A note from Karin & Liya
Before we begin our February overview, we want to acknowledge the events unfolding across the region. We hope everyone in our community is safe. Times like these remind us that while we work in industries driven by innovation and progress, the foundations that matter most are stability, connection and supporting one another.
As always, we remain committed to sharing the ideas, tech and conversations shaping the future of fashion in our region.
Welcome Reader to the February edition of the FashionTech Middle East newsletter. Globally, we saw the tension between AI and craftsmanship play out at Gucci. In the region, Saudi Arabia deepened its fashion innovation framework, while Amouage delivered record growth, proving Middle Eastern luxury can scale globally with discipline. And when we launched our GCC FashionTech Ecosystem Map, the response confirmed what we’ve sensed for a while: the region is in builder mode.
Gucci’s AI Campaign Sparks Debate
Gucci sparked industry debate in February after releasing AI-generated campaign visuals ahead of its Milan Fashion Week show. The images were clearly labelled as AI-created and quickly drew backlash online, with critics arguing that a heritage luxury house rooted in craftsmanship should not rely on synthetic imagery. The timing was notable, landing just as Demna began his tenure as creative director, with his first collection presented for AW26/27.
Given Demna’s reputation as a master of cultural provocation and media cycles, the move feels unlikely to be accidental. In a climate where anti-AI sentiment is gaining traction across creative industries, the campaign may well have been a premeditated strategy to ignite conversation and position Gucci at the centre of the debate. Whether seen as misstep or marketing genius, it ensured the brand dominated headlines at a pivotal transition moment.
Kering and Saudi Fashion Commission deepen innovation ties
Kering and the Saudi Fashion Commission have launched the second edition of the Kering Generation Award x MENA. This initiative goes beyond visibility, connecting regional startups with global luxury expertise around sustainability and innovation, embedding long-term capability building into the ecosystem.
For Saudi Arabia, this reinforces a broader trajectory. The Kingdom is moving from hosting fashion moments to structuring fashion ecosystems, with incubators, awards, and formalised pathways supporting creative and commercial growth.
Amouage Delivers Record 2025 Growth
Amouage recorded its strongest year to date in 2025, with global retail sales surpassing $430 million and revenue up 66%, according to Business of Fashion. Growth was driven by its high-concentration Exceptional Extraits line, alongside continued demand for core scents and ultra-luxury formats such as its $40,000-per-litre Royal Drops at Harrods.
Retail expansion played a critical role, with 13 new standalone boutiques opened across the US, Saudi Arabia and China, while travel retail grew 90% year on year. Even as global fragrance growth moderates, Amouage is scaling with discipline, positioning itself not just as a regional success story, but as a globally credible luxury house.
GCC FashionTech Ecosystem
This month, we mapped the GCC FashionTech ecosystem.
What began as a simple exercise to capture the startups within our FashionTech Middle East community became a structured view of how fashion, e-commerce, and technology intersect across the region in 2026. The downloadable map spans the full stack: from marketplaces and virtual try-on to social commerce, to schools, and ecosystem enablers. For the software and apps layer, we focused on platforms actively used in the GCC, not just global players.
The response exceeded expectations, and that tells us something important: the ecosystem wants visibility. So we want to keep growing the GCC FashionTech Database, and we plan to update it quarterly as the landscape evolves.
If you or someone you know is building a FashionTech startup in the GCC, is based here with a fashion-relevant product, or serves a significant GCC client base, you can register via the link here.
After leading digital for fashion brands at Chalhoub Group and serving as Chief Product Officer at Namshi, Gustavo Smidt identified a structural gap between social media discovery and actual purchase. He founded OutfitAlliance to build that missing AI layer, automatically matching influencer content to live fashion inventory and making posts instantly shoppable. The platform has onboarded 200+ influencers with a combined reach of 30M+ followers, aggregates over 1.2M products, and recently raised $600K to scale its technology. As Gustavo puts it, “In a world where discovery happens on social media, commerce needs an AI bridge.”
👉 Read the full interview here.
February ✨ Events we attended
FashionTech Coffee Meetup
We hosted a FashionTech Coffee meetup to unpack the key themes emerging from ShopTalk Luxe Abu Dhabi, a three-day deep dive into the luxury industry with technology running as a strong underlying thread. The conversations spanned AI in marketing and retail, evolving VIC strategies, the rise of recommerce, digital product passports, and the growing importance of the Middle East as a distinct and dynamic growth market.
To extend the discussion beyond the room, we pulled together a structured summary document of the key takeaways to share with our community. It serves as a foundation for ongoing conversations about how current tech trends in fashion, retail, and luxury, from invisible AI to circular business models, are reshaping strategy, operations, and customer relationships across the region.
You can access the Key Takeaways document here
Dubai Fashion Week
Dubai Fashion Week returned to Dubai Design District from 1–6 February 2026 to present the Autumn/Winter 2026/27 collections. The schedule featured a mix of regional and international designers, opening with Alberta Ferretti and closing with Manish Malhotra. As the city’s official fashion week format continues to evolve, the event remains an important marker in the regional calendar — bringing designers, buyers and media together around seasonal showcases and industry programming.
Vogue Business Fashion Futures
Now in its second year, Vogue Business Fashion Futures takes place during Dubai Fashion Week at Dubai Design District, convening global and regional leaders to examine the forces shaping fashion’s next chapter. This year’s conversations centered on purpose-led growth, cultural intelligence, and the long-term partnerships redefining how the industry scales.
In conversation with Silvio Campara, CEO of Golden Goose, he shared his leadership approach: purpose must precede profit. Brands built on philosophy, memory, and co-creation create a deeper emotional connection than those driven purely by product. Craftsmanship, durability, and disciplined execution turn creativity into sustainable scale, while technology enables expansion but cannot replace the human touch that drives retention and cultural relevance.
Across the panels, Elektra Kotsoni, Camille Perry, Grace Khoury, and Khairunisa Suhail highlighted cultural intelligence and thoughtful localisation as critical when scaling in markets like the Middle East. Yasmin Sami, Mette Degn-Christensen, and Aida Al Busaidy extended the conversation to ecosystem-building, underscoring the importance of public–private collaboration, infrastructure, and enduring partnerships. The overarching takeaway was that lasting fashion growth requires patience, alignment, and a generational mindset.
Closing Thoughts
If you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it with anyone in your network who might be interested in how technology is reshaping fashion in the Middle East and beyond.
Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram to stay updated… and if you’re building something exciting in FashionTech, we’d love to hear from you.
Until next month,
Karin & Liya
Co-Founders, FashionTech Middle East
