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Saudi Fashion Commission Launches Educational Programs in Collaboration with French Fashion Institute, ‘Misk’ Foundation

The Saudi Fashion Commission logo
The Saudi Fashion Commission logo
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Saudi Fashion Commission Launches Educational Programs in Collaboration with French Fashion Institute, ‘Misk’ Foundation

The Saudi Fashion Commission logo
The Saudi Fashion Commission logo

The Saudi Fashion Commission launched an educational program initiative for fashion pioneers in collaboration with the French Fashion Institute and the Mohammed bin Salman Foundation “Misk.”

The initiative aligns with the Commission’s goals of empowering the local fashion industry and providing fashion professionals with the necessary tools for creativity and excellence.

The programs follow the Fashion Commission’s announcement of its strategic partnership with the French Fashion Institute in June of this year, including the launch of innovative educational programs. The programs combine the latest knowledge with practical experience and serve as a platform to empower designers, brand owners, and investors to grow in the fashion industry.

The programs launched by the authority include five training courses, including a preparatory course in executive business management in the fashion sector, conducted in three phases: a virtual training program, an in-person training program in Riyadh, and an in-person training program in Paris, culminating in a final project.

The Riyadh program includes introductory sessions on planning, marketing, sales, brand identity, business strategy, planning, visual merchandising, and retail. The training sessions in Paris feature academic elements, including lectures and activities focused on digital marketing, financial management, product development, and production.

The programs include a developmental course on advanced sustainability practices in the fashion industry, conducted in two phases: a virtual training program and an in-person training program in Riyadh. The course covers an introduction to fashion and sustainability, the study of the circular economy in fashion, innovation and technology in sustainable fashion, as well as strategies for implementing sustainability and social responsibility through a business model in the fashion sector.

The programs include a developmental course on exploring advanced research methods in design applications. The course highlights the essential project guidelines that form the preparatory foundations for designing a fashion collection. The six-day program focuses on the exploratory research aspect of a creative project at the intersection of contemporary global fashion, local and heritage materials, clothing, textiles, and local architecture. It will be conducted in two phases: virtual training and in-person training in Paris.

Moreover, the Fashion Commission offers a developmental course on visual merchandising and marketing in the fashion industry, lasting seven days in Riyadh. The course covers the fundamentals of building a fashion brand, marketing basics, visual display techniques, trend analysis, and insights into the fashion business landscape, distribution channels, and shopping strategies.

Additionally, there will be a developmental course in fashion photography, offering participants valuable insights into visual storytelling within the industry. The intensive six-day course, conducted in person in Riyadh, offers a comprehensive exploration of fashion photography, blending theoretical knowledge with practical application.

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Fashion

Uniqlo’s Chief Says Fast Fashion Must Change with the Times

A woman walks past jumpers for sale at the latest flagship store to open by Fast Retailing clothing brand Uniqlo, in the Shinjuku district of central Tokyo on November 14, 2024. (AFP)
A woman walks past jumpers for sale at the latest flagship store to open by Fast Retailing clothing brand Uniqlo, in the Shinjuku district of central Tokyo on November 14, 2024. (AFP)
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Uniqlo’s Chief Says Fast Fashion Must Change with the Times

A woman walks past jumpers for sale at the latest flagship store to open by Fast Retailing clothing brand Uniqlo, in the Shinjuku district of central Tokyo on November 14, 2024. (AFP)
A woman walks past jumpers for sale at the latest flagship store to open by Fast Retailing clothing brand Uniqlo, in the Shinjuku district of central Tokyo on November 14, 2024. (AFP)

Forty years after its founding, Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo has more than 2,500 stores worldwide. Sales at its parent company, Fast Retailing Co., recently topped 3 trillion yen ($20 billion) annually for the first time.

The name Uniqlo comes from joining the words for “unique” and “clothing.” The chain’s basic concept is “LifeWear,” or everyday clothing. Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing Co. Chief Executive Tadashi Yanai, ranked by Forbes as Japan’s richest man and estimated to be worth $48 billion, spoke recently to The Associated Press at the company’s Tokyo headquarters. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: What were the biggest challenges over the past 40 years?

A: Actually 40 years, upon reflection, went by so fast they feel more like three years. You know what they say in Japan: Time flies like an arrow. I started a regional business, then expanded nationwide.

When we became No. 2 or No. 3 in Japan’s casual wear, and being No. 1 was right within reach, we became a listed company in 1994. That was followed by our fleece boom, which doubled our revenue in one year to 400 billion yen ($2.6 billion).

I’d been thinking about going global when our revenue reached 300 billion yen ($2 billion) so we opened 50 stores in Great Britain, hoping to be a winner there just like we had conquered Japan.

Instead, we got totally knocked out.

We opened 21 outlets in a year and a half, but had to close 16 of them, leaving just five. We didn’t succeed as we had hoped. This is not an easy job. It’s very tough.

But these days, our sales are strongest in London, and also Paris. We made progress gradually.

Q: What are some of the sustainability and other key issues you have faced over the years?

A: We make clothes that last a long time. Not just clothes that last for one season.

The cashmere sweater I’m wearing today is $99. But please don’t say “cheap.” Please call it “reasonable.” We sell quality products at reasonable prices.

We’ve done various sustainability efforts, and we talk only about what we have really achieved.

Sustainability is crucial to our operations. And we’ve done just about everything — recycling, employing the disabled, support for refugees.

The prices may be cheaper at Wal-Mart, but our products offer real quality for the price. We take the greatest care and time, and involve a lot of people. Our rivals are more careless.

Q: What is behind Uniqlo’s success and what resonated with global buyers?

A: When we say Uniqlo is “made for all,” one might imagine products for the masses, like what’s at a Wal-Mart or a Target.

But what we mean is a high-quality product that appeals to all people, including the extremely rich, not only those with sophisticated taste and intelligence, but also people who don’t know that much about clothes, and the design is fine-tuned, the material fine quality, and sustainability concerns have been addressed.

We were first a retailer, then a manufacturer-cum-retailer. Now we are a digital consumer retailer. That is why we are successful. If we had stayed the same, then we can’t hope to succeed.

Being a digital consumer retail company means we utilize information at a high level to shape the way we do our work. We gain information about our customers, the workers at the store, the market, all that information.

Changing daily is the only way we can hope for stable growth. The world is changing every day.

Q: Are you confident you can keep it up another 40 years?

A: Of course. We’ve been preparing to reach 3 trillion yen ($20 billion) revenue all these years. And we are finally starting to be known. But we still have a long way to go.

We are just getting started, and we are going to keep growing. There is more potential for growth in Europe and the US, as well as China and India, given the 1.4 billion population in each country. Clothing is a necessity, so population size is key.