The Sheikh of Chic

Majed Al-Sabah extends his fashion-forward reach to furnishings

David Sokol -- Interior Design, 4/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

Clothing, shoes, and accessories at Sybarite’s Villa Moda. Courtesy of Villa Moda.

When Sheikh Majed Al-Sabah opened the first Villa Moda store in Kuwait in 1992, European luxury fashion houses balked at selling to a man who also happened to be a nephew of the country’s emir. “The idea of having a member of a royal family start a fashion business in that part of the world was a controversy,” Al-Sabah says. Forging his own path anyway, he encountered—and surmounted—another obstacle, this one put in place by consumers: Culturally speaking, he continues, “People in the Middle East used to be very shy about visible consumption. They needed someone to lead them to avant-garde fashion, design, and art.”

Roberto Cavalli, Fendi, Marni, Missoni, and Prada were making limited-edition kaftans for Villa Moda by 2003. Moreover, as the demographics of the Middle East continue to shift younger, consumers in more liberal countries worry less about appearing polite. “They’ve become daring in the way they dress and act,” Al-Sabah continues. Some have even taken to designing their own jewelry and furniture. Every other week, Villa Moda will exhibit the creative output of these inspired shoppers.

 
Marcel Wanders Studio’s Villa Moda in Bahrain. Sheikh Majed Al-Sabah, wearing Ray-Bans. Courtesy of Villa Moda.

Besides asking fashionistas to place their signatures on his merchandise, Al-Sabah has commissioned innovative interiors to show it in. Back when the first Villa Moda opened its doors, he had a gut feeling that the environment of every store to follow should be different. Marcel Wanders Studio offers a provocative confection of old-meets-new at an outpost in Bahrain. For another Kuwait location, which opened last year, Sybarite designed a pristine setting defined by elliptical motifs.

The interiors commissions are almost completely open-ended. “You have to make sure designers are challenged to create a diverse environment,” Al-Sabah explains, adding that each project is holistic, too. “The designers come up with all the shelving, hanging, seating, etc.” He’s currently in talks with Philippe Starck’s firm and Rem Koolhaas’s Office for Metropolitan Architecture about freestyling their way through more Villa Moda boutiques. The only constant is that designers must use the marketplace stalls of the Middle East’s traditional souks as a launchpad.


The Sybarite-designed Villa Moda store in Kuwait. Courtesy of Villa Moda.

Just as Villa Moda loyalists have pounced with life-altering alacrity on Tom Ford’s white robes and 7 for All Mankind’s jeans—with seven spelled out on the back pockets in Arabic—customers have greeted the various interiors with enthusiasm. Fielding requests from shoppers wanting to buy retail fixtures to use at home, Al-Sabah recalls, “I thought, Why not start a business from that? Embrace design in a different way.”

This spring, he opens a 10,000-square-foot Kuwait gallery, still unnamed, to sell limited-edition versions of Middle Eastern artisanal furnishings by big international names including StudioJob and Maarten Baas. “The idea is to bring together the sexy Western designers and the Middle Eastern craftsmen and create something cross-cultural,” Al-Sabah says. “A lot of traditional crafts have been deteriorating.” Customers aside, he thinks of his furnishings endeavor as a benefit to regional workers.

He gave a sneak peek of his vision with the exhibition “Alef” at Design Miami last December. Huda Baroudi and Maria Hibri, both Lebanese, reupholstered modern and traditional seating in vintage embroidered textiles; Syrian antique tables, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, displayed Crystal Virus vases by Pieke Bergmans, a Dutchwoman. Clearly, Al-Sabah has secured his place among design royalty.