You will usually find Farah Assaad on photoshoot sets, styling campaigns for prestigious brands across the globe, but the young fashionista has more than one trick up her sleeve. This summer, she took the leap and started her own brand FARAHFOREAL.
Farah honed her eye working as an Art director and editorial stylist for many international brands. She also started her own fashion production agency based in Kuwait. Two years ago, she decided to launch her fashion brand FARAFFOREAL THE BRAND. Being a former marketing manager gave her an edge in finding a unique positioning, and helped guide her decisions. With the world slowing down in the past couple of years, the project was put on hold for a while, which she realized gave her more time to reflect on her first collection. The ‘Safari’ collection was finally launched for Spring Summer 2022. The designer started conceiving styles during lockdown, a time when we were all confined at home and she was dreaming of an escape. ‘I wanted to interpret all the missed colors and textures of nature, if we can’t see it and be surrounded by it, we can definitely wear it’. Farah decided that she would create the clothes she imagined her models wearing during the editorial campaigns she has worked on over the years, and design something she would want to wear herself. Born from her passion, launching her own brand became a project she could really pour her heart into. ‘If someone ever tells you that fashion has rules that dictate what suits you or not, tell them I choose the outfit, it does not choose me’. With her experience and free mindset, Farah was ready to unleash her creative expression.
The silhouettes of her first collection are bold and empowered, setting the tone for her expressive brand. She introduces novel refreshing shapes. Oversized off-shoulder structural or round-shaped sleeves, a faux-leather skirt with a u-shaped cut-out, she revives the casual skort elevating it with a boa print into a sleek dressed up look, and plays with asymmetries. Farah tells us she wanted to introduce ‘something that wasn’t available on the market’. Her fabrics are sourced in Italy and Spain, but the production is local, in her native Kuwait. Colors and prints transport us on an elegant Safari; ‘yes the prints are out there but still easy on the eyes’. We journey through a velvety taffeta kaki ensemble, shimmering silk with black and white zebra prints, a light pink colored sky skirt and its white poplin top with a daring twist on geometries. In the flourishing Kuwait fashion scene, Farah is happy to see many talented local designers chasing their dreams and starting their own brands, with each a very personal aesthetic. ‘I believe my designs cater to women who like to stand out, the ones that are ready to make a statement.’ The designer is enjoying every step of the process, of this new experience creating her own brand and has been overwhelmed by the response ‘the support received has been truly amazing.’ Her next dream?, ‘to go international!’
