“Everybody is going to be using digital means now to tell their stories. The advantage that big [fashion] brands used to have was that they could do so much more offline as well. Online does, to a huge extent, level out the playing field. So, if a smaller brand is able to innovate, there’s a lot of opportunity for them.”

With September (AKA fashion month) less than a week away, Rohma Theunissen sat down with Ritu Upadhyay, Middle East Bureau Chief at WWD, to talk about the current state of the Middle Eastern fashion industry, her predictions for the region’s first fashion month post-pandemic and how brands can engage with the Middle Eastern consumer and market in the absence of traditional events.

Hosted by: Rohma Theunissen

About Ritu Upadhyay
Ritu Upadhyay is the Middle East Bureau Chief at Women’s Wear Daily (WWD). Often referred to as “the fashion bible,” WWD has been THE industry voice of authority for the global fashion, retail and beauty communities for over 100 years. Ritu covers the business side of retail and fashion along with trends and runway shows, bringing together a unique understanding of both the creative and commercial sides of the fashion industry. For the last ten years, she has covered international runways shows in emerging markets, reporting on new design talent, as well as breaking news on retail markets across the Middle East. She has profiled fashion luminaries including Giorgio Armani, Tom Ford, Christian Louboutin, Elie Saab, as well as traveled to factories across India to report on manufacturing and skilled artisans. Ritu studied journalism and political science at Northwestern University. She began her career at the newsweekly, TIME Magazine in New York and has authored a biography on President John F. Kennedy. In addition to WWD, she has covered the Middle East for Bloomberg TV. Born and raised in Chicago, Ritu has lived in New York, India, Jordan and Pakistan, and currently divides her time between Washington D.C. and Dubai.