Saudi Arabia's model-less 'ghost fashion show' ridiculed online

Saudi Arabia's model-less 'ghost fashion show' ridiculed online
Who needs models when you've got... drones? Model-less Saudi fashion show causes an online stir for replacing female flesh with flying robots.
2 min read
07 Jun, 2018
Fashion shows in the ultra-conservative kingdom follow a different set of rules [Getty]
Video clips of a fashion show in Saudi Arabia have caused a social media frenzy for replacing the much-loved fashion model with a different kind of clothes horse.

Gowns and accessories - from Dolce & Gabbana no less - glided down the runway not draped over the usual six-foot-tall twenty-something but hanging limply from a drone.

Lest we forget, fashion shows in the ultra-conservative kingdom follow a different set of rules. Despite hosting the inaugral Riyadh fashion week last month, audiences remained female-only, and male fashion designers were not allowed backstage even at their own shows.

The event organisers, who say the use of drones in such a way is a first for the kingdom, called the show Ramadan appropriate. 


Heaven forbid putting actual human flesh underneath the garments that are designed for the very purpose of, well, covering human flesh.

The faceless and formless floating fabrics appeared almost dementor-like as they levitated down the runway. Or, as many on Twitter rebranded it, a fashion show for ghosts.


"It's like a ghost film"

But unfortunately it wasn't held in Riyadh's Azkaban, a.k.a. The Ritz Carlton.

The drone method seemed to fulfil its purpose however, as the men in the room appeared rather nonplussed, otherwise occupied milling around the room.


The event is another reason to question the legitimacy of Mohammed bin Salman's so-called "liberalising" reforms in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

But some were more optimistic about the absence of women on the runway, hailing the move as liberating women from prancing around in frocks and allowing them do to better things with their time.


But most just saw the funny side.


"For people who've got money but lost their minds" - zing!