Libya's 'ambassador of fashion'

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/09/2009911103629184932.html


As Libya tries to overcome years of isolation and re-enter the energy market, one woman is attempting to export an entirely different commodity - Libyan fashion designs.

Rabia Ben Barka, Libya's first and top fashion designer, spent years studying fashion in European capitals but the traditions and style of her North African home country have always been salient in her designs.

Al Jazeera's Amr El Kahky reports from Tripoli where Ben Barka is trying to put her designs - and country - on the international fashion map.

Rabia Ben Barka, the self-styled Libyan "ambassador of fashion", counts the country's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, and his wife among her many clients.

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She says: "My style is unique... because the embargo has been ... we can breathe and we can show the world what we have... this is the time for me to show myself in Paris and Milan and everywhere."

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Ben Barka insists, however, on staying as true to her Afro-Arabic roots as much as possible, and will only stage shows using Libyan and African models.
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an interesting way to help the economy of her country. a product is a product is a product.

I'd like to see her fashions.

wonder when Cuba's embargo is lifted we could see Cuban fashions. Cuban music is hot, dramatic and original. I would think their high fashion would be too.