Highness has a vision of empowerment and success for all Emirati women and is instrumental in many initiatives that aim to help them achieve their dreams,” she said.

Vincenzo Giubba, the Founding President of Accademia Italiana thanked Her Highness and SWBC for the partnership, “We are proud to be part of this partnership and are growing via our graduates projects and embedding the technique Talli within our design curriculum,” he said. “Talli is gaining in popularity amongst the students from the start of the design phase of their graduating collections. It is also helping our students to learn more about the women of Sharjah and UAE, their cultures and traditions.”

After the fashion show delegates from SBWC visited Accademia Italiana and met with Filippo Pernisco, Director of Academia Italiana in Rome as well as the students who worked with the Talli techniques and incorporated them into their graduation collections, modernizing the use of Talli and making it adaptable to today’s fashion.

The invitation to attend the fashion show extended to SBWC an opportunity to experience the Roma fashion week and enjoy its various events. Among them was an opportunity to visit the designer Renato Balestra who is keen to develop fashion relations with SBWC.  

The designs that were displayed during the fashion show will be offered for sale through global fashion houses with a percentage of the sales to be allocated for the Emirati women who created the skillful, coloured designs on the fabrics. 

“These women help keep the craft alive to pass on to a new generation. We support them in this work and ensure they receive recognition for it. Our partnership with Accademia Italiana has led to a revival of this local tradition on an international platform and we are so proud and pleased to be here and be a stepping stone in the Bidwa women’s journey to economic empowerment,,” added Bin Karam. 

Last April a delegation from SBWC visited Accademia Italiana in Florence, where Vincenzo Giubba, the Founding President of the academy honoured Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi Wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, and Honorary Patron of the Sharjah Business Women Council (SBWC), for her support in making the agreement between women who work in traditional Emirati crafts and the academy, as well as for her role in empowering and supporting Emirati working women. 

Under the agreement with Accademia Italiana ‘Talli’ designs are incorporated into new products created by students in the Academy and a student exchange programme between the academy and UAE universities and members of the Sharjah Business Women Council has been established. SBWC is supporting talented Emirati women and qualifying them to enter the business world, with a focus on fashion. The SBWC has already trained a number of talented Emirati women in the “Talli” craft and also on how to develop and market their designs through Bidwa, the first ongoing training program of this kind in the UAE.  

Irthi project is about ethical practices and Bidwa is a programme launched by Irthi for the economic empowerment of skilled Emirati women and the revival of the dying crafts starting with the technique Talli. Irthi brings together individuals or organizations that use ethical practices to create products in the Middle East, North Africa and South East Asia regions.Irthi’s mission is to promote tradition and culture through creating products that are relevant today, and therefore promote social entrepreneurship. Bidwa seeks to empower Emirati women working with traditional crafts and who help keep them alive to pass on to a new generation. We support them in the work that they do and aim to ensure they receive recognition for it. 

AltaRoma AltaModa has two high profile annual events in January and July to showcase traditional and sartorial workmanship, cultural heritage and projects targeted towards the future. Rome has fashion at its epicenter and carries a sense of style and craftsmanship that, today, is manifested in neocouture.  This distinctive trait of Roman couture, which re-engineers contemporary style, interpreting it through garments and accessories, makes the AltaRoma AltaModa event a premier destination on the fashion calendar.

Sharjah Business Women Council (SBWC) was established in 2002, with the aim to create and enhance the work environment for women as well as to train and prepare women to enter into private economic activities and enhance their participation in social and economic development.