Such women would be good for such a luxury magazine as ours, but, alas, Harper's Bazaar Arabia has existed for only about eight years, and it's not easy to find such stars. Arab edition of Harper's Bazaar is unique among the most fashionable editions of the "luxury" class, because we rarely place local or regional stars on our covers.
A similar situation exists among the brands of haute couture and jewelry. Although many have successfully attracted Chinese, Indian and Latin American screen and fashion stars as their "ambassadors," representatives of luxury brands from the Middle East continue to be a bit of a mystery.
Such brands as Dior translate its name into Arabic for showcases in the Dubai shopping complex and for billboards along the road of Sheikh Zayed (Zayed). But when it comes to women's faces to be placed in their campaigns, worth many millions of dhrams, they are most likely to be European or American, not of Arab origin.
This creates a problem for luxury brands, which increasingly need to adapt their marketing campaigns to local characteristics, introducing a familiar face, yet a desirable ideal for extremely important customers in the Middle East.
Overcoming cultural taboos
There are many reasons why relatively few Arab celebrities have cooperated with luxury brands in the region, and they are different. Dean Aljuhani Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, owner of the luxury boutique D'NA in Riyadh and Doha, and herself a model to follow as an icon of Arab style, explains: "In the countries of the Persian Gulf, people are extremely conservative. This is a culture that does not approve of people who are portrayed. " She compares the attitude to a career in the entertainment industry with the "British 1920s. If you are from a certain family, then they are treated with great disapproval. "
In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, most young girls from affluent families are not allowed to seriously consider wanting to become an actress or singer. But it is the share of the GCC countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - account for the greater part of the purchasing power of the Middle East for luxury goods.
"In the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council you will never see a child preparing for this kind of activity. This is something that is not allowed. Even boys should not do this, "explains Diana Hamade, a lawyer from the Emirates, who has the right to speak in all the courts of the United Arab Emirates. Widespread condemnation of the idealization of the famous actor, singer or entertainer. "Parents do not want their children to look at celebrities and love them. This is considered sinful and forbidden and is not allowed, "she added.
New role models
This creates a challenge for the luxury fashion industry, which relies on brand representatives from among celebrities - most often movie stars, music and fashion - to communicate with consumers and help with the sale of goods. In such markets as the Middle East, having their own aesthetic perception and cultural styles, the global marketing message of the brand can often prove to be inappropriate and inappropriate. As Hamade says: "The fashion world is disconnected. I do not think that designers think about an Arab woman when they create something. "
As editor of the magazine, I have long felt that the lack of worthy and bright icons of the Arab style is detrimental to the industry. Abdulaziz agrees that demanding clients in the Gulf countries would appreciate a larger Arab representation in the marketing of luxury goods. "Of course, no doubt," she says, "because it will show that these firms and conglomerates think of these people as equals, and not as people they look down on. I myself would be interested to see more people from the Middle East representing Dior or Chanel, or even Cartier. "
And although I would really like to see Arab actresses on the red carpet at the Oscar award dressed in high fashion clothes from Chanel - as well as Western women in Arab designers' clothes, that increasingly becomes the norm - or the Arabian face on Dior billboards, all The barriers to Arab women entering the entertainment field remain high, at least in the Gulf countries, where the intention to be on the front cover in an advertising campaign is still taboo and causes a negative attitude towards advertising with participation "Stars" or famous people or events to promote products to the market.
Incompatible strategies and taste
It can not be said that none of the Arabian superstars appears on the red carpet or on billboards. Of course, they do. But their aesthetic views and attractiveness rarely corresponds to the aesthetic views and attractiveness of luxury fashion houses. The entertainment industry in the Middle East and North Africa region, where Egypt is the local response to Hollywood, tends to shift towards low-level celebrities targeted at the mass consumer, or stars from the niche of arthouse production, who often have taste levels suitable for the luxury industry, but There is no significant recognition that such a partnership has become meaningful from a commercial point of view.
Lebanese superstars, for example, Nancy Ajram, Elissa and Haifa Wehbe, have an undeniable appeal, and they have been viewed by 8.1 million people in Instagram. But bright make-up, excessively shiny evening outfits and too lush hairpieces along with cosmetic surgery, which determines the aesthetic views in this group, are unacceptable to the natural elegance that Western luxury brands like. Stars here often require complete control over the wardrobe, hairstyles and makeup, as well as the direction of creativity, which is why it is almost impossible for luxury fashion magazines to negotiate for cutting-edge articles.
Key luxury brands such as Dior, Chanel and Louis Vuitton have no desire to provide temporary models, and it is probably not surprising that the only Arab superstar that appeared on the cover of Harper's Bazaar Arabia is the Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram. Dressed in outfits such as Alessandra Rich, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana, I think Ajram most met the requirements of sophistication that our readers expected, and matched the Harper's Bazaar brand.
Entertainment industry without embellishment
The matter is complicated by the fact that the search for talent management in Lebanon, the center of the entertainment industry in the Middle East, is like conquering the Wild West, with its agents and impresarios, freely working from accounts on Gmail and making transactions as they please. Lebanese actress Razane Jammal, whose film "Une Histoire De Fou" (Crazy Story), 2015 participated in the film festival in Cannes this summer, works only with the leadership in London, Los Angeles and Paris. Describing the industry in his country as more "carefree", Jammal recalls that she was offered a role in the Middle East without official casting or even a script. "This reflects the level of what they produce," she said.
This lack of strategic management means that talent often prefers to match popular mass-market brands, as for beauty, electronics, cars or drinks, offering profitable advertising deals that further repel future potential buyers.
Manufacturers of luxury goods are constantly looking for Arab women with whom they can cooperate. Every season, I have the same meetings with the same public relations employees of luxury goods manufacturers in an attempt to identify suitable personalities for partnership. In the field of entertainment, Louis Vuitton worked with the Lebanese actress and director Nadine Labaki (Nadine Labaki), and Chanel collaborates with the aforementioned Jammal. Burberry invites Lebanese TV presenter Raya Abirached, whose programs - Scoop With Raya ("Exclusive" for Raya) and Arabs Got Talent (Search for talents among Arabs) - provided her over 370,000 catwalk catwalk shows in Instagram. In addition, TV presenter Diala Makki (Diala Makki) in combination is the representative of the company Pantene
http://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/opinion/op-ed-wanted-arab-brand-ambassadors
No comments:
Post a Comment