Each year, the Saudi Cup horse-racing event turns into an open platform for designers to showcase their creative visions inspired by heritage. But among dozens of designs on display, there remains that thin line separating those who draw inspiration from heritage from those who simply quote it, those who succeed in redefining it in a contemporary way from those who merely replicate it as it is.

To draw inspiration from heritage does not mean to take the idea as it is, but to abstract it, revive it from your own perspective according to your creative and artistic vision, and absorb its essence without falling into the trap of cut-and-paste “collage” style.

Inspiration also leaves room for the imagination to analyze and deconstruct the final design in order to infer the source. Inspiration is never entirely direct; it always leaves space for reflection and analysis.

At this year’s Saudi Cup, we can see designers who take heritage symbols and present them in a contemporary, aesthetic form. For example, designer Riham Nasser’s “Bint Al-Balad” design is inspired by the rawasheen and balcony railings of the doors and windows in Historic Jeddah. Here, the designer brings together several elements in an orderly way to create a tribute to these architectural arts.

Another example is Asayel Line, which conveys a narrative aesthetic inspired by the magic of Diriyah nights in the At-Turaif District—from the beauty of its heritage architecture to the palm trees and starry skies through heavy embroidery and beading. The brand here signals to the Saudi fashion industry that it is expanding and capable of delivering couture-level craftsmanship.

On the other side, several brands presented designs inspired by Saudi heritage or culture by taking only surface elements—like designer Khawla Al-Aiban’s “Muthahhab,” inspired by Saudi Arabia’s desert sands, the reflection of sunlight on their surface, and embroidery echoing the beauty of nature. Nature is an initial source of inspiration, but it tends to repeat; what matters is how the designer takes that inspiration to different dimensions through execution or techniques. In “Muthahhab,” we notice an overwhelming of aesthetic elements that pulls the design back into a straightforward, literal corner.

Quotation occurs when a design simply repeats an idea or its reference. For example, quoting happens when a designer takes a traditional piece and reproduces it directly—keeping the story, the name, and other details, changing only fabrics or colors. At an event like the Saudi Cup, this can be acceptable because of the event’s dress requirements, but it adds no new vision to what already exists.

Another form of quotation showed up in many costumes this year at the Saudi Cup: ready-made details lifted from a source of inspiration without trying to merge them with the brand’s personal style or reinterpret them in a renewed or contemporary way. As a result, some designs resembled costumes rather than fashion, due to poor abstraction and deconstruction of the source—even though these are fundamentals of fashion design.

Other brands focused on presenting a “strange” design without considering the factors surrounding the concept—from the brand’s vision to the design techniques themselves and even the context.

I addressed a similar point in an earlier article, “Avant-Garde in Saudi Arabia: Real Vision or Just a Trend?”

The difference between inspiration and quotation goes beyond a mere linguistic contrast; it reflects a mindset. A design born of inspiration reintroduces an idea with renewal because it carries the designer’s imprint. Quotation, by contrast, is just repetition without addition.

You can also distinguish inspired design by its distinctiveness. It carries a clear vision that makes the designer’s style recognizable even without mentioning their name. Quoted design, however, feels familiar to the point of repetition and directness, relying on assembling or cut-and-paste.

Engaging with heritage and culture does not mean copying them literally but understanding their essence and reintroducing them in a way that preserves authenticity without leaving them in the past. Fashion is not just pieces of fabric cut in a certain style; it is a language that expresses time, identity, and artistic vision. The true designer is the one who gives the past a new dimension so it stays alive in the present and continues into the future.

This article is supported by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) and the Cultural Development Fund as part of the #Ithra_Arabic_Content_Initiative.