As Dubai continues to emerge as a fashion capital in a region of sustained growth and long-term opportunity, it felt fitting to bring Vogue Business Fashion Futures back to the region for a second time. For this edition, hosted in partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), the event coincided with Dubai Fashion Week to welcome over 150 guests, including fashion leaders, entrepreneurs and sustainability champions, for a series of chats and panel discussions around “building in uncertainty”.
The event examined the relationship between legacy and innovation, and how long-term partnerships are shaping more resilient models of growth in the region and beyond. It took place at Thea, a French Mediterranean restaurant in d3, Dubai’s iconic global creative ecosystem, by TECOM Group PJSC.
From family business to investment-ready brand
The event opened with a welcome note by Khadija Al Bastaki, SVP of Dubai Design District, who highlighted Dubai’s growing strength as a creative capital. She also announced that Italian brand Golden Goose would be joining the d3 community, before welcoming the brand’s CEO, Silvio Campara, as the session’s keynote speaker.
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In conversation with Vogue Business and Vogue Runway deputy director Elektra Kotsoni, Campara traced the transformation of the family-founded label into a global brand with strong cultural and commercial equity. Under his leadership, Golden Goose attracted strategic investment from global private equity firm HSG, which acquired a majority stake in the company last December for over €2.5 billion.
Campara joined Golden Goose in 2013, a brand founded by husband-and-wife duo Alessandro Gallo and Francesca Rinaldo in 2000, best known for its star motif sneakers. What attracted him was the philosophy behind the brand. “When I first met Alessandro, he said to me: ‘Golden Goose should be a platform of items that age with you. They get wrinkles, because those wrinkles make the items special,’” Campara told attendees. Today, the brand maintains a 60% retention rate, which Campara attributes to staying true to the brand’s philosophy in every decision.
As for his advice to entrepreneurs: “The most important thing in a business is philosophy, and staying true to it. Numbers come second. If you start with numbers, you will fail.” Campara added that consistency is key, as well as customer happiness, which he said makes up the base of any successful fashion business.
Brands of the future
For the first panel discussion, titled “Discovering the Brands of the Future”, speakers explored how brands are being identified, built, and scaled amid global uncertainty, with a particular focus on the Middle East as a cultural and commercial market. Featuring Grace Khoury, SVP of fashion at Chalhoub Group; Camille Perry, co-founder of London-based womenswear brand Tove; and Khairunnisa Suhail, creative director of UAE-based athleisure brand The Giving Movement, the discussion continually returned to one principle: future-ready brands are built by placing the customer — not the product — at the center.
Moderated by Vogue Business’s Elektra, Khoury noted: “We are not brand collectors. Success begins with understanding what makes the consumer feel something emotionally and culturally rather than simply exporting a global playbook.” She stressed that cultural intelligence is particularly critical during periods like Ramadan, which requires planning nine to 12 months in advance. And while localized initiatives such as suhoor gatherings may not yield immediate commercial outcomes, they help to build long-term relevance and trust.
Suhail echoed how brands must listen to the customer. “Building a brand in the Middle East means building with the region, not for it,” she said, flagging the importance of understanding local lifestyles, fabrics, colors, and preferences. Considering The Giving Moment is a homegrown brand, Suhail identifies one of her primary responsibilities as safeguarding the label’s core design principles — minimalism, timelessness, fit — throughout the company’s expansion.
Tove’s Perry, meanwhile, shared her experience in navigating global volatility — from the pandemic and Brexit, to the current US tariffs. “Tove was conceived not as a geographically defined brand, but around a global woman,” she said. “So expansion into the Middle East followed the same principles of community-building, connection, and listening.”
The discussion made clear that brands built on cultural understanding, consistency, and emotional resonance are the ones most likely to endure.
Why enduring collaborations matter
For the second panel session, Vogue Business Middle East correspondent Sujata Assomull moderated a conversation on “Long-Term Partnerships: Why Enduring Collaborations Matter”, with Aida Al Busaidy, associate VP of consumer advocacy at Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM); Yasmeen Sami, d3 director of brand strategy and partnerships; and Mette Degn-Christensen, director of design fair Downtown Design.
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While fashion loves newness, it is long-term partnerships that underpin the most successful businesses — building credibility, resilience, and real impact. “[Indian fashion designer] Manish Malhotra decided to open a store in Jumeirah almost 20 years ago, when many didn’t believe in the city,” Al Busaidy said. “Long-term visions and partnerships from back then are the reason we continue to develop these relationships today.” (Malhotra, closing designer for Dubai Fashion Week, is also the first Indian designer to open a flagship store on Luxury Avenue at The Dubai Mall.) Al Busaidy added how government support and strategic collaboration helped Dubai cultivate cultural narratives while attracting global talent.
Downtown Design, the Middle East s leading contemporary design fair, now in its 12th edition, has become an integral fixture on the international design calendar. Degn-Christensen outlined the fair’s evolution. “We went through Covid together, with d3 and DCTCM,” she said. “It wouldn’t have worked without long-standing partnerships. You learn, adapt, and innovate with partners over time.” Degn-Christensen cited the UAE Designer Exhibition, where Dubai-born multidisciplinary designer Omar Al Gurg first showcased, having since become a mentor and a curator, as a testament to nurturing local talent.
Then, Sami outlined d3’s approach to building and sustaining strategic relationships. “Maintaining long-term partnerships is our new sustainability,” she said. “We curate opportunities that provide global platforms for regional creatives, while evolving existing relationships to ensure relevance.” Sole DXB is one of the few culture festivals Dubai’s younger generations have stayed loyal to, and remains one of the most-awaited moments on Dubai’s annual events calendar. Sami explained how d3 acts as a connector for such collaborations, facilitating introductions and access to wider ecosystems.
The evening closed to loud applause as Al Busaidy summarized: “Dubai is a place where things happen. We’ve built an ecosystem that blends infrastructure, talent, and opportunity. It’s time for the world to see what can come out of this region and we’re doing an excellent job.”
