In this chapter I wanted to reflect the place I live in, and to appreciate its cultures between the million frames a second that scroll past my eyes every day. In Dubai, cultures swirl up like a hurricane, and here I am, the dancing kite. I took the silhouettes I loved growing up and wove them into the culture around me. Thobes, from around the world.

To the next chapter. There was a hidden silhouette in the suit I wore, trying to break out every time I left a conference. I felt the way a sculptor must feel carving marble. Sophistication, I learned, isn't a preference. It's a discipline shaped by where we live. This chapter is the release from the choke at the throat.

Anna isn't one woman. She's every woman who built herself, by hand, from nothing.

No letter is gonna flatter you, my lady,
No rose grows in a desert, you might say.
The boundaries light can reach are always
beyond what any human, any being, can fathom.
Let me entangle that quantum with your favorite piece of cloth.
Eight coats I made from
eight machines I adore.

The world needs more female engineers, so I dressed them for it. These are abayas cut like office wear, with suit lapels and tailored sleeves. The silhouette is structured, light as an abaya, bold as a suit, and made to wear over anything. Balance is shared work: men should know it's no big deal, and women should know it can be hard at times. Until we learn to reverse entropy, let's find peace in seeking harmony, even if it doesn't exist.