Fashion Your Seatbelt

I still remember one of the first times I saw an Abadia design up close. It was at that inaugural 100 Saudi Brands exhibition in Riyadh. It stopped me in my tracks. That's the effect designer Shahd AlShehail's work tends to have on people.

Shahd is the founder, CEO, and creative director of Abadia, the Saudi label she started back in 2019. And if you've spent any time around the Gulf's fashion scene lately, you already know the name — Abadia has quietly become one of the most compelling luxury stories to come out of the region in recent memory.

Here's what makes Shahd's story so interesting to me: she didn't come up through a fashion school, dreaming of runways. She came to the industry by way of her studies in sustainable development, of all things — and that background shows in everything Abadia does. The brand works with dozens of female artisans across Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East, keeping crafts like Sadu weaving alive, and making sure the women behind those heritage techniques are paid and credited for it. For Shahd, that's not a marketing angle, it's a fundamental pillar of her brand. Which by extension not only creates a sense of pride in the creative past of her culture, but also hopefully will help it to become woven into the fabric of the fashion world more globally in the future.

What I love is how she translates all of that heritage into something that feels utterly modern — structured tailoring meeting soft, fluid draping, pieces like the farwa, traditionally a man's desert coat, reimagined as a covetable piece of womenswear. Abadia can now be found on Net-a-Porter, in Selfridges, at Harrods. And I love that Shahd is talks about wanting Abadia to be “the” Saudi brand the rest of the world knows.So here she is — a designer building quiet, deliberate luxury on her own terms, one artisan, one collection, one chapter at a time.

–🎬 Thank you to Studio Wacked in Paris for the support of my French-based podcast episodes https://wacked.fr/ and Poddster https://dubai.poddster.com/ and Procast https://procast.ae/ in Dubai for their amazing studio and team where these episode are recorded:

💌Drop me a DM: @jessicamichault or just old school email me.

📝 My website: https://jessicamichault.com/

Connect with Us:

✅Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicamichault/

✅Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessicamichault/

You might also like:

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB6DwlT70eM

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3humRELI5E

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQyQN7Yq7HQ

Thank you for watching this video, click the "SUBSCRIBE" button to stay connected with this channel. “Shahd AlShehail on Abadia, Saudi Fashion, and Going Globa”- Jessica Michault

#fashionpodcast #podcast #podcastdesigner #designer #designerpodcast

More About Jessica Michault:

Jessica Michault is an award-winning journalist, public speaker and Fashion, Luxury, Beauty consultant. She is an expert on the Middle East luxury market and has launched multiple luxury publications in the GCC. Michault's 60 Second Fashion Reviews were one of the first to bring fashion show criticism to the social media sphere, and her in-depth, one-on-one interviews with some of fashion's leading movers and shakers, via her Fashion Your Seatbelt podcast, have created another avenue for fashion lovers to connect with the industry. She spent 16 formative years working side by side with the renowned fashion critic Suzy Menkes, as the Online Style Editor of the International Herald Tribune, before taking C-suite positions in leading luxury publications like ODDA magazine, NOWFASHION and Antidote magazine and taking up the role of SVP of Industry Relations at Launchmetrics. Over the years, she has consulted with brands such as Miu Miu, Boucheron, Mulberry and the Puig group, and her articles have been published in The New York Times, Business of Fashion and throughout multiple Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazines across the globe.

What first impressed me about the fashion designer Alice Temperly was how assured she felt. When she enters a space, instantly, there is a sense that this is a woman who knows exactly who she is, what she has accomplished, and is crystal clear on the goals she has set for herself and how she wants to achieve them.

Alice is someone whose work has always felt like stepping into a story. She founded her brand Temperley London in 2000 and quickly carved out a space in fashion with designs that celebrate romance, craftsmanship, and a certain kind of bohemian glamour that feels both timeless and deeply personal.

Her collections are often rich with detail — intricate embroidery, flowing silhouettes, and references to art, travel, and heritage craftsmanship. They’re pieces that feel considered and expressive, designed for women who want ensembles that carry a little bit of magic with them.

Over the past 26 years, Alice has built Temperley London into a beloved brand worn by everyone from British royalty to Hollywood royalty. But perhaps what’s most compelling about her journey is the fact that she has done it largely on her own terms, maintaining a fiercely independent spirit in an industry that is constantly evolving.

Together, we talk about where that creative spirit of hers comes from — the early days of building the brand, the inspirations that continue to shape her work, and what it really takes to stay true to your vision in a fashion landscape that is in the midst of a paradigm shift.

–

🎬 Thank you to Studio Wacked in Paris for the support of my French-based podcast episodes https://wacked.fr/ and Poddster https://dubai.poddster.com/ and Procast https://procast.ae/ n Dubai for their amazing studio and team where these episode are recorded:

💌Drop me a DM: @jessicamichault or just old school email me.

📝 My website: https://jessicamichault.com

Connect with Us:

✅Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/jessicamichault/

✅Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessicamichault/

You might also like:

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB6DwlT70eM

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3humRELI5E

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQyQN7Yq7HQ

Thank you for watching this video. Click the "SUBSCRIBE" button to stay connected with this channel.

"Alice Temperley: The Woman Who Made Bohemian Luxury a British Institution With Temperley London - Jessica Michault"

#fashionpodcast #podcast #podcastdesigner #designer #designerpodcast

More About Jessica Michault:

Jessica Michault is an award-winning journalist, public speaker and Fashion, Luxury, Beauty consultant. She is an expert on the Middle East luxury market and has launched multiple luxury publications in the GCC.

Michault's 60 Second Fashion Reviews were one of the first to bring fashion show criticism to the social media sphere, and her in-depth, one-on-one interviews with some of fashion's leading movers and shakers, via her Fashion Your Seatbelt podcast, have created another avenue for fashion lovers to connect with the industry.

She spent 16 formative years working side by side with the renowned fashion critic Suzy Menkes, as the Online Style Editor of the International Herald Tribune, before taking C-suite positions in leading luxury publications like ODDA magazine, NOWFASHION and Antidote magazine and taking up the role of SVP of Industry Relations at Launchmetrics. Over the years, she has consulted with brands such as Miu Miu, Boucheron, Mulberry and the Puig group, and her articles have been published in The New York Times, Business of Fashion and throughout multiple Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazines across the globe.

Ameni Esseibi is someone who has spent years challenging the fashion industry to make room for her — and won. She is the first plus-size Arab model, a body positivity advocate, a Jean Paul Gaultier ambassador, a Paris Fashion Week runway veteran, and a woman who has built an entire career on the radical act of showing up exactly as she is.

Born in Tunisia, raised in Dubai, and educated in the French school system, Ameni started her modelling journey at just eighteen years old. But her road to success was anything but easy. She approached agency after agency in Dubai and was told there was no market for her. That the region wasn't ready. But she ignored the naysayers. Dismissing their ignorance and persevered.

Today, she has graced the pages of Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, and Cosmopolitan. She has walked couture catwalks in Paris. Become a global ambassador for Dubai Fashion Week and the Arab Fashion Council. And along the way has become the voice that an entire generation of Arab women had been waiting for — curvy, confident, and proud of her heritage.

What makes Ameni truly remarkable is not just what she has achieved, but why she set out to achieve it. From the very beginning, becoming a model was never about the pursuit of fame. It was about the young Arab woman who didn't see herself anywhere — not on the runway, not in the magazines, not on the billboards. When Ameni couldn’t find a role model, she decided to become the person she was looking for. The woman others could look to, and understand that they were enough – just as they are.

In our interview, we discuss what representation really means in the modeling space, why the word plus-size should be banned, and how her love of horseback riding has given Ameni a sense of inner peace she didn’t know she was searching for.

–🎬 Thank you to Studio Wacked in Paris for the support of my French-based podcast episodes https://wacked.fr/ and Poddster https://dubai.poddster.com/ and Procast https://procast.ae/ n Dubai for their amazing studio and team where these episode are recorded:

💌Drop me a DM: @jessicamichault or just old school email me.📝 My website: https://jessicamichault.com/

Connect with Us:

✅Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/jessicamichault/

✅Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessicamichault/

You might also like:

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB6DwlT70eM

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3humRELI5E

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQyQN7Yq7HQ

Thank you for watching this video, click the "SUBSCRIBE" button to stay connected with this channel. "Ameni Esseibi: The First Curvy Model of the Arab World on Breaking Beauty Standards in Fashion”- Jessica Michault"

#fashionpodcast #podcast #podcastdesigner #designer #designerpodcast

More About Jessica Michault:

Jessica Michault is an award-winning journalist, public speaker and Fashion, Luxury, Beauty consultant. She is an expert on the Middle East luxury market and has launched multiple luxury publications in the GCC. Michault's 60 Second Fashion Reviews were one of the first to bring fashion show criticism to the social media sphere, and her in-depth, one-on-one interviews with some of fashion's leading movers and shakers, via her Fashion Your Seatbelt podcast, have created another avenue for fashion lovers to connect with the industry.

She spent 16 formative years working side by side with the renowned fashion critic Suzy Menkes, as the Online Style Editor of the International Herald Tribune, before taking C-suite positions in leading luxury publications like ODDA magazine, NOWFASHION and Antidote magazine and taking up the role of SVP of Industry Relations at Launchmetrics. Over the years, she has consulted with brands such as Miu Miu, Boucheron, Mulberry and the Puig group, and her articles have been published in The New York Times, Business of Fashion and throughout multiple Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazines across the globe.

Chriselle Lim is many things at once: a pioneer of digital fashion storytelling, a serial entrepreneur, and a woman who has built a career by evolving in the public eye with intention and integrity long before “creator economy” became industry shorthand.

From the early days of The Chriselle Factor to her impressive transformation of the fragrance brand Phlur, which she bought, rebranded, and recently successfully sold – while remaining on board as the Creative Director of the company – Chriselle has consistently sat at the centerpoint of style, business, and modern womanhood. She has proved that influence, when done well, is less about visibility and more about vision. Her journey speaks to reinvention, resilience, and the courage it takes to build something that reflects who you are now, not who the algorithm expects you to be.

She is a woman who turned storytelling into one of the most talked-about fragrance reinventions of our time with Phlur. Chriselle didn’t just relaunch a perfume house; she translated life itself through its fragrances — heartbreak, resilience, memory, identity — into bottles that speak louder than any trend. Chriselle’s journey is as nuanced as the aromas she crafts. Forget technical top notes — she begins with emotion, using fragrance as an extension of self-expression and personal narrative.

In our decidedly candid conversation, we talk openly about growth—personal and professional—about building brands with emotional intelligence, and about what it really means to lead in an industry that rarely slows down. It was a wide-ranging, honest, and open girl talk that proved without a doubt that Chriselle is a woman with both vision and purpose.

–

🎬 Thank you to Studio Wacked in Paris for the support of my French-based podcast episodes https://wacked.fr/ and Poddster https://dubai.poddster.com/ and Procast https://procast.ae/ n Dubai for their amazing studio and team where these episodes are recorded:

Drop me a DM: @jessicamichault or just old school email me.📝 My website: https://jessicamichault.com

Connect with Us:

✅Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicamichault

✅Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessicamichault

You might also like:

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB6DwlT70eM

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3humRELI5E

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQyQN7Yq7HQ

#fashionpodcast #podcast #podcastdesigner #designer #designerpodcast

More About Jessica Michault:

Jessica Michault is an award-winning journalist, public speaker and Fashion, Luxury, Beauty consultant. She is an expert on the Middle East luxury market and has launched multiple luxury publications in the GCC.

Michault's 60 Second Fashion Reviews were one of the first to bring fashion show criticism to the social media sphere, and her in-depth, one-on-one interviews with some of fashion's leading movers and shakers, via her Fashion Your Seatbelt podcast, have created another avenue for fashion lovers to connect with the industry.

She spent 16 formative years working side by side with the renowned fashion critic Suzy Menkes, as the Online Style Editor of the International Herald Tribune, before taking C-suite positions in leading luxury publications like ODDA magazine, NOWFASHION, and Antidote magazine, and taking up the role of SVP of Industry Relations at Launchmetrics. Over the years, she has consulted with brands such as Miu Miu, Boucheron, Mulberry, and the Puig group, and her articles have been published in The New York Times, Business of Fashion, and throughout multiple Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazines across the globe.

Nadine Kanso is a pillar of Dubai's creative community. Born in Beirut, the Lebanese designer has called the city home since the year 2000. And over the past quarter century, she has become one of its most distinctive and beloved creative voices. A talented photographer, a recognised fashion muse, and someone with an innate gift for interior design — Kanso is a born artist in the fullest sense of the word. But it is jewellery that has become her most powerful form of expression.

In 2006, she founded Bil Arabi — a jewellery house built on a single, heartfelt premise: that the Arabic language is one of the most beautiful things in the world, and that it deserves to be celebrated. Better yet, worn. Drawing on her background in graphic design and her deep love of calligraphy, Kanso began transforming Arabic letters and words into handcrafted jewellery. Messages of love, strength, and beauty — rendered in gold and precious stones — worn as declarations of identity by a devoted following across the Arab diaspora and far beyond it.

Nearly two decades on, Bil Arabi is considered to be one of the region’s most prominent jewellery houses. With Kanso being tapped for collaborations with leading international luxury brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Berluit and Guerlain and being named a Forbes Middle East Fashion Innovator in 2024.

In our conversation, we explore what it means to build a luxury brand around cultural reclamation — and how she has stayed true to that original vision while growing Bil Arabi into an international name. We also talk about the particular kind of resilience it takes to be a female founder in this industry, what it means to her to represent the region on a global stage, and why, after twenty years, the Arabic language still has more to say.

Kanso's story is one of identity, artistry, and wearing your heart on your sleeve, with a message carved in golden words of love and self-acceptance.

–

🎬 Thank you to Studio Wacked in Paris for the amazing support of my French-based podcast episodes https://wacked.fr/ and Poddster In Dubai for their amazing studio and team where this episode was recorded: https://dubai.poddster.com

💌Drop me a DM: @jessicamichault or just old school email me.

📝 My website: https://jessicamichault.com

Connect with Us:

✅Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/jessicamichault

✅Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessicamichault

You might also like:

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB6DwlT70eM

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3humRELI5E

💟https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQyQN7Yq7HQ

Thank you for watching this video, click the "SUBSCRIBE" button to stay connected with this channel. "Nadine Kanso: Reclaiming Arab Identity Through Calligraphy and Fine Jewellery - Jessica Michault"

#fashionpodcast #podcast #podcastdesigner #designer #designerpodcast

More About Jessica Michault:

Jessica Michault is an award-winning journalist, public speaker and Fashion, Luxury, Beauty consultant. She is an expert on the Middle East luxury market and has launched multiple luxury publications in the GCC.

Michault's 60 Second Fashion Reviews were one of the first to bring fashion show criticism to the social media sphere, and her in-depth, one-on-one interviews with some of fashion's leading movers and shakers, via her Fashion Your Seatbelt podcast, have created another avenue for fashion lovers to connect with the industry.

She spent 16 formative years working side by side with the renowned fashion critic Suzy Menkes, as the Online Style Editor of the International Herald Tribune, before taking C-suite positions in leading luxury publications like ODDA magazine, NOWFASHION and Antidote magazine and taking up the role of SVP of Industry Relations at Launchmetrics. Over the years, she has consulted with brands such as Miu Miu, Boucheron, Mulberry and the Puig group, and her articles have been published in The New York Times, Business of Fashion and throughout multiple Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazines across the globe.

Model and poet Farnoush Hamidian has that unquantifiable something, what the French call je ne sais quoi, that only fashion’s most iconic muses possess. All eyes turn towards her when she enters a room, and anyone who has seen her walk a couture catwalk can confirm she dominates the runway with a presence born not just from beauty, but inner strength.

Born in Iran, Farnoush’s path to the world’s biggest fashion stages has been anything but straightforward. It’s a story threaded with courage – of leaving home, of finding her place, and of redefining what beauty looks like on her own terms. In an industry that’s still learning to celebrate difference, she has become something rare: a woman who embodies both mystery and meaning.

Farnoush, whose face has graced the cover of Vogue Arabia, Emirates Woman and L’Officiel, has collaborated with brands like Dolce Gabbana, Cartier, Tiffany Co, Chaumet and L’Oreal. And walked the Paris Couture runways, most notably as a muse for Stephane Rolland, not to mention the red carpeted steps of the Cannes Film Festival. But behind the editorials and couture fittings lies a deeper narrative — one about resilience, identity, and the power of representation.

In a time when the fashion world is finally beginning to open its eyes to diverse forms of beauty, Farnoush stands as both muse and mirror. Reflecting a new generation of women who are rewriting the definition of elegance. Today she is using her voice and her platform to champion a more inclusive and thoughtful vision of beauty. From the quiet discipline of her early years to the creative freedom she’s now embracing, Farnoush has proven herself to be so much more than just a pretty face.

The debonair Alexis Mabille is a renowned French designer known for his innovative work in both fashion and interior design. Born into a big family, he learned early from his mother how to sew clothing, dressing both friends and family in his creations.

Later, he would enroll in the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, graduating early because of all the hands-on sartorial experience of his childhood. From there, he worked at prestigious fashion houses like Ungaro and Nina Ricci before being tapped by John Galliano to come work with him during his time at Dior. He also collaborated with Hedi Silmane during his tenure at Dior Homme.

Finally, in 2005 Alexis decided to launch his signature brand and found fans in artists like Dita Von Teese, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga. He gained a reputation for pushing the envelope when it came to the idea of unisex dressing and turned the bow into the signature motif of his maison, making it a modern fixture of fashion. He would also go on to explore interior design with his equally successful company BEAU BOW Paris.

In this episode, Alexis explores his approach to building a lasting legacy as he begins a new chapter with his signature brand. Also, we examine what it truly means for originality to transcend market trends and whether creativity alone is enough to make a lasting impact in today’s fashion industry.

As always, Alexis is full of stories, full of insights, and full of fun.

There are fashion designers, and then there are couturiers – those rare artists who understand how to sculpt emotion from fabric or create drama from a single silhouette. Stéphane Rolland is one of those exceptional few.

From the moment he stepped onto the haute couture stage, Stéphane made it clear that he wasn’t interested in playing it safe. His signature collections are bold, architectural, and cinematic – full of sweeping trains, sculptural volumes, and unapologetic glamour. His creations don’t just walk into a room; they command it.

But behind the red-carpet-ready gowns lies a deep-rooted respect for craftsmanship. A graduate of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture and the youngest ever Artistic Director at Balenciaga, Stéphane brings a razor-sharp technical skill to the visionary designs of his eponymous fashion house. He is a master of cut, proportion, and impact – dressing women like Beyoncé, Celine Dion, and Queen Rania with the kind of elegance that refuses to go unnoticed.

Based in Paris but with an eye always on the world, Stéphane merges the discipline of haute couture with the sensibility of sculpture and the drama of the stage. Each look is a story – powerful, feminine, and unforgettable.

Stéphane Rolland doesn’t just design clothes. He creates moments.

There’s a certain kind of designer who doesn’t just make clothes – she builds a world. Mariam Yeya, the French-Egyptian force behind the fashion label Mrs. Keepa, does exactly that. Her creations aren’t just garments; they’re declarations of individuality, freedom, and fearless femininity – a colorful and creative visual dialogue that is a sartorial dance between structure and spontaneity.

Launched in 2016 with Mariam’s husband, Bassel “Keepa” Komaty … thus the name Mrs. Keepa – was born out of a desire to create clothing that felt both modern and timeless. What began as a ready-to-wear brand with a cult-like following among the region’s most discerning dressers has now evolved into an international label known for its eclectic silhouettes, impeccable tailoring, and some serious statement shoulders.

Her designs don’t whisper — they speak loud and clear. To women who are confident, eccentric, and unapologetically themselves. The best way to describe the “Mrs. Keepa girl” is that she isn’t a woman defined by trends; she defines them. What ties the brand all together is the designer’s instinctive understanding of contrast — the harmony between masculine and feminine energy, the vintage and the avant-garde, the uninhibited and the meticulously crafted.

It’s this melange that makes her work so compelling. As a designer, she brings together her Egyptian heritage and French sensibility with a modern, cosmopolitan slant. And her recent expansion into menswear only cements this idea.

But at the heart of Mrs. Keepa’s success is something deeper: a commitment to sustainability as a central creative philosophy. Each collection is built around longevity with pieces designed to live many lives in one wardrobe.

Today, the Mrs. Keepa brand stands as one of the most dynamic independent labels to come out of the Middle East — proof that authenticity and imagination can still be a business model. Mariam’s story is, at its core, about freedom, the freedom to create without compromise, to lead without imitation, and to inspire a generation of women to take up space, beautifully and boldly.

There are visionaries who predict the future — and then there are those who quietly build it. Mohammed Aqra belongs to the latter. As the Chief Strategy Officer of the Arab Fashion Council, he has become one of the most influential figures shaping the evolution of fashion across the Middle East and beyond. Equal parts strategist, connector, and cultural diplomat, he is redefining what it means to turn creativity into economic power.

Born in New York to Jordanian parents, Aqra embodies the duality of East and West — a sensibility that has become the foundation of his work. With degrees in International Business and International Business Law, he approaches fashion as both art form and infrastructure, understanding that beauty means little without the scaffolding of sustainability and vision.

At just twenty-five, he became one of the youngest executives in the global fashion industry when he co-founded the Arab Fashion Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to building a unified fashion ecosystem across the twenty-two Arab nations. As its Chief Strategy Officer, Aqra is leading initiatives that bridge diplomacy, technology, and design, and his trajectory has been defined by ambition paired with execution.

Under his leadership, the Arab Fashion Council has transformed from a regional platform into a global player. Partnerships with industry giants like Meta, Microsoft, Dyson, DHL, and Mattel have expanded the reach of the Middle East’s creative economy, while collaborations with legendary houses such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Moschino, Marchesa, and Carolina Herrera have elevated the Arab fashion narrative onto the international stage. Aqra was also instrumental in founding Dubai Fashion Week alongside Dubai Design District (d3), solidifying the city’s position as one of the five major fashion capitals in the world.

But what sets Aqra apart is not only his ability to forge alliances; it’s the way he reimagines the purpose of fashion itself. He sees it as a global language — one that transcends borders and builds bridges. His vision positions the Arab world not as a satellite to the West, but as a central, driving force in the global creative economy.

Aqra represents a new kind of industry leader: analytical yet imaginative, disciplined yet daring. His work is not about fashion for fashion’s sake, but about the long game — building creative economies, fostering cross-cultural collaboration, and proving that design can be both a commercial and a diplomatic force. As Dubai continues to rise as a global hub for art, culture, and innovation, Aqra stands at the crossroads — shaping not just how fashion looks, but how it functions, connects, and endures.