AMMAN — Zaid Mushaki,
a 30-year-old Jordanian fashion designer, knew his passion was design since as
long as he can remember. Growing up around his tailor grandmother, he recalls admiring
the beauty of the dresses that women wore in fashion shows on tv.
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“When I was five years
old, I used to admire the way the silhouette of the dresses used to fall on the
body,” Mushaki told
Jordan News. Zaid is a successful designer today, and he
tries to mentor and teach the next generation of designers, and worries that,
despite the immense potential talent in Jordan, there is little support for
designers.
In his childhood, Mushaki
used to refuse to wear clothes bought from the store, until his grandmother made
the changes to the garments that he wanted. “When I was young, I was very picky
regarding the clothes that I used to wear, I would ask my grandmother to change
the way they looked to make them suitable for my taste” he said.
At the age of 15, Mushaki
had his mind made up about what he wanted to do for a living, therefore he
learned from interviews with fellow fashion designers how designs should be
commercial for them to succeed.
Aside from his studies
in fashion, he studied business, which was a huge reason behind his success. “When
I was in university, I had my career all planned out, and I knew that my
business studies were going to make my career in fashion more successful,” Mushaki
said.
The designer found his
way to his clients’ heats through the elegance of his affordable dresses, that coupled
with his business acumen, allowed him to make most women’s desire of owning a
tailored dress within reach.
Mushaki’s design (Photos: handout Zaid Mushaki)
Despite the
difficulties facing the fashion industry in Jordan, Mushaki is relying on his
career in fashion design to make a living and that’s because he understands the
market and the needs of his clients, keeping in mind their budgets and individual
taste.
“The fashion industry
in Jordan lacks the support needed for a fashion designer to succeed in this
career, therefore I relied on myself to live from what I have a passion for,” Mushaki
said.
When it comes to the choice
of fabric, the designer said that the choice of fabric depends on the type of
design he’s working on, but ‘tulle’ is Mushaki’s favorite, especially for evening
wear, because of its flexibility to work with. “Tulle is my most preferred
fabric for evening wear because it’s characteristics allow you to make it
stiff, flou, simple, or even transparent or matt,” Mushaki added.
“Beauty is pain,” Mushaki
said, pointing out that some of his designs can deliver a message but are not
as practical to wear, “A lot of people now understood the meaning behind beauty
is pain, and they now ask us for a dress that delivers a message and a stunning
look even if it’s going to be less practical to wear,” he added.
“As designers we
always need to understand the traditions we have in our culture, and make stunning
designs but without crossing the line,” he said.
Mushaki’s passion for
design doesn’t stop at making stunning designs, he wants to pass on his
experience to the next generation of designers, and every now and then trainers
a couple of newcomer designers.
In his teaching
experience, Mushaki soon found a lot of latent potential among his trainees.
“Some of the trainees that come to me are even better than I am, they might
lack a little bit of technique, but they catch up in no time” he said.
Mushaki believes that technology
made the process of designing much easier, yet he would still rather train his students
in the traditional way, and focus on teaching them the correct techniques.
“Trainees should
always learn how to design on paper because they should learn how to move their
hands while drawing using the correct technique,” he explained.
While passing on his
knowledge to the next crop of budding designers, Mushaki noticed a great deal
of potential among new designers in Jordan, but said that they lack the support
that they need to grow.
“One of my favorite
students left the country and she is now working for a bigger brand name
outside of Jordan because she didn’t find the opportunity to grow her talent in
Jordan,” he said.
Mushaki’s design (Photos: handout Zaid Mushaki)
As the economic
importance of the fashion design industry is growing day by day, there is still
no organization to promote fashion designers’ interests in Jordan or protect
their rights. “Some designers don’t have contract with their clients, and that places
their rights at risk especially that we don’t have any kind of organization to
complain to,” Mushaki explained.
The designer calls on
the government to support the fashion industry whether by hiring designers or
building garments factories, considering that the country have well-known names
in the industry.
“Some people in this
country are trying to support designers, like Shirene Rifai, who held Jordan
fashion week, she also tries to help us find solutions to our problems. But,
unfortunately it’s not enough because we need the government itself to support
us,” he explained.
Mushaki’s knowledge of
the economy comes from his studies in business. He believes that he can benefit
his country and fellow designers by suggesting economic strategies.
Aside from the
government’s support, he ensures that designers support each other whether by
refusing to copy other designers' designs or by sharing technical knowledge.
“Many times, some of
my clients comes and ask me to do a design of another designer, and I refuse
and ask them to go to the designer himself\herself,” Mushaki said.
He participated in the
Jordan fashion week event which is one of the most important for Jordanian
designers, because it’s a place to showcase their art and achieve their maximum
potential. The fashion week event had to be postponed because of the pandemic.
The designer confirmed
that he will be taking part in fashion week when it is held again, as the
pandemic situation eases.
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