Dubai’s New Kraze
With its cosmopolitan diversity and meeting point for all things trendy, the cultural melting pot that is Dubai is on its way to becoming the fashion hub of the east set to rival anything found on the boutique lined streets of Milan, Paris, London and New York.
It’s these attributes, the perfect site and the buzz of Dubai combined at the right time, which has brought the vision of up coming, ex New York based, designer Kiran Sawlani to town to open her first signature store, Kraze.
In her own words, “Dubai is a glamorous city where everything goes, shopping is a huge part of the lifestyle and you can never be over dressed”.
Kiran describes Kraze as a new age boutique concept store, a place for new and upcoming talent where lifestyle, accessories, glamour and street all have a home under one roof.
“We’re targeting a very niche market,” she says. “Fashion conscious trendsetters who know what they want, who are up to date with current fashion and trends.”
“Dubai doesn’t have too many boutiques yet, but with the constant influx of new arrivals, especially from Europe, people are becoming more and more aware of current fashion trends. As this awareness continues to develop, we’ll start to see more of these speciality boutiques pop up as finally there is room for individuality in this trendy city.”
As a boutique, Kraze houses an eclectic mixture where the funky street wear of the urban inner-city icon overlaps with the elegant glamour of Milan’s runways and Paris’ finest restaurants.
The flagship boutique, currently located in Dubai Outlet Mall, is laid out as a crossover from day to night, like yin to yang , the front of the boutique is all day, street and funk, arrayed with embellished T’shirts and accessories, while the rear is reserved for the glamour only ever found after dusk.
“Our clients are fashion savvy and the layout of the boutique reflects that,” Kiran says. “It’s not just a clothing store, it’s a concept store with glimpses of art and lifestyle creating a chilled out lounge affect, it’s where psychedelic meets pop art, technicolor meets trend and kitsch meets glam.”
“Kraze is all about creating your own style; our clients are the type of people who can put pieces together to create their own look. Our slogan is ‘Your Style Guide’, fashion has no boundaries, it’s all about creating your own style, and everything about Kraze, from the layout, to the atmosphere is geared to just that.”
Kiran spent the last year developing and perfecting the idea that has turned into Kraze. A lot of that time was spent travelling much of the world finding the right designers to bring back and introduce to Dubai through Kraze.
“I was looking for labels which would evolve as Kraze does,” Kiran says. “Labels I could establish in Dubai before launching them in London, where the second Kraze is set to open later this year, and on into other stores.”
There are also four in-house labels Kiran has created to complement the chic of Kraze.
Contempo is a casual street unisex brand of easy to wear casuals which include fun and easy shirts for men and causal dresses, skirts and tops for women.
est 1981 is Kraze’s funky day and evening clothing for men and women featuring one of a kind pieces embellished with unique designs. The line includes dressy designer sports Jackets and designer Shirts for men, as well as designer dresses, skirts and tops for those special occasions, or, crazy nights out around town.
Crèm de la crèm consist of cocktail and evening dresses for women, this is high end couture, the likes of the Ellie Saab and Oscar De la renta at very affordable prices.
Kimraina is an embellished range of designer Kaftans and Tunics that could range from casual to formal.
Before Kiran’s Kraze in Dubai, she earned a degree in Fashion Design from the world famous Fashion Institute of Technology, NY. After completing her degree she went on to work as a designer in New York with celebrity clothing companies the likes of Snoop Dogg, and New York based young street brand PLUGG.
“New York was a really strong foundation to base my career off,” she says. “The whole experience taught me a lot about the industry. I worked from both sides, first with the celebrity market, which is different to mass market, then on to PLUGG which was a smaller company filling large orders.”
Kiran says these two opposing sides of the fashion world were the ideal preparation for Kraze.
“With Snoop labels I was working for a very specific clientele, while at Plugg I learnt the business side of fashion. We were a smaller label in the very competitive garment district of New York. I was dealing with factories in China, making sales and designing - learning everything I would need to know to set up my own boutique.”
“New York’s Soho and London’s South Molton Street are where a large part of my inspiration comes from,” Kiran says. “The trendy little boutiques mixing with the eclectic feel of the people and things found on the busy streets are the type of atmosphere I’ve incorporated into Kraze’s store, brand and overall feel.”
All in all, Kiran’s passion and skill have come together in a Kraze that is sure to hit Dubai.
At age 26, she is part of the new young fashion elite who are putting their knowledge, expertise and skill to entrepreneurial use and blowing a new breath of fresh air into the fashion world.
Al Bawaba
