The Mentor

For anyone launching a brand, support from inside the industry is a vital key to success. Fashion editor and philanthropist Tania Fares co-founded Fashion Trust Arabia with exactly this in mind, to support young designers from the MENA region

- OLIVIA MORRIS

FTA offers support across five categories: eveningwear, ready-to-wear, accessories, jewellery and debut talent. Support from FTA comes in many influential forms including financial, mentorship and exposure. We discussed the incredibly powerful work that FTA has achieved in just two years since its launch with Beirut-based Fares.

Since Fashion Trust Arabia launched in 2018, how have things evolved?

There have been many developments since the initial launch. The first year, for example, we had about 275 applicants, and then 600 the following year. And we’ve just launched the application process for the 2021 FTA prize, with a submission deadline scheduled for the end of November 2020.

Our first-edition winners from 2019 are now selling their designs on Matchesfashion.com. Most recently, FTA partnered with Inexmoda and ProColombia to create Unique Edition, bridging the fashion and creative worlds of Latin America with the Arab region, by providing young designers with international exposure to new markets, and the possibility to learn from each other.

What does Fashion Trust Arabia aim to do for brands in the MENA region?