Draped in abayas, fashionable Saudi women as well as blonde Eastern Europeans were spotted attending the country’s first-ever fashion week in the capital Riyadh, where the gold-trimmed halls of the city’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel, marked the start of the anticipated fashion event. The catwalk during the fashion extravaganza did not feature abayas in any of the collections, while the event hosted invitation-only fashion viewings, as well as a Harvey Nichols pop-up store in a tent.

Considering the number of recent reforms contrary to the country’s conservative approach in the past, Saudi Arabia is rapidly moving towards this wave of modern change which is being well-received around the world, especially in the west. Women in various Saudi cities have started wearing colourful abayas, which wasn’t a common sight earlier with cuts that were never sported following the restrictions on female dress code.