RIYADH: A training workshop to help craftswomen and female designers is underway, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Hirfa, a women’s cooperative society in Qassim, is collaborating with Italian haute couture designer Maurizio Galante to train women in different crafts and skills including knitting and engraving. The 10-day workshop, which started last Thursday, has been organized by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Culture. Galante will be working with Hirfa for three years, giving four workshops a year to develop the arts in Saudi Arabia and boost women’s role in the field. The workshops are part of an educational project from the ministry, in cooperation with international designers, to boost women designers’ role in the Kingdom. Galante has won prestigious awards and is an official member of the Chambre Syndicale de Haute Couture, a committee that includes top fashion houses and sets standards for haute couture.