She’s just come from a TV segment with local news station KXAN promoting Austin Fashion Week and her debut runway show in Austin is tomorrow night. She’s no stranger to the press and the publicity, having worked alongside a talented eveningwear designer Jad Racha in San Francisco whose designs were frequently seen at galas and benefits for the San Francisco ballet. You wouldn’t know from her bright eyes and wide smile that even though she’s been working and reworking her collection for the past year she still has a dress to finish before tomorrow.
She speaks fondly of all-nighters pulled while in design school at California College of Arts with the class that supported each other even in such a competitive and saturated market as fashion design. But “San Francisco really changed after Covid,” Marah says. The city she moved to for school in 2016 from Saudi Arabia no longer felt like the safe creative space it had been. And after a few explorations into Austin, she realized she really did love the fashion scene here. “Because San Francisco is so tech-focused, [the style] it’s very casual. In Austin, you can go for a walk and see five or six different outfits that you like for different reasons.”
For someone who grew up in a family that loved fashion – styling her mom’s clothes, shopping trips with dad, and an aunt’s fortuitous trip to Paris – Marah pursuing a career in fashion was all but inevitable and unsurprising to those who knew her.
“Fashion in the Middle East growing up was everywhere. It was extravagant. It was bold.” Her newest designs by contrast are simple in silhouette and structure but detailed with finishing touches like beading and texture. Elegant and shimmery without being flashy. Graceful and calming without being boring. Marah herself is bubbly, vivacious, very excited and excitable. It’s almost as if her collection was designed to calm and soothe herself, to share parts of her story visually that she may not be able to share in her own words.
Her first collection Flourish is tied together – figuratively and literally because who likes zippers, really? — by threads of her own story and experiences. It began as a felting collection in September 2023, but three months prior to the show she did what so many artists do and started over. “My experiences made me who I am,” Marah says, and changing the collection to more flowy fabrics was a better fit, she felt, for sharing her story through her designs.
Her fabrics of choice – silk, satin, and linen – are difficult to source here in Austin, but worth the treasure hunt to Dallas to find. Ordering fabrics online is still a stressful step of the design process despite the new abundance of sites like Spoonflower that can give designers access to more diverse quality textiles. It’s why specialty garment fabric stores like Mood Fabrics in New York are sourcing destinations in the industry. For many creatives, and Marah is no exception, going in person to a high-end fabric store where you can see, touch, and compare an abundance of textiles, is a calming and enjoyable process.
“That first runway show…. unreal.”
~ Marah Aldrees
When you think of a young artist, you may not think of their capacity to produce a mature and cohesive collection, and yet that is exactly what Marah has done. It’s possible her stint in high-end bridal salons helping brides select the dress of their dreams has prematurely aged her – working with one bride can be exhausting; imagine doing so again and again! – or at least expanded her abilities to create designs that shimmer on the runway but are also wearable and livable garments. She learned a lot about “fitting for different bodies and silhouettes,” she says, from styling bridal gowns which have improved her collections.
Though she has enjoyed and learned from her bridal stylist experience and back-of-house fashion show production, her heart is truly in creating her own designs for high-end clients and special events. Those are opportunities to create unique designs, suggest the best fabrics, and style women beautifully.
School is no substitute for true experience, but Marah insists that the technical skills she learned in her undergrad fashion program, like draping and textile details, have helped her to think about “how can I make this easier or better,” when dreaming up her designs. A grad school program in Paris is a key element of her two-year plan along with producing collections for more runway shows. She’s taking it step by step until she’s earned an invitation to NYFW, Paris Fashion Week, and been seen on red carpets. Her brand worn by celebrities on “red carpets should be normal” to be considered a successful designer, she says.
And despite the big goals and the work it will take to get there, Marah is convinced that she’ll have fun along the way. Fun is, after all, the meaning of her name in Arabic.
