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DUBAI: Dubai Design Week returns for its 11th edition from Nov. 4 to 9, with several highlights recently announced by the organizers.

Downtown Design, the anchor event of the week, will showcase innovative products and design solutions, alongside a schedule of pop-up concepts, talks and panel discussions.

This year’s showcase of furniture, lighting, materials, lifestyle objects and accessories will feature several highlights, the organizers stated in a release.

This includes BEIT Collective’s objects crafted in Lebanon, the debut of “Strata” by Pakistani designer Yousef Shabaz, the “Designed in Saudi” exhibition by the Design & Architecture Commission of ������Ƶ’s Ministry of Culture.

In addition, Editions will showcase limited-edition art and design from regional and international creators, spanning prints, photography, works on paper, ceramics, contemporary design, and artist multiples.

Meanwhile, Urban Commissions, the event’s design competition, this year challenged participants to explore the concept of a courtyard.

Designers and architects were invited to reimagine it as communal urban infrastructure, with UAE-based design studio Some Kind of Practice, founded by Omar Darwish and Abdulla Abbas, winning the competition for their work, “When Does a Threshold Become a Courtyard?”

Abwab, meaning doors, is a yearly program that supports designers from across west, south and east Asia, as well as the African continent, by commissioning installations.

This year, practitioners were invited to respond to the theme “In the Details,” exploring “material intelligence, precision and cultural nuance through the lens of ornamentalism,” according to Dubai Design Week.

Natasha Carella, director for Dubai Design Week, stated: “This year, our direction takes a more reflective approach, exploring design not only as a practice of innovation but also as a social connector, a civic and cultural force that shapes how we live together, communicate and build systems of care.”

DUBAI: Designers Shaikha Noor Al-Khalifa and Shaikha Haya Al-Khalifa of Bahraini label Noon By Noor are set to present their Spring/Summer 2026 collection during London Fashion Week.

The event runs from Sept. 18-22, with the duo unveiling their new pieces on Sept. 19.

Founded in 2008, the brand is known for its blend of relaxed tailoring and refined detailing. The designers, who are cousins, both studied fashion in the US and returned to Bahrain to launch their label, which combines masculine tailoring with subtle feminine details.

Their collections often feature oversized shirts, tailored blazers, wide-leg trousers and fine knits, with the pair drawing inspiration from art, architecture and nature to produce pieces designed to be wearable, versatile and subtly expressive.

Production remains largely based in Bahrain, with the brand committed to preserving craftsmanship and creative control locally. In 2024, Noon By Noor opened a boutique at The Ritz-Carlton in Manama, further cementing its presence in the region.

The brand has also shown collections at both New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week. In February, the Fall Winter 2025 collection was presented in London with a salon-style display at Somerset House.

The designs were inspired by Bahrain’s architectural landscape, specifically the work of Swiss architect Christian Kerez, whose multi-story car parks in Muharraq have become a cultural hub.

The four car parks were commissioned by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities as part of a wider preservation and development project in the city, which served as the Bahraini capital until 1932.

“We are fortunate to have been nurtured in art and architecture, both in our home and in our surroundings in Bahrain — a place rich in both, from which we can draw constant inspiration,” Shaikha Noor Al-Khalifa said at the time.

The line featured sculptured jackets, draped bodices and sliced silhouettes. As per the brand’s design ethos, embellishments were minimal, and textures and fabrics played a key role.

The designers employed a technique of stripping and fraying wool tweeds and reapplying them onto tulle to create their own lightweight fabric.