Dubai Fashion Week returned yesterday, February 1, and the lineup is doing exactly what you’d expect from a city that refuses to do anything halfway. Italian luxury house Alberta Ferretti is the guest designer, bringing its A/W 2026 collection to the Middle East for its first full-scale runway presentation in the region.
Headlining this year’s edition is Italian luxury house Alberta Ferretti, announced as the guest designer, which will unveil its A/W 2026 collection in Dubai. The showcase marks the brand’s first full-scale runway presentation in the Middle East.
The AW26/27 edition is stacked with names that span regions and aesthetics, which include international brands such as John Richmond, Manish Malhotra, and Lili Blanc, among others.
Dubai-based Absentfindings, the label founded by Shivin Singh, which is unveiling its newest collection, “Early to the Party,” is also expected to unveil its newest collection after debuting at last year’s DFW.
Then there’s Emergency Room, the Beirut-based brand founded by Eric Mathieu Ritter, which is showcasing its latest collaboration with Timberland. The brand already dropped its first collection with Timberland for Spring/Summer 2025, so fans will be geared to see the brand’s direction for this collection this time around.
The programme highlights a broad spectrum of aesthetics, from avant-garde experimentation to refined luxury, offering a comprehensive view of contemporary fashion across cultures and markets.
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Beyond the runways, DFW is packing in exclusive collection launches, curated dinners, strategic networking events, and industry talks addressing the future of sustainability, inclusivity, craftsmanship, and digital fashion.
Founded by Dubai Design District and the Arab Fashion Council, Dubai Fashion Week (DFW) is the city’s only official industry platform recognised as part of the international calendar alongside New York, London, Milan, and Paris fashion weeks, reinforcing Dubai’s status as a leading global fashion capital and a vital bridge between East and West.
Whether it delivers on that promise or just becomes another stop on the global fashion circuit remains to be seen. But the ambition? That’s already locked in.
