RIYADH — The great equestrian events of the world have always been about more than the horses. At Royal Ascot and the Kentucky Derby, dressing for the races is as ritualized as the sport itself. Those events did something else too: They made the fashion of their host countries visible to the world. Ascot codified British occasion dressing; the Derby made American eccentricity into style.
The Saudi Cup is doing the same thing in real time, and a new generation of Saudi designers is using it to redefine what heritage in fashion can mean.
The annual event at the King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh and with a prize purse of $20 million is the world’s richest horse race, drawing owners, trainers and racegoers from across the Gulf, Europe, the U.S. and Asia.
Yet its impact on fashion runs deeper than visibility alone. It has created a global stage where heritage dressing is the expectation rather than the exception and a unique opportunity where Saudi designers are not asked to translate themselves for an outside audience because they are the inside audience.
Last month’s Saudi Cup 100 Brands showcase by the Saudi Fashion Commission made that argument visible. The showcase also was supported by the Saudi’s Fashion Futures program, which works with businesses, investors and others to identify trends and provides insights and connections to help capture opportunities for companies in the country’s fashion and retail sectors.
Arwa Alsuhaim, cofounder of ready-to-wear label Enays alongside Njoud Alyousif, showed a collection which reflected the ancient trade routes that once carried Saudi goods across vast deserts to the Levant, Iraq and India. The “Caravan,” a capsule of six pieces, represented a different commodity those routes carried. “Caravan Red” expressed the luxury of rubies through luminous fabrics in fiery red and burgundy. “Scent of the Journey” drew on Arabian coffee, pairing warm browns and gold with fluid lines evoking the ritual of grinding and pouring. The strongest piece, “Neigh,” translated the elegance of the Arabian horse into dynamic lines and a palette of black, white and silver. “Heritage is not static,” Alsuhaim said. “Rather than replicating it literally, we approached it as a narrative framework.”
Reema and Lama Almuhareb, cofounders of TheXO, approached the brief from a different angle. Their brand, rooted in streetwear, approached the event’s elevated cultural register by drawing on equestrian culture, not through imagery but sensibility. The result was flowing silhouettes that suggested movement, structured layering held with belts, a balance between softness and architectural form that mirrored the discipline of horsemanship itself. “Heritage is often reduced to visual motifs, but I believe it exists on a deeper level,” Reema said. “Sometimes heritage appears not through symbols, but through values, rhythm and cultural memory.”
Reema and Lama Almuhareb elevated their streetwear brand, TheXO, to create looks appropriate for the Saudi Cup.
Mohammed Sultan, founder of Sulitude, took the most personal approach, building his collection around the dialogue between his home region in the west of the Kingdom and the central region where he now lives. Fabrics and motifs drawn from the Hejaz met the geometric sensibility of Najdi craft. “These two regions have different habits and traditions, yet they share the same culture and spirit,” he said. “It was a personal story translated into design.”
A look from Sultitude’s showcase at the Saudi Cup.
The jewelry and accessories exhibition running alongside the runway added another dimension to the conversation. Notti, one of the Saudi brands showing across both days, displayed pieces that drew directly on the visual language of the region: statement earrings with gold-framed pendants referencing Arabian manuscript traditions, paired with carnelian, turquoise and pearl drops that felt rooted in craft rather than trend. The work was specific, a reminder that the heritage argument in Saudi design extends well beyond clothing.
Saudi jewelry brand Notti.
Wearing Saudi Is a Statement
The creative energy at the Saudi Cup showcase has been building momentum beyond the racecourse.
Noaf Alnamlah has watched from close range the Saudi fashion market shift over the last 15 years. A Riyadh-based stylist and fashion consultant who was the first senior stylist at Farfetch Saudi and has worked closely with the Saudi 100 Brands program, she draws a distinction that cuts to the heart of what is actually happening.
When a Saudi woman chooses a local designer over a European luxury label for a major occasion, Alnamlah said the statement is intentional. “I’m communicating that my culture is beautiful, that we have a great and talented amount of designers who are able to design things on another level. I’m also communicating that modesty is also beautiful.”
For the Saudi woman who has been buying and wearing local labels for years, it was never about needing external permission from international retailers carrying local brands. “A long time ago, when certain designers weren’t really out there, I used to love saying that I’m wearing a Saudi designer while traveling in Europe,” she said. “It was something niche. I was having a part in introducing other cultures to my culture and to my country’s designs.”
The shift Alnamlah has observed more recently is in the occasions and the scale. “More and more people have been going to Saudi designers for custom pieces and for major occasions, especially red carpets. You see international film stars wearing Saudi designers for major occasions.” She mentioned, almost in passing, being approached about dressing a Met Gala guest in a Saudi designer. “Not surprising,” she said. “Amazing, but not surprising.”
Saudi Brands Already Traveling
The clearest evidence that Saudi fashion’s international moment is real rather than projected comes from the brands that have already tested it.
Nora Aldamer, who cofounded Kallyah with her sister Haifa, recently rebranded the label from Chador. The original brand had a strong identity built around modest luxury, but Aldamer recognized that the women it was designed for had changed. “When we started Chador, the reality of women’s lives in Saudi Arabia was very different,” she said. “Women are now working, driving, moving through the city, balancing careers, families and ambitions in ways that feel much more dynamic and visible. Kallyah came from wanting the brand to grow alongside that shift.”
As a stylist, Alnamlah cited Kallyah among the Saudi labels with one of the most coherent international identities, saying the brand’s visual distinctiveness is immediate. “I can tell it’s a Kallyah piece as soon as I see it.”
Aldamer said that coherence is a result of absolute clarity about their customer. “The intention is always to make the woman wearing it feel quietly confident, as though she carries the presence in the room without needing to announce it.”
She added: “For a long time, modest fashion existed as a demand without enough thoughtful design behind it, especially within the luxury and contemporary space. Today there is much more awareness that modest dressing is not a niche. It is simply how many women around the world naturally choose to dress.”
The aim, she said, is to show that modesty does not limit creativity. “It can actually create a very refined, modern way of dressing.”
Abadia, founded by Shahd AlShehail and rooted from its inception in the craftsmanship traditions of the Arabian Peninsula — including sadu weaving and a commitment to keeping regional craft alive — retails internationally and its most culturally specific pieces have become the ones international stockists seek out most actively.
But notably, AlShehail does not lead with the heritage argument — she leads with the product. “I really am a believer that a product is king. I don’t think a story can live on its own without a strong product to back it up.” The cultural depth is real and present in everything Abadia makes, but in her framing it is the added dimension rather than the premise. “Some customers are just interested in a beautiful dress, and that’s what they’ll get. Some have become collectors of the brand.”
A look from Abadia fall 2025 at Riyadh Fashion Week.
Courtesy of Abadia
This is what AlShehail means when she says craft is a universal language. “The idea that true luxury is about authenticity and provenance and mastery of craft is integral to our human experience.”
International retailers have come to agree. “Some of our retailers actually seek out those products as the core of what they want to offer to a global audience, because of its uniqueness and the coming back to true luxury and authenticity and craft.”
Beyond the Racecourse
As more garments are now being not just designed, but manufactured inside the Kingdom, supporting Saudi workshops, artisans and factories, Saudi fashion has evolved far beyond a moment to the development of a fashion industry. The newest generation of designers is navigating both simultaneously.
The Saudi Cup offers a platform where heritage dressing is normative, giving designers the ability to showcase in a context that does not require them to translate themselves. As Saudi brands scale internationally and present on stages where their cultural vocabulary is not the default, the real test begins.
Reema put it plainly: “What is happening in Saudi Arabia today is a rapidly evolving creative landscape with a wide range of voices and approaches. It is not a single narrative. It is a dynamic design movement that is still unfolding.”
The ambition is clear. “The goal for Enays is to evolve into a globally recognized fashion label,” Alsuhaim said, “one that celebrates culture, empowers women, and tells meaningful stories through design.”
For a generation of designers using the Saudi Cup to develop a language strong enough to stand on its own whether in Riyadh, London, Paris or New York, that is not a distant aspiration.
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