- Fashion
- Autumn/Winter 2026-27
- October
Postcard from: Samah Sulyman
Qatari fashion designer Samah Sulyman shares her experience of showing her work at Fashion Art Toronto for the Qatar, Canada and Mexico 2026 Year of Culture
As a fashion designer from Qatar, my work is very creative and ‘outside the box’, as it breaks a lot of rules. During my first year in school at VCU Arts Qatar, I fell in love with the history of denim. Now, every time I create a collection or a piece, I use denim, which is not usually seen in couture. It’s normally used in streetwear, but I wanted to rethink it and create something new. I use mostly upcycled denim; people I know who want to throw away pieces they don’t wear anymore bring them to me. It makes my pieces very personal.
As part of the Qatar Canada and Mexico 2026 Year of Culture, I was selected, alongside Qatar-based designers Rayan Alami and Nouf Al Mulla, to present a collection at Fashion Art Toronto, Canada’s longest-running independent fashion week, which took place in May. I presented Jeu Du Denim: In Play, part of which was my graduate collection. It was originally six pieces, but I needed 12 for Toronto, so over four months I introduced pieces of menswear.
It was my first time in Canada and the whole experience of travelling to Toronto for the fashion week inspired me a lot. It’s a very beautiful city; the way people work there is so interesting and different from what I’ve experienced in Qatar. While we were there, we also visited the Textile Museum of Canada. It has a lot of history, including emerging designers’ work and carpets that have been preserved through the years. The way that they treat their materials is remarkable.
I met a lot of emerging designers and curators at Fashion Art Toronto, and one of them – a designer called Robert Dela Cruz Hurt – was in a group show after ours. We’re still in touch and I would love to work together in the future. My models were also amazing, and I’m still in touch with most of them, too. I hope that one day I can collaborate with them in Doha.
It was also inspiring to see how quickly everything moves in Toronto. Right now, my production is not as fast as I would like it to be. When many of the people I met there have an idea, they are able to put it all together in a matter of minutes and implement it. This is what I want to do in the future.
Seeing how designers use their fabric at Fashion Art Toronto has made me want to experiment in new ways with denim, but also to use different fabrics. For example, I saw some works by Charles Lu, who’s a great Canadian designer. His work is wearable and very refreshing. I can feel the story he wants to tell in his collection – everything looked very structured, very put together.
Presenting a show at Fashion Art Toronto was a lot of work. Backstage was insane. But seeing my designs presented on the runway felt amazing. At the end of the day, when my 10 minutes were over, I was so relieved but very proud of everything I had accomplished.
The feedback I got after the show was incredible. I had a lot of people, including the show’s coordinators, complimenting my work – and the models even wanted to wear my pieces to attend other shows. My work was also picked up by the press, including Doha News and Toronto Life. I was so grateful for this coverage.
I have another fashion show coming up in November 2026, and I’m currently working on a new, 10-piece collection for it. I’m planning on introducing and experimenting with many different fabrics for this one. I also want to add more texture to my designs, and incorporate 3D printing as an embellishment – all of which is inspired by my recent trip to Fashion Art Toronto.
Cover image: Qatari fashion designer Samah Sulyman wearing pieces from her Jeu Du Denim: In Play collection. Photo: Courtesy of Samah Sulyman and Qatar Museums
