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The Institut du Monde Arabe on Thursday, 8 October, held the second edition of its Arab Fashion Award at a ceremony in Paris. Celebrating designers in diverse categories, from emerging talent to craftsmanship. The award was established in 2025 to recognise designers from Arab League countries and their diasporas. The institute says the award aims to raise the profile of Arab fashion in France, where it remains under-represented and often shaped by stereotypes.
IMA president Anne-Claire Legendre, the first woman to lead the institute, was elected on 17 February to succeed Jack Lang, and she welcomed the field of 34 nominees, picked from 150 candidates, on the night. The room included designers from Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria, Syria and Saudi Arabia.
Emerging Talent went to Ayham Hassan. The Palestinian designer works in knitwear and tailoring, as well as embroidery, and draws most of his material from his homeland and its culture. His prize includes six months of communications support from DLX, an agency set up in 2015 that has worked with Rimowa and Lacoste.
The jury fell for Fatma Mostafa’s mix of jewellery and embroidery, and the Egyptian designer collected Accessories, the first prize handed out on the night.
Hassan also won Maison Mode Méditerranée’s Heritage and Innovation Prize in February, and Mostafa won its accessories and exceptional jewellery prize earlier this year. Salim Azzam is on the organisation’s endowment fund programme for 2024 to 2026.
Azzam, winner of Creative Excellence and Craftsmanship, thanked the women of Mount Lebanon who keep Lebanese embroidery alive alongside him. Landscapes and symbols from the Chouf mountains cover his jackets and shirts.
The Special Jury Prize went to Hazem Kais, whose label Goodkill dates from 2019. The jury praised Kais’s sculptural textile work and his creative approach. Like Azzam, he comes from the Chouf, and both were finalists in the craftsmanship category, which Azzam won. Kais began working with women in refugee camps in the Beqaa and Beirut in 2018, a year before launching Goodkill.
Ibrahim Shebani received the Creative Entrepreneurship prize for Born in Exile. He was on the Emerging Talent shortlist at the first edition. Of Libyan origin, he grew up in Germany. His architecture studies took place at the African University of Benghazi, and his Mediterranean-inspired wardrobe is produced in Tunisia.
Palestinian designer Hind Hilal was recognised with a Highly Commended distinction. Princess Noura bint Faisal Al Saud and Pascal Morand of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode presented Hilal with the commendation.
Arab Fashion Awards 2026: Prizes, Entry Rules and Judging Criteria
The prize package includes a trophy, training at a partner school in Paris, media exposure and the opportunity to present or exhibit work at the institute. Judges weigh originality, relevance, aesthetic quality and innovation, and a majority vote settles each prize. This year’s jury added a Special Jury Prize and a Highly Commended distinction.
Princess Noura presided over a jury of fifteen, up from twelve for the first edition. She organised Saudi Arabia’s first fashion week in 2018. Fashion historian Olivier Saillard, Kering MEA president Miral Youssef, designer Olivier Theyskens and the Lebanese designer Cynthia Merhej sit on the panel. So does Yasmina Chellali, the Algerian designer who has lent her name as patron to a day of Algerian fashion at the IMA.
The first edition took place on 8 October 2025, with Jack Lang still presiding. It drew 125 applications from more than ten countries, and a selection committee met on 30 June to cut them to 32 finalists. The calibre of entries led the institute to add an accessories category to the two it had planned. Winners that year were promised bespoke training at the Institut Français de la Mode.
This year’s four categories drop Innovative Talent, won in 2025 by Algeria’s Abdel Djalel Chib, and add a craftsmanship prize. Sophia Kacimi of Zoubida got the Creative Entrepreneurship prize in that first edition. Five of those first winners returned on Tuesday, 6 October, for a free masterclass at the institute, two days before the new ceremony.
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