KHALEEJI ABAYAS & Omani Designers S'aaf and Harayer Al Khaleej

 S'aaf  سعف is an Arabic word, meaning palm leave/palm frond. It also the Omani lifestyle brand created by Omani National, Ruqaiyah Al Harthy. Located in the Al Khoud district of the Sultante's capital, Muscat, and tucked away on the 7th Floor of the Al-Ahli Bank Building in Flat 74 is the brand's flagship boutique. Entering inside, the Omani influence is clear, from Omani yarn tasseled "wael" fabrics trimming abaya sleeves, Garanksho [Omani children's holiday] goodie bags, oudh perfume, men's dishdasha with their signature Omani "farkha" tassel, and mussayr fabric [Oman men's turban's woven and embroidered in Kashmir] abounding.



Abayas trimmined with 'musayr' fabric in the Boutique.



Like the majority of female GCC-based deisgners, Ms. Ruqaiyah began by designing abayas for close family and friends. Lately though, she has been focussed more on Omani men's national dress, having been quoted as to say that the abaya is intrinsic to the whole GCC region, while the disdasha is more noticeably a signature of Oman, having a unique cut that distinguishes itself out from other thobes and kandouras and robes of the Arab world.

I personally, would love to see some Omani women's regional dresses updated in a modern way but still keeping the actual traditional construct. I'd like to see that from ANY young Omani designer though.

Eco-friendly packaging, so chic;)

 Cute gift ideas from the boutique below:

 The brand's own blog: http://saafoman.blogspot.com/2013/01/blog-post_5.html

And facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/DaarSaafOman

 Another brand by a young Omani designer is "Harayer Al Khaleej" حراير الخليـج . This brand also features some cute Omani influences, and I love the creative use of textiles and GCC fabrics on select abayas in the collection I veiwed through their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Harayer-Al-Khaleej#!/pages/Harayer-Al-Khaleej-%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%80%D8%AC/156335267761329?fref=ts. I don't know much about the brand beyond the fact that the designer is named Amna Al Sabri and is just 19 years old, but I really will have to visit the boutique myself.

The boutique itself offers more than just abayas, and from the FB photos looks quite chic:

Hours for the Harayer al Khaleej store and location:

Phone: +96824604151

Mobile:+96892534245

Email: harayer.alkhaleej@gmail.com

Location: Sarooj complex (Alfair) 2nd floor, Shatti AlQurum, Muscat, Oman

Working Hours: Sat-Thu 8:00-13-00, 16:00-20:00     So until next time, happy shopping. xoxo-OPNO