Qatar Brings Budding Fashion Designers to Toronto for Week-Long Visit

Events kick off the summer season of the year - long cultural exchange launched with Canada in January

TORONTO, May 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Look out Toronto!

From May 25 to May 31, a group of young designers from Qatar will be in Toronto to showcase their creative works at this year’s Fashion Art Toronto as part of a year-long celebration of cultural exchange.

The Qatar Canada & Mexico 2026 Years of Culture (YoC) initiative was established by Qatar in 2012 to strengthen ties with other nations around the world through exhibitions, festivals, debates, sporting events and other creative collaborations.

This year’s partnership celebrates the three nations' shared connections to the FIFA World Cup as Canada and Mexico co-host the tournament this summer. Qatar hosted it in 2022.

In January 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney took a Canadian delegation to Qatar where the two countries announced a number of initiatives including the Qatar Canada and Mexico 2026 Year of Culture.

“For Qatar, Canada is a particularly important partner because it understands something essential about modern identity,” said Tariq Ali Faraj, Al-Ansari, Qatar’s ambassador to Canada.

“As multicultural societies shaped by global communities, both Canada and Qatar understand that identity is strengthened through exchange. Both countries also recognize the growing role that culture and the creative industries play in economic development, innovation and international engagement. That is the spirit of the summer.”

More than 10,000 Canadians live in Qatar today contributing to education, health care, engineering, aviation, finance and sport.

The Qatari delegation will be led by Stefano Merenda and Moza Jassim Al Sharim, who both work with M7, Qatar’s flagship hub for fashion, design and innovation. Designers traveling with the delegation include Noof Almulla, founder of LIN; Rayan Alami, founder of Authentic Roz; fashion designer Samah Sulyman; and Tasha Saradar and Lea Al Chaa; founders of Tash and Ley.

“M7 is the place where many young designers find their first real creative home,” said Mr. Merenda. “For many of the designers in this delegation, M7 is where they refined their voice, built their business plan or first collections, and found the confidence to imagine themselves on global stages. Bringing them to Toronto is not just a showcase — it’s a full immersion in the North American fashion industry and a milestone in their professional journeys.

“Together, they represent a generation of new creatives who are globally connected, culturally fluent, and unafraid to challenge expectations.”

There will be four designers available for media interviews

They are:

FEATURED SPOKESPERSON #1
RAYAN ALAMI
Founder, Authentic Roz

Rayan is part designer, part storyteller — someone who grew up navigating the layered worlds of his Moroccan and Brazilian heritage while coming of age in Qatar. His work is shaped by that lived experience: the feeling of being from everywhere and nowhere at once, the quiet negotiation of identity, the search for belonging. This in-between space shapes how he approaches design, blending textures, colours, and references from Moroccan and oriental culture with more structures, contemporary silhouettes.

FEATURED SPOKESPERSON #2
SAMAH SULYMAN
Fashion Designer

Samah is a sustainability‑driven designer who approaches denim like a sculptor approaches stone. Growing up in Qatar, she was fascinated by how everyday materials could be transformed into something expressive and unexpected.

Her reconstructed denim pieces carry the fingerprints of her process: hand‑cut layers, raw edges, and silhouettes that feel both futuristic and grounded. She is part of a new wave of designers redefining what “luxury” can look like.

FEATURED SPOKESPERSONS #3 AND #4
TASHA SARADAR and LEA AL CHAA
Founders, Tash and Ley

Tasha and Lea are lifelong friends turned creative partners whose brand is rooted in the idea that art should be lived with, worn, and shared. They will join the M7 delegation in Toronto for business development supporting the broader Qatar–Canada 2026 Year of Culture goal of expanding creative networks and building long‑term partnerships.

Their silk accessories draw from regional symbolism, family stories, and the visual language of the Middle East — but always through a contemporary, playful lens. Their work is deeply personal: each print begins as a hand‑drawn artwork, often inspired by conversations between the two about identity, womanhood, and the emotional weight of colour.

MEDIA AVAILABILITY - TORONTO

The media are invited to meet members of the delegation during the week in downtown Toronto at:

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Distillery District — 55 Mill Street, Toronto, ON M5A 3C4

Thursday, May 28

T3 Bayside — 251 Queens Quay E, Toronto, ON M5A 0X3

Friday, May 29, 2026 - M7 Designers Debut at Fashion Art Toronto

T3 Bayside — 251 Queens Quay E, Toronto, ON M5A 0X3

To register, please contact Gabby Knight at gabby@brown-cohen.com.

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