Saudi Arabia Holds Its First Fashion Week – But Only Women Can Attend
- Women-only shows held in Saudi as conservative society opens
- Event staged at hotel that just recently jailed Saudi elite
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In the lobby of Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel, two Russian models with slick high ponytails glide past a woman draped head-to-toe in black.
Heading for a cigarette break during Saudi Arabia’s first-ever fashion week, Naya Efimova and Ira Titova were both excited and bored. Excited to be “part of history” as the conservative Islamic kingdom opens up, said Titova, 25. Bored, because they’d been told they couldn’t leave the hotel without a male chaperone.