Saudi Arabian fashion designers are now more ready to take on the world

Fashion designer Reem Alsabhan stands in front of mannequins at her workshop in Riyadh. Photo: AFP

He has dressed celebrity royalty around the world from Beyonce and Deepika Padukone to Zendaya and Cardi B, but for years, few of Mohammed Ashi's clients knew he was Saudi Arabia's first big-name designer.

"In the 90s I was the only designer from Saudi. But I never said I was Saudi. I wanted the clothes to be out front, not me," Ashi said in a rare interview at his Paris studio.