Dubai-based fashionpreneur duo – Anita Guliakina and Alyona Alipova – today formally announces the expansion of their UAE home-grown women’s fashion brand – ANITAS – into international markets that is set to change the UAE’s fashion industry by creating a formidable international fashion brand for the global market.
ANITAS is a ladies’ fashion brand by women and for women. ANITAS represents the feminine beauty, boldness and women power and comes with a strong fashion statement.
ANITAS, which is the brainchild of Anita Guliakina and her partner Alyona Alipova, has been in the making for the last few years, starting with swimwear collection and then expanding into casual, outdoor, cocktail and eveningwear dresses that are unavailable in the GCC markets.
“ANITAS is a fashion brand with a difference. It is an unapologetic tribute to women’s beauty,” says Anita Guliakina, Co-Founder and Partner of ANITAS, who in her early 30s has envisioned her collection as a global fashion brand.
“We are blessed with the best business environment in the world in a global business hub like Dubai where people and cultures meet and interact. It is a melting pot of cultures. Dubai connects people. This is the perfect place to launch an international fashion brand and we are super excited to create a global name in Dubai, which in due course will transform ANITAS as an international name.
“We would like to see Dubai mentioned as a fashion hub the way people refer to Milan, Paris, London and New York. Dubai is the new Milan/Paris of the East and ANITAS is going to help strengthen Dubai’s position as a global fashion hub.
ANITAS charts a sustainable growth map with UAE home-grown products and exports them to reach fashionistas across the world, carrying the ‘Made in the UAE’ label, in line with the UAE Government’s Vision to develop domestic industries that will strengthen the local economy, she says.
“Since the beginning our main goal has been to design BOLD & SEXY swimwear, outdoor, casual and going out dresses that empower women to embrace their personal uniqueness. As ANITAS continues to grow, our underlying goal is to inspire women and provide high quality womenswear inspired by runway styles but at reasonable prices to its customers,” she added.
“Now we want to focus more on cocktail, going out, eveningwear, gorgeous instagrammable styles that everyone wants.
“Dubai has so many fancy places and high-end luxury restaurants and lounges that are full of events, parties and formal gatherings every evening of the week that the women need new varieties of dresses to match these events. However, the market has limited collection for ladies to wear. Fashion options here are either very expensive brands from abroad, or affordable mass dresses of repeated styles or modest local design dresses – that don’t do justice to the women.
“So, we found a gap and our niche – in the world’s best place for going out. With a tagline ‘Unapologetically You’ – which is a statement that every woman here in Dubai is an individual with her own beauties and flaws and she can express herself through the style she is wearing – ANITAS has charted an ambitious growth and expansion plan to become a global fashion brand,” Anita Guliakina says.
Revenue in the UAE fashion segment is projected to grow at an annual growth rate of 11.88 percent from US$2.33 billion in 2021 to US$3.66 billion by 2025. In the UAE market, the largest segment is apparel with a projected market volume of US$1.51 billion in 2021, Statista report says.
Alyona Alipova, Co-Founder and Partner of ANITAS, says, “Our mission is to provide high quality and trendy products with a variety of designs, at decent prices – establishing an inexpensive luxury niche.
“Through our brand’s uniqueness, we have developed an incredibly loyal fan base, not only in the region, but also supported by international celebrities and influencers visiting the region. Our fans collaborate with other women, new women-entrepreneurs and their loyal customers, and fulfill their desire.”
In global comparison, most revenue will be generated in China with US$382.77 billion in 2021. The average revenue per user (ARPU) in the apparel segment is projected to amount to US$276.70 in 2021.
In the fashion segment, 32 percent of total market revenue will be generated through online sales by 2023. In the apparel segment, the number of users is expected to amount to 5.6m users by 2025. User penetration in the apparel segment will be at 47.8 percent in 2021.
