From the region’s most loved and influential figures, including Dior makeup’s creative director, Peter Philips and influencer, Karen Wazen, many people you follow on Instagram are utilizing a rather unique new filter.
Middle Eastern media personality, known within the fashion industry and someone who promotes local talent, Mohammed Sultan Al Habtoor, collaborated with Instagram to launch his own AR filters. Chatting with Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Al Habtoor spoke about how he came up with the idea, “I attended a talk thinking it was about social media marketing only to see myself sitting in a talk that focused specifically on the AR/VR world and how it is taking the world by storm. Feeling inspired and somewhat curious, I pulled the head speaker Mina Litvinova to the side and well, the rest is history!”
Known to also be a contributing editor at the Middle Eastern edition of the magazine, the industry figure has always been interested and intrigued by VR/AR (virtual reality/augmented reality), and previously listed virtual influencer, Noo Nouri, on his best dressed list for the publication, which was the first time in Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s history a virtual figure had made the list.
Mohammed Al Habtoor also explained what it was he was inspired by when creating the social media filters that went viral, “My main focus is based on memories experiences and surroundings. Things that entertain me. ‘Summer Love Bite’ was my first one and I had to conceptualize something quickly. So I based it on what I was doing on that time which was my summer vacation.”
For his second filter, following on from the one named “Summer Love Bite,” which lunched just this week, he took inspiration from a recent trip to Japan, “In Tokyo wearing a paper mask on daily basis is a cultural convenience, so I said to myself let me use this as an inspiration and make it fun and that’s how ‘Beautifully Bondage’ came about. I am extremely lucky to have an amazing creative team backing my vision and turning it into a reality.”
Mohammed has over 102k followers on Instagram, and talked about how the future of fashion, home interiors and more could lie in VR/AR apps and maybe something even more advanced, “We are already seeing many skincare brands moving forward with this. Quite recently I stumbled upon a shoe brand that also uses AR VR, most recently also you can fit out your entire house with furniture via using the brands application. The whole world will eventually turn to AR/VR. Just give it abit of time. The tech and digital world is constantly evolving in a long term marriage that we are witnessing. Who knows what the future holds? Today it’s AR/VR, but tomorrow something more futuristic will come about which will tap onto all the human senses. This shift is happening and we are living it.”
