<div><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">He has dressed celebrity royalty around the world from Beyonce and Deepika Padukone to Zendaya and Cardi B but for years few of Mohammed Ashi's clients knew he was Saudi Arabia's first big-name designer.</span><br></b></div><div><br></div><div>"In the 90s I was the only designer from Saudi. But I never said I was Saudi. I wanted the clothes to be out front, not me," Ashi told AFP in a rare interview at his Paris studio.</div><div><br></div><div>It is partly shyness -- he still prefers not to be photographed himself -- but also the fact that Western fashion was largely taboo in public, certainly for women, when he was growing up in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s.</div><div><br></div><div>Ashi made his career abroad, training in the United States and working for Givenchy and Lebanese couturier Elie Saab before settling in France.</div><div><br></div><div>Now, with Saudi Arabia going through momentous social changes, he has been welcomed home as a mentor for its Fashion Commission, set up in 2020 to help build a homegrown industry.</div><div><br></div><div>"A few months ago, I was invited publicly to talk in Saudi for the first time, and so many people came up to me afterwards. I'm getting recognition from the younger generation that I never expected," he said.</div><div><br></div><div>"They're giving scholarships to people for something that was prohibited when I was growing up. It's an iconic moment," he added.</div><div><br></div><div>- Fashion capital? -</div><div><br></div><div>Critics of the country's de facto ruler, Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, see the easing of social restrictions as a PR campaign designed to distract from continued human rights abuses.</div><div><br></div><div>But there is no doubting the opportunities it has opened up for young creatives, such as 27-year-old Reem Alsabhan, whose outfits now grace local events.</div><div><br></div><div>"From the beginning of my studies, I kept repeating a sentence I really believed, even if it surprised people: Riyadh will become one of the most important fashion capitals," she told AFP at her Riyadh workshop.</div><div><br></div><div>"Now the signs of this future are beginning to appear."</div><div><br></div><div>Previously unthinkable public events -- concerts, galas, the new Red Sea Film Festival -- mean Saudi Arabia now has red carpets on which to show off Alsabhan's designs.</div><div><br></div><div>Nonetheless, the foundations of the industry were laid much further back, said Burak Cakmak, head of the Saudi Fashion Commission.</div><div><br></div><div>"Many local creatives have built fashion businesses in the past 20, 30 years for the local market but didn't feel the need to tell their stories abroad -- or dare to do so," he told AFP.</div><div><br></div><div>"That allowed the system to build up in a controlled way... and now people can see there are hundreds of brands, very connected to their culture but also inspired by the rest of the world."</div><div><br></div><div>- 'A journey' -</div><div><br></div><div>For Ashi, it makes sense that Saudi Arabia should become a fashion hub since, he says, its oil wealth has been keeping European labels afloat for decades.</div><div><br></div><div>Saudi Arabia takes "60 or 70 percent of French couture", especially wedding dresses, he said.</div><div><br></div><div>"Most of the big French houses rely on this but they don't like to talk about it because they don't want to be seen as just tailors -- they want to be a 'brand'."</div><div><br></div><div>Ashi's diary is a hectic whirl of client fittings and preparations for the next haute couture week.</div><div><br></div><div>His outfits show up on red carpets from the Oscars to Cannes. A highlight was seeing Beyonce in his extravagantly ruffed fuchsia gown at a memorial show for Nelson Mandela.</div><div><br></div><div>Though proud of being a role model for young Saudi designers, he still prefers to see himself as "a citizen of the world".</div><div><br></div><div>Stopping to show the detail of an elaborate lace couture dress, he said: "The pattern was done in London, the fabric in Italy, the embroidery in India and it was assembled here in Paris.</div><div><br></div><div>"It's a journey for these clothes to happen, just like me." - AFP</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>