JEDDAH — Many people believe that the influence among the countries of the world only falls under hard power, such as military and economic. But there is a huge power that flows under the radar and is not noticed too much, with some people even shunting it to the sidelines. And that is soft power. Soft power includes many powerful weapons that have a clear impact between countries, the most prominent of which are arts, music, fashion, food, culture, media, sports, and many more. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has recently demonstrated its soft power widely in various fields, by including the Kingdom' culture and heritage in a move to celebrate its national identity. One of the Kingdom's steps to include the national identity was the joint partnership initiative between the Ministry of Culture and the Royal Protocol, where they changed the color of ceremonial carpets from traditional red to lavender as lavender is considered a symbol of Saudi generosity. Additionally, adding the traditional Sadu patterns that were included in the UNESCO list. Saudi traditional fashion is one of the most important things in which the Kingdom has invested and has made great efforts to make it the talk of the world during the past period. The Kingdom recently witnessed a series of huge celebrations that reinforced the emergence of Saudi traditional costumes, which came as an encouraging step by the Ministry of Culture to enhance the national identity. The Saudi traditional costumes were designed in a dazzling and innovative way by Saudi designers, some of whom were distinguished by integrating them with modern techniques as a kind of renewal to attract all age groups and nationalities to own it and to introduce them to the Saudi identity. Among the designers, there were Saudi female designers who had their own charming touch by making this soft power of Saudi traditional fashion attractive and with a high global resonance. One such proponent is the owner of ArAm brand, Arwa Alammari, the Saudi fashion designer and consultant in the fashion development sector in Saudi Arabia. The ambassador at The Arab Fashion Council stated that Saudi Arabia is a very rich country, and every region in the Kingdom in the east, west, north and south has its own dress code, colors, music, food, and its own folklore. Alammari said that the arts have great diversity in Saudi Arabia, whether visual arts, craftsmanship, or other arts such as music, and the regions of Saudi Arabia are distinguished by different architectural beauty. The diversity in the Kingdom is considered as a great strength for Saudi Arabia to export it around the world and to introduce it to people, She added, every region in the Kingdom has its own craft, and many of these crafts have been registered with UNESCO. There is a great echo of Saudi Arabia around the world in its export of culture and identity through all arts and all cultures, Alammari said, noting that fashion is one of the main pillars of culture, which is considered one of the soft power through which it tells the story of society and links it to the world, especially at a time when the whole world has become similar to each other and by wearing the same clothes. "Saudi heritage is unlike any other heritage," Alammari said. Fashion is a mirror of the feelings, As it also reveals the social, economic, political status of the individual, Alammari clarified after she said that is the reason for integrating into her new designs collection the Saudi heritage in fashion to tell the story of the Kingdom through it. Alammari has incorporated the Saudi heritage into her last collection, the aim of which was to introduce the world to the Saudi heritage and arts, through a program that has been broadcast by the BBC and watched by 50 million people in the world. Alammari said that she is not specialized in traditional costumes, but after she received great admiration about these costumes, she decided to design a collection inspired by the Saudi heritage in a contemporary way so that anyone in the world can own it. She confirmed that she found that 50 million people around the world follow the program as a great opportunity, and through it, she will introduce them to the Kingdom's heritage by launching her collection. Alammari emphasized that this collection has met with great responses and has become a reference in design and inspiration from heritage, through which it became a designing method for other designers. Also Alammari is considered one of the first designers who integrated the heritage designs in a contemporary way 3 years ago. Alammari said that she relies on her design style in integrating arts into fashion, and has always been inspired by travel and different arts in fashion, noting that she loves to see other cultures. After her research on Saudi culture, Alammari said that she was surprised by the richness of Saudi culture, stressing that working on one collection is not enough, so she decided to make a capsule collection based on the same concept of integrating heritage in a contemporary way. One of the parts of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 is to strengthen the national identity, and the most prominent element in the identity is fashion, where it has a major role in society by reflecting its image, identity, mood and way of thinking, Alammari said. Alammari, while commenting about the Founding Day celebrations in traditional fashion, said that it was a brilliant idea as it would be a reason to motivate the people to be part of this event by reclaiming the identity of Saudi Arabia after 300 years. She indicated that part of the Ministry of Culture campaign to wear the traditional fashion on the Founding Day and the Saudi Cup is educational and to enhance the identity, because it allows the Saudis the ones who tell the story of the Kingdom and do not wait for it to be told by others. One of Alammari's creations that has received wide and great admiration is her design "the Saudi tuxedo", a men's suit inspired by the bisht, which is characterized by merging the well known men's suit with the Saudi bisht the formal Saudi uniform that men usually wear over the thobe on limited occasions such as in weddings. Arwa decided to design the Saudi tuxedo to extend the use of the bisht, and to attract younger age groups of men and to attract foreigners to own it. In the Saudi Cup, the fashion industry leader and an international consultant, Fabian Hirose chose to wear the Saudi tuxedo because he wanted to reflect this culture around the world in a more modern way, in addition to being appropriate for the event. This traditional fashion has created great competitions between women and men over these outfits in terms of the most beautiful costume and design, and this in itself stimulates the cultural scene, as it enhances creativity by having cultural and artistic productivity. Alammari said that foreigners were very impressed by these fashions, as many of them began to ask about its source and from which region in the Kingdom and what it means, and even began to own it. As we saw during the Saudi Cup with many foreigners wearing the Saudi traditional clothing, where men wore thobes and bisht and women wore burqa, abaya and the thobe al nashal. "Fashion is a language that everyone understands, and it is one of the most beautiful languages in which you can speak to the world," Alammari said. The Saudi people have been in love with fashion for a very long time, and when we look at our traditional costumes, we see the beautiful and unique details and colors that are not found anywhere else. "We as Saudi women are known everywhere for our great interest in fashion, which is a big part of our daily routine everywhere we go," Alammari confirmed. "We used to wear these traditional customs on only special occasions, such as in Ramadan and Eid, and on the day of henna or the day of the ghamra, which is before the wedding day." "I am so happy that we are back to wearing it again, as every woman and man is now owning a traditional costume in order to be ready for these occasions that have been revived in the Kingdom." Alammari was named by the BBC as one of the most creative minds in the world, in addition to winning design awards by the Italian magazine "Grazia", as well as winning the Fashion Star program. Alammari was also among the winners of the "National Cultural Awards" initiative in the fashion category. ArAm brand is also one of the brands selected by the Ministry of Culture within the Saudi 100 Brands. Alammari explained the piece of art that she designed, (Our Majlis — the place of our gathering), was shown in The Saudi 100 Brands and the Saudi Cup, in addition to the Dubai Expo on the Saudi Day, and which was worn by an opera singer. Our Majlis was designed to be a piece of art, but Alammari always strives in its designs to be wearable art. This piece is inspired by the Saudi "Majlis" the place where people gather, talk, discuss things and share news. It has an important socio-cultural aspect for members of the Saudi society and it is a vital element in Saudi heritage. The Majlis is important at so many levels socially, since it serves as a gathering area for families and a reception for guests in everyday life or for political and religious meetings as well. The Majlis is registered as an intangible cultural heritage at the UNESCO for its cultural & social importance. The details in this piece reflect on Saudi past, present and future. Alammari, the designer, likes to bring artistic elements that tell stories in her designs. The prints are hand drawn digitally and printed. They inspired Majlis carpets, which was woven using wool. The hand made wool details on the edges of the piece (shoulders, waist and dress trail) reflects on that and how we are transforming from tedious handwork to advanced technology in all aspects of life. The silhouette is inspired by the men's "deglah", a folk costume of a long coat worn over the thobe. Nowadays it is worn in important gatherings, Eid celebrations, or weddings; and used to be worn in winter. The underneath garment bust is made of ivory tent raw fabric and decorated with triangles, reflecting on the triangle openings in the walls of mud houses that was used for ventilation. Another versatile Saudi fashion designer Eman Joharjy stated that she is a simple person who loves details, and enjoys merging, blending and compositing. "Imagination element is my best and true friend," she said. Joharjy said that the Saudi traditional fashion is distinguished with diversity through which it enriches the designer's imagination and amazes them in terms of the beauty of its details and simplicity. Fashion is a mirror of civilizations and societies and reflects the nature and heritage of countries, Joharjy said, noting that traditional fashion is always characterized by the uniqueness of its kind and culture. Because of her constant love for developing and rooting for heritage, Joharjy has shaped the modern style with her traditional designs to be attractive to future generations. Joharjy participated twice in Saudi traditional fashion, and in her first participation she designed a piece inspired by traditional clothes from the Asir region. While her second participation was in The Saudi 100 Brands program, which was launched by The Fashion Commission, one of the new authorities under the Ministry of Culture. Joharjy's participation in the Saudi 100 Brands program was distinguished by a unique design, called "Al-Hajeen", which means the hybrid, and it is a mixture of several pieces of heritage, such as the men's traditional uniform called the (Al-Morodan thobe), and the southern (Wizra) costume. It is also characterized by being a suitable design for both sexes. Joharjy has also participated in the Saudi Cup 2022 in a traditional Saudi dress similar to the Al-Hajeen design, as it was worn by the Saudi explorer and writer Abdullah Al-Jumah. The design was distinguished by adding hand-stitched leather and a real horse bridle to match the idea of the Saudi Cup. Joharjy indicated that she witnessed a great demand from both sexes, locally and internationally, for the traditional Saudi designs, in addition to the fact that her designs were admired by her mentor in the Saudi 100 Brands program. The Kingdom's heritage has existed for a long time, but recently it has begun to focus more on introducing the Saudi identity and sharing it with the outside world, Joharjy emphasized. "The reason for the richness of our identity is the diversity of our culture," Joharjy said. Mona Al-Jadaani, a student who is about to graduate from the fashion design faculty at Jeddah University, said that the interest in traditional fashion among the general public has become very wide, unlike in previous years. Traditional costumes are considered part of peoples' cultures, which conveys to us the identity of the region, its values, traditions and ways of adapting with the environment, she said. From Al-Jadaani 's perspective, she said that young people often do not pay attention to traditional fashion except on special occasions, and are more inclined to follow the trend of fashion in all its forms. However, young people have accepted the idea of heritage-inspired fashion when it was mixed with clothing pieces designed in a modern way and in line with the current time period. Al-Jadaani confirmed that she personally prefers traditional costumes to modern ones, because of its raw materials and bright colors, but also for her admiration of the hand embroidery arts that tells the stories of art. Al-Jadaani said that the traditional fashion has a slight downside, which is that it is a little big in size and heavy in weight because of the embroidery and beads, which is not in line with the current lifestyle that tends to be practical and requires wearing comfortable and easy clothes. "Traditional fashion is the connecting point between the generations that transmits the art and the lifestyle in the past to us," Al-Jadaani said.
