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Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.

How South Asians Help Run Dubai’s Fashion Industry

People of Indian and Pakistani heritage are critical to the UAE’s fashion sector, leading billion-dollar retail empires, trading textiles and jewellery and stitching garments for Middle Eastern brands.
Whether building billion-dollar retail empires or stitching humble cloth, people from the Indian subcontinent are an integral part of the fashion industry in the United Arab Emirates.
Business links between markets in South Asia and the Middle East are evident across Dubai where companies like Indian jewellery brand Joyalukkas establish regional offices to trade, advertise and roll out GCC store networks. (Getty Images)

It’s often said that Dubai businesses have expats to thank for much of their success but there is one overlooked community that has powered the local fashion industry longer than most. Without South Asians like Micky Jagtiani, the city simply wouldn’t be the same.

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