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Saudi Arabia's First Arab Fashion Week Kicks Off, Beyond Fashionably Late

The fashion show, which only women are invited to view, is the newest entertainment opportunity to emerge in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
A Saudi makeup artist preps a model backstage during Saudi Arabia's first Arab Fashion Week in Riyadh.

It was well beyond fashionably late to begin. But models finally took to the runway on Thursday in Saudi Arabia's first-ever Arab Fashion Week.

The event is one of the new entertainment opportunities opening up recently in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

The fashion show hit significant delays, with logistical problems forcing it to open two weeks later than planned. Designers and models had trouble getting travel visas, and the organizers had to

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