Fast fashion mogul weds model whose Dior gown took 540 hours to make
He is known for his fast fashion clothing company, which churns out hundreds of garments a week.
Umar Kamani, co-founder of PrettyLittleThing, has been known to give products away in “100 per cent off” sales, while his tops and dresses are so expendable they are often sold for pennies.
But it was a very different story when Mr Kamani, 36, wed this weekend in an extravagant, £20 million ceremony in the south of France.
The bride, Nada Kamani, 31, wore a Christian Dior gown made from the “perfect fabric”, a “soft, luminous peau de soie material”, that took 540 hours to hand-craft.
The dress, designed by Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, could not have been further removed from the cheap, throwaway dresses that have made Mr Kamani his fortune.
Created in Dior’s workshop by three haute couture seamstresses and a pattern maker, the gown featured a sweetheart neckline, long train, and silk tulle and lace veil.
Such details come courtesy of Vogue Arabia, which published online a gushing appraisal of everything from the original design sketches to the number of fittings (four), only minutes after the happy couple said “I do”.
The four-day celebration at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc involved a white-tie welcoming party and two wedding ceremonies, with performances from Andrea Bocelli and Mariah Carey.
The poolside welcome “get together” had an Arabian theme, with henna artists, fire and belly dancers, as well as a huge firework display. The bride-to-be wore a custom Zuhair Murad floor-length white gown.
The following day was the western wedding ceremony. The bride “walked through an avenue laced with ivory blooms” to her groom, who was waiting under a rose-covered gazebo in a Tom Ford tuxedo.
As she made her way down the aisle, Bocelli performed The Prayer with a full orchestra.
“It’s something every little girl dreams about, but to do it in such style, in such beautiful surroundings – and of course to the man of my dreams – was really a fairytale,” Mrs Kamani told the publication.
Mr Kamani added: “What can I say? I was speechless when I saw Nada in that dress. It was the most emotional moment.”
After a black-tie dinner, guests including Naomi Campbell and Rio Ferdinand danced as Carey sang her biggest hits.
PrettyLittleThing was founded in the UK in 2012 as a small accessories-only company but has grown to one of the world’s largest fast fashion retailers.
Mr Kamani had learnt his trade from his father, British billionaire businessman Mahmud Abdullah Kamani, who is co-founder and executive chairman of the Boohoo Group.
He started working at Boohoo, a brand that has been criticised for encouraging throw-away fashion, in 2006 to learn more about the family business.
Six years later, at the age of 24, Mr Kamani founded PrettyLittleThing with his brother Adam, quickly roping in celebrities including Miley Cyrus, Rita Ora and Jessie J to wear the brand.
In Nov 2021, the company was criticised for contributing to the harmful fast-fashion cycle by offering a 100 per cent discount on certain items in a Black Friday sale.
The UN Environment Programme has warned that the fashion industry is the second-biggest consumer of water and is “responsible for 8-10 per cent of global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined”.
Mr Kamani is said to be worth around £797 million. Last April, he announced he was stepping down as CEO of PrettyLittleThing.
In a previous interview with Vogue Arabia, Mr Kamani is said to have commented: “I don’t agree with the definition of fast fashion as throwaway or disposable simply because of its price.”
He insisted that PrettyLittleThing was “committed to responsible sourcing”, used recyclable dispatch bags and never burned unsold clothes or sent them to landfill.
