Riyadh Fashion Week 2025: A City-Sized Conversation in Couture

Riyadh Fashion Week returned for its third edition with an opening to remember (to say the least).

Across Bedrock’s monumental quarry-meets-catwalk, the hushed arches of The Palm Grove, and culture hubs around the city, the week set out its thesis: Saudi fashion is operating at the scale of a capital—artistically, commercially, and culturally.

RFW began quietly, deliberately, with an intimate Vivienne Westwood panel at FCR, a conversation pitched between design history and activism. It framed the evening’s couture with the house’s signatures—fearless construction, environmental conscience, and an insistence on craft as a form of dissent—before the spotlights rose at Bedrock.

There, the runway opened with a clarion trio of Saudi vision: Tima Abid’s grandeur, Adnan Akbar’s time-tempered elegance, and Atelier Hekayat’s narrative flourishes. Seen together against Bedrock’s carved drama, they read as chapters of the same book—meticulous embellishment, modern silhouettes, and a sure hand with heritage.

Nightfall carried the audience to The Palm Grove for a defining moment: Vivienne Westwood’s debut at RFW. Presented among palms—a national symbol of life and resilience—the house fused British heritage with Saudi craftsmanship in a capsule of embroidered couture gowns made with Art of Heritage, staged alongside Spring/Summer 2026 and archival looks. It was dialogue, not display: heritage meeting subversion, ornament meeting argument. After, a starry gala pulled designers, editors, buyers, and cultural figures into conversation—names like Win Metawin, Faye Peraya, Yara Alnamlah, Tamara Kalinic, Deema Al Asadi, Lina Malaika, Jessica Kahawaty, and Alanoud Badr among those circulating through the opening night.

“Each year, Riyadh Fashion Week continues to grow in scale, creativity, and global relevance,” said Burak Çakmak, CEO of the Fashion Commission. “From established maisons like Tima Abid to international houses such as Vivienne Westwood, our opening day celebrates couture, craftsmanship, and the power of cultural dialogue. Riyadh Fashion Week is not only a platform for creativity; it is a statement of confidence in the Kingdom’s role as an emerging global fashion capital.”

By day two, Bedrock again took center stage, this time for a contemporary read on Saudi style: Leem, Rebirth, AMN, Waad Al Oqaili, Ashwaq Almarshad, and Abadia delivered clean, intentional collections that sat at ease within the venue’s vastness—softness set against stone, modernity without noise. Day three shifted mood and scale. Morning presentations at Mandarin Oriental, Al Faisaliah gave intimacy to tailoring and detail—Derza, Aleena, Arwa Albanawi—before the city lights wrapped the evening runway at The Roof – Al Mamlaka. Femi9, Aram, Razan Alazzouni, Mona Alshebil, Reem Alkanhal, and SV by Saudia matched the skyline’s energy, culminating in a cinematic gesture: the show beamed live across Mamlaka Tower, turning Riyadh’s architecture into part of the spectacle. Georgina Rodríguez, dressed in Mona Alshebil, joined Leonie Hanne and an international front row that tracked the week’s momentum from couture to citywide canvas.

Across six days—30+ runway shows, presentations, and activations—RFW balances global resonance with a distinctly Saudi point of view. The program places innovation and craftsmanship on equal footing and keeps conversation flowing between couture, ready-to-wear, and streetwear. Alongside Saudi trailblazers like Tima Abid, the calendar welcomes Stella McCartney and regional houses including Femi9, Mihyar, Eleven, Leem, Derza, Manel, Nabila Nazer, Realself, and Sulitude, amplifying the dialogue between heritage and modernity that has defined the Kingdom’s fashion rise.

The ecosystem around the runway is growing just as strategically. Saudia and Westfield Riyadh | Cenomi lead as official partners; Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) and Genesis Motor join as strategic partners; and a supporting cohort—including Eyewa, Rotana Signs, Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah, Riyadh, and Al Khozama Investment Company—signals how culture and commerce are increasingly braided into the city’s fashion infrastructure.

Mid-week, the tone is clear. Riyadh Fashion Week is a platform with its own vocabulary, sites as strong as the clothes, audiences as international as the line-ups, and a willingness to turn the city itself into a runway when the narrative calls for it. As the final days promise new venues and fresh showcases, the through-line holds: Saudi creativity, in real time, is defining a capital where heritage drives innovation—and where the world is paying attention.

Cover photo: Atelier Hekayat Atmosphere

More info on RiyadhFashionWeek.com