The on-going inaugural edition of the Dubai Home Festival (DHF) – running from April 18 until May 1, 2019 – is lending support to home-grown brand in the furniture and home décor space.
Organised by the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), Dubai Home Festival aims to provide a platform for emerging local brands to showcase their products, including a variety of small businesses that have risen to popularity over the past few years.
Key home-grown brands include Home and Soul, a lifestyle concept store that sells furniture, fashion, design and accessories; Urban Nest, an online portal that provides a unique, surprising and affordable collection of interior design products to the UAE; Line Concept, a business that offers custom furniture for private, commercial and interior design projects; Tribe, a sustainable homeware brand that sells ethically sourced products; O’de Rose, an eclectic and boutique store offering home décor by renowned designers; Emaan Home, an online portal delivering Scandinavian home and lifestyle products to customers in Dubai; and Zimbela African Interiors, a design store that brings the spirit of Africa into people’s homes.
Commenting on Dubai Home Festival, Shazia Ahmed, founder of Emaan Home, said, “We appreciate the initiative taken by Dubai Home Festival to support home-grown brands. Especially as an independent business owner, a platform like this can be the kind of boost a brand needs to reach their ideal customer. It also shows a commendable commitment on their part to promote diversity, creativity and collaborative efforts within the industry which can only be good for tourism and the economy.”
Another way DFRE is supporting home-grown brands is through the Dubai Home Festival makeover episodes, which are running on MBC throughout the event. Various businesses have been mentioned in the short clips, helping to promote their sales and promotions, including Landmark Group’s Home Box.
Further, Silsal Design House has partnered with a few of Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation’s (DIDI) students to create a trio of beautiful Arabic coffee cups, which are available to buy throughout Dubai Home Festival. Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation is also helping future local designers establish themselves in the homeware sector with a Young Designers Exhibition at Mall of the Emirates, called Kursi. The show, which also runs until May 1, is exhibiting an array of creative and alternative chairs designed by students.