By Layal Al Khatib

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Amal Ismail and Hussa Tubbji have many things in common, more specifically a love for fashion. With aspirations of starting a blog with real substance and weight that talked about fashion and global/regional up & coming designers , Amal and Husa are quite the dynamic duo, creating the successful fashion blog La Moda Arabia.

They shared with Shoesanddrama how it all started, what drives their passion for fashion, and the drama that comes with it…

When did you first realize your love for fashion?

Amal: I think most fashion oriented children had what I like to call a serious Barbie Phase, styling her, making and buying new clothes for her because she had an event to go to every other day, and according to my family I cared a lot about what I wore, and had specific things that I had to wear, mostly in Red, still don’t know how they put up with that lol.

Hussa: Well to me I was a daydreamer, most kids enjoyed cartoons but I was an old movies addict, the clothes, the glamour, the overdone hair and makeup all in one! My Barbie was a great deal in my life too but for some reason I always wanted to make her clothes myself. When I was 9 I used to take all of my mom’s clothes and make them into something trendy for me and she was nice enough to take me seriously and make it happen, keeping my notes in mind.

All Photoshoots are styled & photographed by lamodarabia

La Moda Arabia was ceated when the decision to bring a magazine-like blog to the Gulf region, which included infromation about new collections, fashion news, reviews and interviews that covered fashion in Asia, Africa, America & Europe. Amal and Hussa hoped that with La Moda Arabia, the Middle East would see the world through their eyes and  the world to notice the Middle East through their perspective.

La Moda Arabia  is meant ot appeal to the open-minded, creative and analytical fashion thinkers, people who aren’t afraid to be the first ones to do anything, with the blog’s sole purpose of being a gateway for everyone to get to know famous and up & coming global designers.

Talking about Shoesanddrama, Amal and Hussa agree that their most memorable interview for them was with Emarati Shoe Designer Sultan Al-Darmaki ”We were so happy to have gotten a scope with him before anyone around here noticed his genius” They shared “Weeks after that interview his designs were chosen by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London”.

Shoesanddrama wanted to know more about the talented fashion blogger duo askign them these questions:

Who are your favorite international designers?

Amal: Elie Saab, Goerges Hobieka, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Tsumori Chisato, Haider Ackermann, Jason Wu, Kitsuné “Gildas Loaec & Masaya Kuroki”, Nichola Formichetti & Ricardo Tisci.

Hussa: Jeremy Scott, Tom Ford, Fouad Sarkis, Ricardo Tisci, Rene Gurskov

Who are the designers you’d love to interview?

Amal: I’d love to have all of the ones I’ve mentioned earlier but I think Haider Ackermann & Ricardo Tisci would be super interesting, especially in one interview!

Hussa: Tom Ford,  Jeremy Scot,  Ricardo Tisci ,and Ju Young Lee

When and what was your proudest moment?

I think when we got weekly emails from PR teams who thought our blog was associated with a fashion company or magazine, names like Zuhair Murad’s team landed in our inbox, it was really the push we needed to believe we were on the right track content-wise.

Name a few middle-eastern designers to keep an eye on…

We think Razan Alazzouni , The Kaays  and Reem Alkanhal are going to be even more successful this year.

What is the most meaningful quote (about life or fashion) that always affected you or had an influence over you?

Amal: I guess the one that describes how I feel about fashion & life in general is this:

“I think there is beauty in everything. What ‘normal’ people would perceive as ugly, I can usually see something of beauty in it.”— Alexander McQueen

Hussa:“I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.” – Khalil Gibran

(All Photoshoots are styled & photographed by lamodarabia)

If one would look into your purse the staples they would find would be…

Amal: Phone, iPod, Lipstick, Eye Liner, Pens & Note Book

Hussa:  Loads of papers, Phones, earpieces, bronzers and Mascara.

You neverleave your house without this accessory…  

Amal: Necklace, I feel weird without wearing it.

Hussa: Plain rings I like my hands heavy for some reason.

Fashion to you is…

Amal: The only form of art you can actually wear.

Hussa: I agree with the above statement.

Style is…

Amal: I think you’re born with it, basically what money can never buy you.

Hussa: That small touch that defines you compared to everyone else, just like your fingerprints.

I’ll be living my dream life when..

Amal: I see our brand Chaos Arc displayed at a swanky shop in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Hussa: When I meet a random person in the street wearing any of our designs “A fashionable random person”!

What are some upcoming projects for La Moda Arabia?

We’re going to be covering Dubai’s Fashion Forward in April, we got an invite and can’t wait to see all the amazing regional designers.

We’ve also been on a break from blogging for a while now to focus on our new project “Chaos Arc” which is going to be the Middle East’s 1st High-End Streetwear brand and our SS2013 will be launched in April, we’ll tell you more about it later.

(All Photoshoots are styled & photographed by lamodarabia)

With all the success they’ve accomplished  we asked Amal and Hussa if they had any words of wisdom they would like to share for those who want to be accomplished fashion bloggers . “Don’t read other blogs” the duo advised “ Do your own thing, enhance your research skills and post about what you love, use social media to promote your blog and to communicate with the your readers, and don’t pay attention to how many people read your blog, at the end what matters is your content & integrity!”.

Adding that it is imperative that you remind yourself that “It’s always about quality not quantity”.

For the Future, Amal and Hussa hope they can make La Moda Arabia a company one day.

We wish them the best of luck and stay tunned for “Chaos Arc” updates!

www.lamodarabia.com

Twitter: @Lamodarabia

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/La-Moda-Arabia-Official-Page

Do not miss Amal Ismail Photography and  Chaos Arc