Is Miracle Garden Really Like Heaven on Earth

Overview

We were at the Dubai Design Week. We were waiting on the first stage, called the Drop-In, which was sponsored by Majid Al Futtaim. It's an incredible garden with trees and greenery and an architectural structure of a tree house that makes a roof over the garden. I didn't understand why the concept of the garden was being called a "miracle garden." I thought a miracle garden is like a lotus garden, which is not a miracle garden. I had thought it would be like a great public garden, that you would have people hanging out and climbing on it, which could be a public garden. But then we were at the Dubai Airport, at Dubai Festival City, and it was exactly what we had in our mind for a miracle garden.

You have a great space, trees, greenery, plants, and garden benches, and everything is beautifully laid out. This is the great urban garden, this is Dubai. This is why we are here. It's not just a garden for artists and designers, this is a great public garden. Dubai is great. I think the greatest thing about Dubai is that in Dubai, there is a great sense of fashion and fashion retail. The energy of fashion is inspiring people. I do love the energy of Dubai. Dubai is an incredible city. And it's not just the hub of the retail market, it's the hub of an urban environment. The landscape of great Dubai is absolutely spectacular. Dubai is amazing. It's a place where there is a lot of opportunity. It's still a young city. Dubai is great.

How do you describe the difference between Dubai fashion today and Dubai fashion ten years ago? The main difference in Dubai fashion today is a big effort to develop the heritage of the city. Dubai has an amazing story. Dubai has its own identity, its own culture. You look at Dubai and you will find an interesting heritage of designers. The number of designers that have set up shop in Dubai in the last ten years, for example, is amazing. 

For example, in Dubai, you have an incredible mix of Arabic couture. You have Balmain, for example, which is really a French brand, but when you look at that Parisian fashion, you realize it's actually more Arabic. So the Dubai style is a mix of Arabic, African, Arabian, and European fashion. And the reason great Dubai fashion is important to Dubai is that you will find more cultural openness in Dubai today than you would ever find in other cities in the world. I don't have to explain to you the Parisian couture.

You know it because it's so renowned. You know the difference between French and Italian couture. So Dubai is creating its own identity as well because it has a culture, an identity. In other cities, you cannot say it's totally Arab, totally Arabian, completely European, or completely Turkish. You have to understand that because you have different cultures in Dubai. So this is the difference in Dubai today. In Paris, the same kind of cultural identity is established in the shops. There is the Moroccan shop, which is a Moroccan style and you have the Italians and the French. In Dubai, you have a mix of those. Because you have Arabs and non-Arabians in Dubai, it makes a difference in the fabric and the way clothes are made. So Dubai is taking the same heritage, the same culture of fashion, and developing it, making it a part of Dubai fashion. So Dubai is a great city for fashion.

Dressing skills

There was a purpose in my dressing for great Dubai. It was not only to go out and be pretty. I wanted to work. So I'm kind of a romantic about that. I am romantic about the idea of creating art, of making something beautiful and useful and culturally important. What I like is when I see people and the idea that they don't always wear what everyone else wears. There is a sense that they are taking risks and that they are going to make things happen for themselves. There is a thought that if I can make things happen for myself, for myself, then maybe there is a chance that I can make things happen for other people. With all the great things happening in the world today, it's great to have an opportunity to be a part of that. When I wear my clothes, I want people to look at me and see what I am trying to create. So, to me, it's very important to find something that works. And if I can find something that works for me, then maybe it will work for other people. Although French is my first language, I'm not too proud of it. I speak French to my mother, of course. I also speak it to my family. And I speak it to certain of my friends. But, if I could say anything bad about the French dressing style of Dubai, it's that I cannot speak it so well.

It's a complicated language. It's a multilingual language that is not really taken as a first language, maybe second, but only a third. I have to work very hard to speak French because it's so complicated. So sometimes, it can make me uncomfortable. If you're a French citizen, you would understand the European mentality. This is a huge part of my job to understand my clients and their culture. I have to understand the needs and the wants. This is what I don't have in my language. So I don't like speaking French to my clients or when I speak French to my staff members. I can do it in general conversations with people, but in certain situations, I don't like it. [This may be one of the] most significant challenges to my work. Because sometimes, people don't understand the work. I want to connect with people, and I don't feel like I am doing that very well. I have to do it. I want to be able to communicate with my clients and the people who are working with me.

It makes me feel happy. I know that I'm trying my best in great Dubai. People are always fascinated by my work. Everyone, they have their own different taste. My taste is based on understanding my clients and their taste, which is something that I'm not sure that my clients understand. Sometimes, I am totally wrong in my interpretation of their taste. So it's a challenge to make them understand my work. And then they have their own taste. So it's not easy to please everyone, to create something that is to everyone's taste. I have my own taste. My taste is more like a combination of, I want to respect the taste that I have.

Conclusion

The people that are working for me, of course, are from the Middle East. They are from the Middle East. I am working with them and trying to get to know their taste. But the idea is not to tell people what to wear in Great Dubai. The idea is not to tell people what to wear. I don't think that I'm telling people that they have to wear dresses that I designed. It's more about understanding people. If I understand people and their tastes, of course, then I know that I can make a difference with them. To me, fashion is all about creativity. It's all about creativity. That's what I need, to inspire other people and make them understand the importance of creativity.