[John Defterios:] This week on MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST, we're in Dubai, already a shopper's paradise. We'll take a look at the plans to place the city among the fashion capitals of the world. And we look at why a 300-year-old British luxury retailer chose Dubai as the place to open its first-ever shop abroad. Welcome to MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST, this week from Dubai. The emirate is home to some of the busiest shopping malls in the world, including this one here, the Mall of the Emirates. Little wonder, then, that it's the second-most popular destination for retailers on the planet. Now, Dubai wants to go a step further by building an industry around its local talents. Leone Lakhani has the story.
[Leone Lakhani, Cnn International Correspondent:] This is Fashion Forward, a semi-annual event to promote the Middle East's emerging fashion industry. For the past year, design brands like Amato are drawing crowds. Aside from shows, pop-up shops tout the region's accessory makers, and fashion leaders hold discussion forums. The event launched just last April, but its founder has grand ambitions.
[Bong Guerrero, Founder And Chairman, Fashion Forward:] I would like to truly have our own fashion heroes. I think every market deserves to have their own point of differentiation. With a global immersion of power brands, where every mall almost looks the same, you really need to have your own homegrown brand.
[Lakhani:] Homegrown brands, like Dubai's very own Zareena line. The real test is whether these creations will make it off the runways here and into stores around the world. It's a lucrative market. The luxury fashion and design sectors are worth more than $14 billion across the Gulf region, according to the consultants Bain and Company. Big business and still just a portion of the global markets. To tap into that, industry experts like Fern Mallis, the creator of New York Fashion Week, say the region has to set itself apart.
[Fern Mallis, Creator, New York Fashion Week:] There's a lot of talent around the world. But everybody's looking for something new. Even buyers in New York and in Paris, they're all looking for something new that nobody else has.
[Lakhani:] But emerging talents, like Arwa Alammari from Saudi Arabia, who's just completed her second Fashion Forward collection, say designers like her need guidance to succeed.
[Arwa Alammari, Fashion Designer, Aram:] For a new designer, they need appropriate education so they'll be able to understand the concept behind fashion. Because fashion cannot be taken as a hobby. It has to be taken seriously.
[Lakhani:] Fostering a creative outlet is part of a longterm strategy that aims to turn Dubai into a global fashion capital by 2020. To support it, the government's creating an entire zone dedicated to design. It's called D3, or Dubai Design District. It'll include commercial areas, manufacturing facilities, and work spaces for artists and designers. The woman at the helm of the project says it'll be an ecosystem to create jobs and nurture the region's talents.
[Amina Alrustamani, Group Ceo, Tecom Investments:] Education is important. It's whatever we do is not only to attract talent from the region, which and I believe the region is very really rich with talent in the design and creative sector, but also to have the right base and infrastructure to also develop talent.
[Lakhani:] Building upon the city's successful retail sector, where sales are expected to reach $41 billion in 2015. D3 is just minutes from the city's tourist mecca, the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which towers over one of the world's largest shopping malls and its 75 million visitors each year.
[Alrustamani:] We are very strong in attracting brands here, but I believe also we are also ready and have the right opportunity to also develop global brands from Dubai.
[Lakhani:] And take designs from these catwalks worldwide.
[Defterios:] With the UAE fashion and luxury market valued at over $6 billion, it's no surprise to see that the global designers have a presence within the country. But there's a Dubai-based designer who has his own following amongst the global celebrity elite. Here's a special look inside his studio.
[Furne One, Disigner And Owner, Amato:] My name is Funre One. I'm from Cebu, Philippines. I started designing when I was, like, around 15 years old. And then I joined this competition. I won the competition, the Mega Young Designer of the Philippines Award, and then my prize was to go to Paris and to go to New York to apprentice with Josie Natori. We started the label Amato 2002. Amato means beloved, because we started for bridal. And then we ended up, like bridal, doing also party dresses. This collection is the Circus of Good and Evil collection. It's all threading thread work with acrylic and all laser-cutting organza. For a simple party dress, we start $5,000 US to $10,000. We started Amato with a very small group, less than 10, and now we're 90 to 100. This one is like the big work department. This one, they're making all the bead works. And this one is doing all the machines, like this is the machine embroiderers, and we have here the tailors. We're catering mostly with local ladies here, actually in this region, the Middle East and the Gulf. And we have lots of clients, also, from Russia and the US and also Europe. This one, Katy Perry wore this one in the MTV Music Awards. Dressing of celebrities is a dream. It all started with Katy Perry. The management told us that they wanted us to do the tour. So, we did the tour, the California Dream tour, we did the outfits. So, it's opened doors. Shakira wore this one in the Grammys. And then I started designing Nicki Minaj video, Beyonce's tour. But now, what's the plan is to bring Amato to another level. To bring Amato to be more international, like a brand, not just a tailoring shop.
[Defterios:] The life and times of the Dubai-based designer Amato. Well, from a homegrown brand to one of the most prestigious in London making its Dubai debut. When we come back, we visit the new Fortnum & Mason shop in Dubai, selling its famous English teatime treats for the first time in a shop outside of the UK.