With confident steps, Nejoud Boodai (may God have mercy upon her soul) began the dream journey in the fashion profession, accelerating the steps that she supported with science, and advancing in a short period. During such journey, she reserved a distinguished position among her peers, moving between a large number of capitals to lower her sails after stations during which she spread beauty and creativity everywhere adorned by her creative ideas.
Nejoud Jassim Abdullah Boodai is a famous Kuwaiti fashion designer and businesswoman, who could, in a short time, put her name on the Arab scene strongly through a group of dazzling works and attractive designs that were displayed in major fashion houses inside and outside Kuwait. She passed away in 2010 after a struggle with cancer at the age of 38.
Who is Nejoud Abdullah Boodai?
Nejoud Boodai is descending from one of the long Kuwaiti families, “The Boodai family”. She is a model of the practical girl who loved designs and fashion since she was young. Thus, she studied and excelled in what she loved and became the first Kuwaiti woman to obtain a bachelor’s degree in fashion at the American College in London, in addition to winning the Outstanding Student Award for Fashion Design in 1994. That was the spark of success in the life of this sensitive artist; in 1995, her first work saw the light of day through a fashion show in the Andalusian style inspired by the music of a Spanish song. Subsequently, she opened her own store in London, where she displayed a group of the most unique and wonderful designs that won a large audience, which encouraged her to participate in several exhibitions in Europe and the Middle East.
She also has another store in Kuwait in the Salhiya Complex bearing her name. Nejoud studied fashion design in Britain and graduated from the Department of “Fashion Arts”. During her studies, she participated in several competitions in which she won the first prizes, giving her the encouragement and moral support. Subsequently, she set out to complete her career with confidence and ambition.
Nejoud Boodai did not choose Britain to be her place of work, but the circumstances forced her to do so. After graduating, she returned to Kuwait to practice the profession she loves, but she was shocked by the reality that frustrated her. She did not receive any enthusiasm or interest in her work as a young Kuwaiti designer, and found that her society prefers the international foreign names. Thus, she returned to Britain to start working from London and to build her fame abroad, until she succeeded globally and put her own signature. That’s when Kuwaiti society and the Arab world accepted and recognized her.
In 1995, she held her first fashion show and presented a collection that caught the attention of senior fashion designers, and it was in the Andalusian style Inspired by the music of a Spanish song. Then her shows rolled around the world. However, her shows in Saudi Arabia in particular made her feel happy and proud, because Saudi women's demand for her ideas and designs exceeded her expectations. Nejoud believed that Saudi women are the most daring in innovation neither compared to Gulf women, who prefer to deal with specific international names and do not accept others easily, nor tend to change. A Gulf woman rather waits for someone to precede her to wear different clothes, so that she has the courage to choose them... That is why Saudi Arabia was the largest Arab and Gulf market for Nejoud.
Among her most important collections, which she displayed in Riyadh, is the “Himalayan Mountains” collection, which relied on luxurious cashmere in a style close to the Afghan and Cambodian styles. It was distinguished by delicate hand embroidery that took a long time to put on each piece.
She collaborated with Saudi jewelry designer Mai Al-Jeddawi in a joint show between fashion and jewelry, and the collection found a great turnout.
Nejoud was fascinated with the Indian style because she believed that India was the deepest civilization, and every time she visited India, she was discovering something new. As for the design itself, she believed it’s like poetry that begins with a line and grows up to become a story and a poem... The idea might come to her in a moment while she is reading a book, visiting someone, learning about the civilizations of the countries she is visiting, or even from movie scenes and music clips. All these things gave her many ideas by which she could set the starting line. After designing the first piece, she could build the shape of the rest of pieces.
Nejoud Boodai was not influenced by any fashion designer, because she was keen, from the beginning, to be a professional designer. She may have been influenced by schools; however, she considered being influenced by the shape, way of thinking, and suchlike is an indirect theft and copying that had nothing to do with creativity. She tended to Armani school in terms of the quality he provides and the cutting accuracy, as she felt that each piece is a distinct and special work in all its details without neglecting any aspect.
The deceased presented her only perfume, "Joud", because she considered that perfumes are complementary to the clothes, and most international fashion houses took this step... As for the components of "Jude" perfume, she was inspired by a perfume that her grandmother was famous for using, as she mixed the aromatic scents known at the time. When Nejoud analyzed it in France, she found that it consists of gory, jasmine and musk, so she used these ingredients as a basis and added fruits and flowers to it, to present the perfume "Joud".