'Next decade of innovation will come from Global South', says Business of Fashion chief Imran Amed in Dubai

Despite running one of the fashion industry’s most influential platforms, Imran Amed has always been something of an outsider.

The founder, chief executive and editor-in-chief of The Business of Fashion (BoF) started his career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Co. When he first explored a pivot to fashion, he was bluntly told: “We don’t need people like you in fashion.”

Yet last week, Amed was in Dubai hosting BoF Crossroads, the first offshoot of its kind from BoF’s successful Voices conference series. Taking place at the One&Only One Za’abeel, the event gathered creative and business leaders to discuss new opportunities across fashion, beauty and luxury in the Middle East, South and Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America, reflecting BoF's global approach to the industry, as well as its focus on often neglected Global South markets.

“The event is actually not focused on Dubai or the Middle East,” Amed says. “Over the last couple of years, I went to Egypt, India, the Philippines, Thailand, Kuwait, Brazil and obviously here in Dubai. The people I would meet were asking the same questions. These markets, with young and digitally connected populations, share similar challenges and yet they often feel disconnected from the West.”

The lightbulb moment came last year during a visit to Dubai after a decade away. “I felt like Dubai had become this crossroads,” he says, “for people interested in this market from the West but also from sub-Saharan Africa, India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia.”

Though Amed left McKinsey nearly two decades ago, the structured thinking he developed there still shapes BoF’s editorial lens. “There are frameworks I learnt that we use in our editorial process. The fashion world wasn’t professionalised or globalised when I arrived. I hope we've been able to bring some structured thinking,” says Amed.

“What we're trying to do is really look at this industry holistically as a global industry with global consumers, a global supply chain, and global retail footprints. That's how the industry works.”

BoF itself was founded in 2007, a year before the global financial crisis. Amed believes the platform’s greatest value emerges during times of turbulence. When the industry is in crisis, people go to BoF for clarity. That was true in 2008, again during Covid-19, and now with the tariff situation.

“Our tariff analysis pieces are still the most-read content on the site right now,” says Amed. “This is obviously a new challenge that the industry is going to navigate.”

A cross-section of speakers and attendees from 25 countries were at the Crossroads event. From Saudi Arabia, Princess Noura Bint Faisal Al Saud of Culture House and Diriyah Company’s Kiran Haslam took to the stage to discuss the kingdom’s cultural and luxury transformation. Aika Alemi of Kazakhstan’s Born Nomad gave insight into Central Asia’s creative renaissance and Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee reflected on building a global luxury brand from the Global South.

Felipe Matayoshi, Anand S Ahuja and Iretidayo Zaccheaus spoke about how Brazil, India and Nigeria are shaping streetwear with UAE-based fashion critic Osama Chabbi. Laduma Ngxokolo of MaXhosa Africa; Alara’s Reni Folawiyo; and Maryse Mbonyumutwa of Pink Mango and Asanti explored opportunities across the African fashion value chain.

Meanwhile, Khalid Al Tayer, chief executive of Ounass and managing director of Al Tayer Insignia, joined Amed to discuss operational excellence in the Gulf.

Other Emirati figures on stage included Anas Bukhash and Sultan Bin Rashed Al Darmaki, who discussed Dubai's status as a global crossroads and when emerging brands should go global.

Amed’s efforts have always been about opening up the fashion conversation. “Fashion used to be a bubble,” he says. “Fashion people talking to fashion people. The conference was designed to challenge that, to connect the dots of how the industry fits into wider global dynamics around economics, politics, tech, culture. A good conference creates tension.”

Today, Amed is one of fashion’s most connected insiders. But his mission remains rooted in access, insight and global relevance. “Fashion has gone from an industry that talked itself, to a pillar of popular culture. People follow fashion now like others follow sport. There are obsessive fandoms. BoF helped bring what was once a closed-off conversation into the wider world.”

He also wants to remind outsiders that fashion isn’t just about glamour. “It’s a complex industry – logistics, supply chain, IP, brand, tech, e-commerce and increasingly artificial intelligence. If you have professional skills that can help the industry address some of these big questions, there’s opportunity here.”

On where fashion is headed, Amed names Paris as the undisputed legacy capital. But when it comes to the future, he’s looking further afield. “Before Covid, I would’ve said Shanghai. But it feels increasingly cut off from the global now,” says Amed.

“Mumbai, as a city in the country with the largest population in the world, has some incredible creativity. The craftsmanship of what you can do there is incredible. But you could say the same about Lagos and Bangkok. That's what's exciting about these cities in the Global South. They are huge cities. They're bustling with creativity and ambition and optimism.”

It’s that optimism that fuels Amed’s global outlook. “Things feel pretty depressing in the West right now,” he says. “But when I come to places like Dubai, Mumbai and Bangkok, I just feel a sense of optimism that we have the creativity; we have the ingenuity; we have the innovation that's going to make the next 10 years really exciting.”