BEDOUIN is a contemporary ready-to-wear label that aspires to create flattering, easy-to-wear collections for a growing international tribe of women, with a confident, spontaneous and unique style.
BEDOUIN was founded in 2O14 by Central Saint Martins (CSM) graduate, Andraya Farrag, born and raised in Bristol, in the United Kingdom, to an Egyptian Father and British Mother. Andraya spent several years in Dubai before she moved to London in 2007, to further her education.
Andraya graduated with a First-class BA hons in Fashion Design with Marketing in 2012, from the most famous fashion school in the world, Central Saint Martins. Her graduate collection was one of the few to be selected for the renowned CSM Press Show that launched the careers of critically acclaimed designers such as Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Christopher Kane.
As a designer, Andraya draws her inspiration largely from personal experiences having travelled extensively working for Matthew Williamson and ASOS in London, Marchesa & Edun in New York and time spent managing an embroidery factory in Bangalore, India. Dubai is now where she calls home, but her vision is nomadic, and the BEDOUIN tribe now extends from London to Missouri, Paris to Montreal, and all corners of the globe in between.
About BEDOUIN
BEDOUIN provides the contemporary woman with travel friendly luxury that honors her love for minimalism. A hybrid of masculine and feminine appears each season combining loose fit silhouettes with feminine silks, or clean cuts with a fresh take on embroidery. BEDOUIN is designed to live beyond the season, to be timeless yet edgy, with each collection blurring the lines between casual and eveningwear and day to night.
BEDOUIN’s ‘less is more’ approach is shaped by the beautiful, nomadic existence of the BEDOUIN tribes. Encouraging style without borders, BEDOUIN is inspired by the simplicity and independence of nomadic communities from across the globe. Designed with the global independent and free woman in mind, BEDOUIN provides their customer with travel friendly luxury that honors tradition and diversity while having a clean and minimalist style.
Ethics and Sustainability
It was after Andraya’s stint in Bangalore, managing the relationships between the factory production line, and the New York based brands producing embroidery in India for their collections, that she saw both the good and the bad side of production and the ethics involved. Upon returning to Dubai to set up her own label, it was important that she establish a company built on the solid foundations of integrity, principles, corporate and social responsibility and ethical practices in production.
Sustainability is key in the traditional BEDOUIN’S lifestyle, therefore creating pieces that will stand the test of time and are not wasteful, is also key to the BEDOUIN philosophy. Quality and attention to detail is her main focus, working with custom made silks from Italy, bespoke embroidery produced locally, and ethically and sustainably sourced cashmere from Spain, all featuring in the collection for AW17.
Giving back and supporting local businesses and infrastructure is incredibly important to the BEDOUIN philosophy and as such, nothing is internationally outsourced, instead being created in Dubai by an established family ran manufacturing team of stitchers and pattern cutters, to a luxury standard, while maintaining a contemporary price point. By working with local artisans, she is supporting a successful yet small family business hailing from Pakistan, who have lived in Dubai for more than 30 years.
An avid visitor to Premier Vision (Paris & Istanbul) & Pitti Immagine, Andraya works directly with the best factories and suppliers from Japan, Italy & Spain giving her the ability to trace the history of the fabric, making sure that no harmful processes were used in the manufacturing procedures. Andraya is very waste-conscious and ensures she incorporates the off-cuts into her designs. The Spring/Summer 2018 collection will see the introduction of environmentally friendly, bioorganic materials into her collection, and she also sources all of the BEDOUIN packaging locally, from environmentally friendly, recycled paper.
