Murry said Dubai is a natural destination for the brand. "There is so much growth in the region and the nucleus of that is in Dubai."

There are 18 freestanding stores in the Middle East, nine of which are in Dubai. The Calvin Klein brand is growing market share seasonally in the region. The Middle East represented approximately $50 million in retail sales last year. The company's total sales for 2007 were $5.4 billion.

A new Calvin Klein Collection store will open at the Dubai Mall early this fall. Murry commented that, for an emerging market with a small population, the company does a high amount of Collection sales, reflecting the spending power in the Middle East.

Though the perception of the Middle Eastern consumer may be conservative, according to Murry, the company by and large has the same product mix in the region as it does in Europe. But Carrigan explained that there are regional modifications to the garments. "We do have to take into account climate, body fit and color. I'll take the same sketch and make modifications for different markets."

An area where the company is sensitive to the conservative nature of Middle Eastern society is in the display of their product. "We can't always use the same ad images that we do in other markets in this part of the world," said Murry.

Local operators of Calvin Klein Underwear stores have sometimes faced fines if window displays were deemed too risqué. There seem to be no steadfast rules for what is allowed and what isn't, leaving retailers to tread a fine line of cultural sensitivity.

This was the case at Thursday's exhibit, where underwear was not actually worn by the models, but artfully displayed on piles of sand.

photos by Nick Haig and Sares el-jammal