A New Era Begins At The Arab Fashion Council With Amina Taher

12 hours ago

For the longest time, women have stood as uncredited pillars within fashion. Embodying grace, regality, and the art of self-presentation. Now, across the Middle East, they’re not only shaping global conversation but redefining it. Sitting within that realm is Amina Taher, who is at the centre of a new era with the Arab Fashion Council.

The Emirati executive has been appointed Chairwoman of the Arab Fashion Council, placing the UAE business leader at the helm of an organisation representing 22 nations across the region, and cementing the Middle East’s growing authority over the global fashion conversation.

The Arab Fashion Council is the world’s largest fashion non-profit, built to grow a creative fashion economy across the Arab world. It co-founded Dubai Fashion Week with Dubai Design District, now one of the region’s most prominent platforms, and has worked to position Arab designers alongside houses from Paris, Milan, London and New York. Taher inherits an organisation founded on uniting the region’s creative talent under one umbrella.

“Few leaders move with equal fluency across government, industry and culture,” said Jacob Abrian, Founder and CEO of the Arab Fashion Council. “Amina Taher’s appointment is not a change of direction. It is a recognition of the standing the Council now holds, and a commitment to hold it with even greater seriousness.”

Taher brings more than two decades of marketing, innovation and transformation experience to the role. She previously served as Vice President of Marketing at Etihad Airways, where she helped define the airline’s global identity, and is currently Chief Marketing Officer of Wio Bank. She also sits on the boards of The Marketing Society and the Effie Lions Foundation.

That trajectory, and the philosophy behind it, was the subject of an episode of The Making Of, GRAZIA’s podcast, in which Taher spoke about growing up in Dubai during the nation’s rapid evolution. Raised by strong women, including a grandmother she calls her first leadership role model, she credited empathy, courage and collaboration as the values that have carried her career.

“Being a woman in a leadership role meant I had to prove my values twice,” she told GRAZIA, reflecting on navigating male-dominated boardrooms and learning when to speak up, even at the cost of comfort or convention.

It’s a philosophy that now scales to an entire region. As Taher told GRAZIA in the same conversation, leadership isn’t about title; it’s about impact. On taking up the AFC chairmanship, she echoed that same principle: “The Arab Fashion Council has played a defining role in positioning Dubai as the region’s leading fashion hub and creating a platform for Arab designers to gain global recognition. Over the past decade, it has built the institutions, partnerships and international credibility that have transformed the region’s fashion industry. I am honoured to build on that strong foundation. Together with our partners across government, industry and the creative community, we have an opportunity to further strengthen the Council’s impact, support the continued growth of the creative economy, and create even greater opportunities for the next generation of Arab designers to thrive on the global stage.”

For Taher, as she explained on The Making Of, success was never going to be measured by career ladders or corporate milestones – it’s measured in legacy: how you make people feel, how you help others grow, and the doors you open for the next generation. That ethos will now be tested at a regional scale.

The appointment will be formally marked in September at an invitation-only gala, where the AFC is expected to unveil the manifesto guiding its next chapter.

Watch the full episode of The Making Of… Amina Taher below.