On a recent holiday, I was lucky enough to have a stopover in Dubai. I had heard there was a store that sold asian designerwear in Dubai called Studio 8 and so I made plans to visit!
Studio 8 opened in Dubai in April 2009, and was originally a Manish Malhotra flagship store. The store now houses a comprehensive range of different Indian, Pakistani and Middle Eastern designers.
Location
Now my Dubai geography isn't great, but Studio 8 was pretty easy to get to, it's located opposite one of the Dubai shopping malls - Mercato Mall, so all we had to do was ask our taxi driver to take us to that mall. The full address is: Villa no. 3, Jumeira Beach Road.
The store itself
As you might expect the store itself was very well presented inside. The walls were adorned with photographs of the store's owner Sarah with celebrities from the fashion world such as HSY, Manish Malhotra, to other celebrities like Paris Hilton and even Diego Maradona (mr.asianfashionblog was quite impressed with that one!)
There seemed to be lots of staff, but I think we were the only customers at that time. The staff were attentive, but not too "in your face", I told I'd come all the way from England to have a look around and they left me to my browsing! Unfortunately they didn't allow me to take pictures inside, as expected from a store like this. Perhaps if I'd mentioned the fact that I blog they might be have let me take some, but I wanted to get a "genuine" customer experience so I kept schtum about my blogging!
Designer Collections
Now onto the clothes! There were a few designers whose outfits I'd seen in person before, such as Asim Jofa, but my main reason for visiting was to touch and feel and see up close the Indian designwear collections which are a bit harder to come across in the UK.
First up was Suneet Varma whose outfits really had that wow factor for me, they looked amazing and incredibly wearable at the same time.
Housed in a room of it's own was the Manish Malhotra collection. Considering this store used to be a MM flagship store, it's not surprising that this designer had a whole section dedicated to his work. Rails full of his outfits, from lenghas to anarkalis. I have to tell you they look just as good up close and in person as they do on the catwalk.
I had taken some spending money with me and kind of had my heart set on getting one of his outfits. However, with prices starting at 4000 Dirhams (which is approximately £700) I just couldn't justify such a purchase, especially when I don't even have a special occassion to wear it to! You don't know how much I wished there was a sale rail, but alas there wasn't.
Studio 8 opened in Dubai in April 2009, and was originally a Manish Malhotra flagship store. The store now houses a comprehensive range of different Indian, Pakistani and Middle Eastern designers.
Location
Now my Dubai geography isn't great, but Studio 8 was pretty easy to get to, it's located opposite one of the Dubai shopping malls - Mercato Mall, so all we had to do was ask our taxi driver to take us to that mall. The full address is: Villa no. 3, Jumeira Beach Road.
The store itself
As you might expect the store itself was very well presented inside. The walls were adorned with photographs of the store's owner Sarah with celebrities from the fashion world such as HSY, Manish Malhotra, to other celebrities like Paris Hilton and even Diego Maradona (mr.asianfashionblog was quite impressed with that one!)
 |
| Sarah from Studio 8 on the catwalk with Manish Malhotra |
Designer Collections
Now onto the clothes! There were a few designers whose outfits I'd seen in person before, such as Asim Jofa, but my main reason for visiting was to touch and feel and see up close the Indian designwear collections which are a bit harder to come across in the UK.
First up was Suneet Varma whose outfits really had that wow factor for me, they looked amazing and incredibly wearable at the same time.
 |
| An outfit from Suneet Varma's Fall '10/'11 Collection |
Housed in a room of it's own was the Manish Malhotra collection. Considering this store used to be a MM flagship store, it's not surprising that this designer had a whole section dedicated to his work. Rails full of his outfits, from lenghas to anarkalis. I have to tell you they look just as good up close and in person as they do on the catwalk.
I had taken some spending money with me and kind of had my heart set on getting one of his outfits. However, with prices starting at 4000 Dirhams (which is approximately £700) I just couldn't justify such a purchase, especially when I don't even have a special occassion to wear it to! You don't know how much I wished there was a sale rail, but alas there wasn't.
 |
| An outfit from Manish Malhotra's Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2011 Collection |
Overall Impressions
Although I was just a window shopper and left empty handed, I didn't feel any snobbyness from the staff in the store and browsing all the beautiful outfits was an enjoyable experience for me.
Has anyone visited or bought anything from Studio 8 in Dubai? What were your experiences?
These outfits are marvellous
ReplyDeletewww.mayaonline.co.uk