Dania Shinkar

Dania Shinkar is a Saudi Arabian contemporary womenswear fashion designer and illustrator, with a specialism in textiles print from London College of Fashion, UAL. She was selected to showcase her graduate collection in the BA 2017 London College of Fashion catwalk show. Dania has also participated in 3 different cross disciplinary design collaborations at LCF. Moreover, during her undergraduate studies, she interned for two young London based fashion labels, Ryan Lo and Claire Barrow. Her work experiences allowed her to gain valuable insight into London’s fashion industry, and to acquire several new technical skills.

Her designer identity is communicated through an outburst of colour, pattern and illustrative prints. Dania’s passionate relationship with colour is apparent in her fashion forward prints that explore colour separation, colour overlays and colour blocking. Her research process entails a free-spirited and impulsive approach to photography, drawing, mark-making and collaging to inform print design.

Dania derives inspiration from varied sources and artists, but her sensibility for expressing her cultural identity, through referencing her hometown Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has been a signature throughout all her collections. Her design ethos is considered personal, nostalgic, and cultural in nature with a subversive edge. She takes traditional elements from her Middle Eastern background and reinterprets them within a contemporary fashion context.

Fusing playfulness with craftsmanship, a melange of bright colours and graphic prints decorate Dania’s textiles. Her colour-blocking designer trademark is complemented with oversized and loosely draped silhouettes. She translates her artwork into intricate and textured prints through a personal storytelling approach. Her carefully crafted textiles, focused on screen-printing, represent her sustainable designer philosophy. Exploring and experimenting with different specialist print binders has enabled Dania to produce fabrics that exude exciting colour interactions, surface effects, bold contrasts and tactile sensations. Dania is also known for her design juxtaposition of expressive painterly strokes with geometric structured shapes. Her textiles evoke a sense of balance by combining vibrant colours with nuanced pale tones.

Merging modernity with sport chic, her design aesthetic blurs the boundaries between urban cool and catwalk savior-faire. Street and sportswear inspired fabrics including neoprene, cotton blends and polyesters are re-imagined through playful prints reflecting metallic, high gloss and suede foam surfaces. Aimed at the contemporary mid-market, her crafted luxury pieces are designed for youthful women with laid-back attitudes and free-spirited hearts; for those who appreciate practicality along with the chance to express their individuality.