Wafaa Abbar: The queen of luxury retail therapy

    After the success of the annual Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience in the fashion capital of the Middle East — Dubai — the unique and exciting event has traveled all the way to Jeddah, the fashion capital of Saudi Arabia. 
     Rubaiyat, Saudi Arabia’s go-to luxury destination, and Vogue Italia, the most influential Italian fashion magazine, have come together to provide an international platform for Saudi female fashion designers.
      Saudi designers were required to submit their portfolios on Vogue Italia’s website, after which it was reviewed and selected by a team of Vogue Italia, who chose the works of ten designers. The winner will get full sponsorship to present her collection in Milan.
     All the finalists will exhibit their work at the Rubaiyat department store in Jeddah and will have the opportunity to showcase and sell their collections at the Stars Avenue Mall.
     “It is tremendously rewarding to see Saudi women being given such an opportunity on the world stage. We, together with Vogue Italia, are delighted to help highlight some of the Arab world’s most talented and emerging designers,” said Wafaa Abbar, president of the Rubaiyat Group.
Franca Sozzani, Editor in Chief of Vogue Italia, commented: “This initiative builds on Vogue Italia’s deep commitment to promote new fashion talents, knowing how important it is to offer them relevant and concrete international platforms to present and advance their creativity.”
     In partnership with the National Home Health Care Foundation, the event will feature a unique opportunity to scout the best female talents, embracing their ambitions and promoting their work on an international platform whilst adding to this initiative a humanitarian dimension by supporting the National Home Health Care — an opportunity that combines efforts and talents for a good cause. 
     The funds raised, thanks to the organization of a women’s charity gala dinner, will be donated to the World Food Programme, which will encourage and support the empowerment of women living in underdeveloped areas of the world.
     Arab News met with Wafaa Abbar, president of the Rubaiyat Group, one of the first Saudi women to start a retail business in the Kingdom, to talk about her career, achievements and the collaboration with Vogue Italia.


1. For those who don’t know you, who is Wafaa Abbar? 

I am President of Rubaiyat Company and a main shareholder in the company, which I helped to co-found in Jeddah in 1980. 

2. Tell us about yourself, what got you interested in the retail business and how did your career path lead you to be the president of a leading luxury retail fashion store? 

I started my career in retail as manager of client accounts at the Abbar Company where I was responsible for purchasing. My interest in fashion wear led me to start with Rubaiyat where I worked as children’s and ladies manager. My responsibilities increased as the company grew bigger and eventually I became President of Rubaiyat. 

3- Tell us about the journey behind establishing Rubaiyat. 

It has been a long and very fulfilling journey during which I and my colleagues have worked steadily to consolidate the acquisition of the exclusive distribution rights in Saudi Arabia for some of the most prestigious brands including Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Kenzo, Lanvin, Ermenegildo Zegna and many others. Over the years we have continuously reinvested in expanding with outlets in prominent locations and today Rubaiyat is a kingdom-wide chain with branches in Jeddah, Riyadh, Alkhobar and Dhahran. 

4. How is a day in the life of the president of a leading luxury retail company? 

Let us describe it as challenging but always bringing something new to the table. We are in constant movement, just like fashion and from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. time speeds by, between meetings and strategic decisions, reports and mainly a continuous eye on fashion and brands, the day ends with the certitude that 24 hours are never enough in the day. 

5. In 2014, Rubaiyat opened the first luxury fashion department store in Jeddah. Tell us more about the concept.

With the Rubaiyat Department Store, we are redefining luxury shopping experience in Jeddah not only by offering the widest range of leading brands, but also by offering an exclusive service provided by fashion advisers that have been trained to cater to our clients’ needs and wishes. 

6. How has the 30-year journey with Rubaiyat been? 

For more than 30 years, Rubaiyat has been pioneering the fashion industry in Saudi Arabia. 

7. How did you manage to keep your standards high and keep up with the fast changing market, given that new competitors have entered the Saudi luxury market? 

We have attained our leading position by focusing on the highest levels of quality and customer service, while innovation keeps us apace with the fast changing market. 

8. What is your vision of what Rubaiyat should look like in the future and how do you plan to get there? Can you paint that big picture for us? 

Rubaiyat has always been a versatile entity that sets the trends in fashion, creating unique models and concepts to satisfy its clientele. Our evolution for the last 36 years has always been the wise consequence of calculated decisions and well placed investments to build on the heritage whilst looking at the future with sharp eyes. With the new retail panorama changes and fashion evolution, Rubaiyat is leading the way by introducing new brands and creating unique concepts whilst always having in mind, the end consumer and his needs from a luxury company. These are principles we have always believed in and worked toward. Going the extra mile when it comes to any service or product is key for us to cater to our clients’ expectations. We build the future with faith and determination, focusing on enriching our client’s experience and pursuing our fashion journey alongside him. 

9. What do you feel are some of the best aspects of the retail industry today, and what not-so-great features you would like to see changed? 

At the high-end of the retail industry, where Rubaiyat is positioned, the best aspect is the very high level creativity, which keeps on delivering fresh new ideas while maintaining classical traditions and quality. What I would like to see changed is greater prevention of counterfeiting of the top brand names. 

10. It was recently announced that Rubaiyat is teaming up with Vogue Talents to spot and promote the best women designers in Saudi Arabia. Tell us more about this collaboration.

In partnership with the National Home Health Care Foundation, Rubaiyat is hosting the Vogue Italia Experience, which will take place in Jeddah on April 20-21 and in Riyadh on April 22-23. The event is dedicated to a global celebration of Arab women, their heritage and culture. It will offer extraordinary experiences to entertain, involve, promote and engage local women. 

11. What inspired this collaboration? And what is Rubaiyat’s vision toward it? Will this be an annual collaboration? 

Rubaiyat represents many of the most famous Italian fashion brands so it is natural that we team up with Vogue Italia to bring this event to Saudi Arabia. Our vision is to identify young Saudi designers, nurture their talents, and give them an opportunity to appear on the international stage. We would like to see it become an annual event and will evaluate the results to see if this is feasible. 

12. Why has Rubaiyat partnered with the National Home Health Care Foundation and how will it benefit the foundation? 

The National Home Health Care Foundation (NHHCF) is one of the finest and most worthy charitable organizations in the Kingdom. As an NGO it cannot receive donations from entities outside Saudi Arabia and is dependent on funds raised within the Kingdom, accordingly, all revenues generated by Rubaiyat from the event will be donated to the NHHCF. 

13. At the end of the day, what image and thoughts would you wish to come to consumers’ minds at the mention of the name Rubaiyat? 

Rubaiyat always aims to be known as the leading retailer of high fashion and luxury goods in the kingdom, through its commitment to innovation and the highest levels of quality, world-class presentation, and thoughtful and attentive customer service. 

Originally published on Arab News

Saudi healthcare Executive Goes Back to Her Roots

Ms. Summer Nasief is healthcare and life-sciences industry executive for IBM.

First working for IBM in 2001, she was performing in IBM America’s top 10 per cent two years ago when she surprised her colleagues by requesting a transfer to Saudi Arabia. After all, it’s not the country of choice for many businesswomen.

For Ms Nasief, working in Saudi meant a return to her roots; she’d grown up in Saudi Bedouin communities with her Saudi father, who built oil refineries, and her American mother. “All my education was in Arabic because my father insisted my upbringing be 100 per cent Saudi. So when at 15 my parents divorced and I moved to the US, I couldn’t read or write English.

“The healthcare industry that I now run for IBM is the biggest industry that money is being spent on today in Saudi Arabia, so IBM was taking a major risk by putting a female in. My selling point was ‘IBM believes in diversity, so why wouldn’t we send a woman to the most culturally complex place in the world?’”

IBM was ranked by the National Association for Female Executives in the US as one of the top 10 companies for females this year.

Ms Nasief persuaded the company she could create a Saudi healthcare industry for them, with an initial six-month budget and a headcount of three. She just had one prerequisite. As a single woman, Ms Nasief knew it would be difficult to live alone so she asked to have a base in Dubai, which she could return to at weekends.

“I cover the entire kingdom for IBM so during the week I’m constantly in and out of hotels,” she says “The swimming pools in the hotels are male-only. There are a small number of female gyms, but they’re very limited in terms of what they have. The advantage of Saudi hotels is it’s where people can sit and eat together, because that’s where most business people reside. So I stay at a hotel in Riyadh with massive grounds, and my friends come have dinner with me at the same hotel restaurant.”

A lack of mobility has hindered the progress of female businesswomen in Saudi Arabia, where women are banned from driving. It means Ms Nasief has to rely on drivers to get around.

But she is not the only Saudi female in the healthcare industry, as it’s a more culturally acceptable field for women to work in.

“When I first started going to meetings, I wore the abaya and the sheila to fit in. As I started feeling more comfortable, I would put my sheila around my shoulders. As I got to know my clients better, I learnt how to broker meetings between the ladies and the men. I bring my Saudi side to the meetings, and as a female I sit with the other females, but at the same time I also guide the males to do what I need them to do.

“I can’t have one-on-one meetings with male clients. So I bring a male colleague to the table with me, and use that male as almost like a puppet.”

Ms Nasief says there are limitations to her role. For a start, she says, she has to work harder than the men – a challenge she thrives on.

But she acknowledges that Saudi women deserve better opportunities in the workplace.

“The government is building women-only work hubs to give these women employment, and part of my job involves working with people who are building these industries for women. But they’re currently talking about creating entrepreneurship cells in two specific fields – cosmetology and fashion,” she explains.

Ms Nasief isn’t the only female striving to break down the employment divide; this year Somayya Jabarti was appointed as the first female editor of a Saudi newspaper. In 2013 Saudi registered its first female trainee lawyer, Arwa Al Hujaili, and its first female police officer, Ayat Bakhreeba. Such pioneers are inspiring the next generation of Saudi females.

“Girls here have told me I inspire them to follow,” adds Ms Nasief. “When I did my first speaking engagement, I realised how impactful what I was doing was. I got questions like ‘I want to do my master’s degree, but I don’t want to leave my family’. I told them family is important, but just because you’re getting an education, it doesn’t mean you’re leaving your family cell.

“I took my journey to Saudi Arabia to fulfil my needs and reconnect with my roots. But now I realise that it’s about more than just me.”

Published on The National by Jessica Hill

Saudi Women Professionals Act as Role Models for Future Generations

According to the latest report by UNESCO, the percentage of women graduating from university in Saudi Arabia is higher than in countries in the West.

 In the field of science, 40 percent of Saudi doctors are women and there is an increasing number of successful women who have acquired global recognition as scientists and researchers and have inspired many Saudi women at home. 

Dr. Khawla Al-Kurai

Consultant and principle clinical scientist and cancer researcher at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC), is a distinguished doctor who has made contributions in the field of medical research. She is on the board of editors of BMC Genomic, a well-known journal in genetics. Dr. Al-Kurai is in charge of a project attempting to

Dr. Al-Kurai Receiving the King Abdulaziz Award of Excellence identify the genomic drivers in thyroid cancer, which will improve the clinical management of the disease. The international cancer genome consortium ICGC has announced that the new project is ahead of schedule in generating genomic data on more than 25,000 tumors for up to 50 types of cancer that are of clinical and societal importance across the globe. Dr. Al-Kurai has participated in many national and international conferences and has been instrumental in highlighting the new image of Saudi women doctors and scientists in her country and abroad. She has also received a national award from King Abdullah, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for her academic achievements and scientific contributions. 

Professor Samira Islam

The head of the Drug Monitoring Unit at King Fahd Research Center has made significant contributions in drug safety by defining the Saudi profile for drug metabolism. She has held several academic leadership posts in Saudi Arabia as well as international diplomatic posts in the World Health Organization. She has also made significant contributions to the education of women in the Kingdom. UNESCO named Dr. Islam the most distinguished Arab Muslim scientist of the world in the year 2000. She has held academic leadership positions in Saudi Arabia and abroad. Dr. Islam has worked hard to develop the academic infrastructure to support women studying science in the Kingdom’s higher educational system.

Dr. Samia Al-Amoudi

Dr. Samia Al-Amoudi is an obstetrician, gynecologist assistant professor at King AbdulAziz University, and a breast cancer advocate as well as a breast cancer survivor. She has received several awards for her courage

and hard work for the betterment of society. The Arabian Business Magazine placed her among the top 100 people who had a significant impact on their societies and she was also listed as one of the most important Arab scientists. Dr. Al-Amoudi is well-known for her brave campaign to raise awareness about the prevalence of breast cancer in Saudi Arabia and for her bold initiative to speak about her own experience as a breast cancer survivor in order show support for other women who suffer in silence. Dr. Al-Amoudi recently established the Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi Scientific Chair for Women’s Health Empowerment at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah to empower women and raise awareness about health rights and health issues in general. 

Dr. Maha Al-Muneef

Executive Director of the National Family Safety Program and councilor of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, is a child protectionist and child rights advocate. She is also a consultant on pediatric infectious diseases and has been involved in the national implementation of child protection services.

She is chairwoman of the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect Center at King Abdul Aziz Medical City, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and president-elect of the Arab Professional Network for the Prevention of Violence Against Children. She is also a consultant in the Shoura Council.

Dr. Al-Muneef has dedicated her career to the prevention of child abuse and to raising public awareness about the need to address this social problem and to train doctors to recognize the victims of abuse. She has also called for legal action against child molesters.

Dr. Al-Muneef started the national safety program in 1999 with her colleagues to address the abuse of women and children by husbands and fathers and was supported by the patronage of Princess Adila the daughter of King Abdullah. Dr. Al-Muneef has worked hard to educate women about their legal rights and she has offered legal and social assistance to victims unable to escape from abusive homes. She has also been instrumental in establishing centers to protect victims of abuse. She has campaigned in many parts of the Kingdom to raise awareness and has succeeded in organizing three significant symposiums in Jeddah, Madinah and Abha that were instrumental in enacting the country’s first laws criminalizing violence against women and children.

In order to address the biased attitude which is sometimes found within the judiciary, Dr. Al-Muneef has engaged judges, lawyers, police officers and activists to protect the rights of women and children and expose the unjust and un-Islamic criminal acts of abusive husbands and fathers. 

These Saudi women who have reached leadership positions and many others are role models for future generations. The success of these distinguished women has undoubtedly boosted the morale of those members of society who were once abused and marginalized. Women doctors, scientists and researchers are expected to contribute toward a socially, politically and economically progressive Saudi Arabia. 

Originally published on Saudi Gazette by Samar Fatany.

Saudi Arabia’s First Female Pilot Soars High

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In November 2004, Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal made history by hired the first-ever woman pilot in the history of Saudi Arabia.

Captain Hanadi Zakariya Al-Hindi flies the private fleet of the billionaire investor. Hanadi Zakaria al-Hindi is the first Saudi woman to become a commercial airline pilot. She was born in Mecca in September 1978.

Commenting on the recruitment of Hindi as a pilot by his company, Prince Alwaleed said: “I see the hiring of this female pilot to work on Kingdom Holding’s fleet of private jets as a historic move for Saudi ladies. The move transcends the traditional role of Saudi women previously confined to working in the health, education and philanthropic sectors. I am in full support of Saudi ladies working in all fields.”

Alwaleed added: “The hiring of a female Saudi pilot is the first of its kind.”

In a 2004 telephone interview from Makkah after the formal announcement of Prince Alwaleed to hire her, Capt. Hanadi told Arab News: “Women are very capable of taking on any job previously monopolised by men.”

Her statement is substantiated by the fact that she went on to take a Commercial Pilot’s License and an Instrument Rating (CPL and IR) from the same school — the Mideast Aviation Academy in Jordan. She said: “I will receive the commercial license within a few months from now.”

She passed her final exams at the Middle East Academy for Commercial Aviation in Amman, Jordan on June 15, 2005.

She has a ten-year contract with Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company as a private pilot of his private jet, the Kingdom.

Originally published on Emirates 247

Saudi Woman Makes History by Reaching Everest Summit

  Source: Arabs on Top of the World

Raha Moharrak, 25, not only became the first Saudi woman to attempt the climb but also the youngest Arab to make it to the top of Everest.

She is part of a four-person expedition that also includes the first Qatari man and the first Palestinian man attempting to reach the summit.

They are trying to raise $1m (£660,000) for education projects in Nepal.

Originally from Jeddah, Ms Moharrak is a university graduate currently based in Dubai.

“I really don’t care about being the first,” she is quoted as saying. “So long as it inspires someone else to be second.”

Coming from Saudi Arabia - a conservative Muslim country where women's rights are very restricted - she had to break a lot of barriers to achieve her goal, her climb team said.

A biography on the expedition website said convincing Ms Moharrak's family to agree to her climb "was as great a challenge as the mountain itself", though they fully support her now.

For more info on Raha's climb check out Arabs on Top of the World.

Originally published on BCC