I attended two very different fashion parties last week, both thrown by the British Fashion Council in London.
Coming a few days after its New York rival, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), had staged a ritzy award ceremony, it was interesting to compare notes on who wore what.
Fashion: The National dresses
Last Updated: 22 June, 2011 UAE
Catwalks, seasons, features, news and all things fashion
Fashion
Although the CFDA event had managed to rustle up a blue-wigged Lady Gaga along with a bevy of red carpet regulars - all predictably flashing a lot of flesh - anyone trying to de-code what was currently fashionable Stateside would have come away very confused.
Besides Kirsten Dunst rocking a tux trousersuit and Chloé Sevigny wearing Dolce & Gabbana white lace, the overall dress code - dominated for some odd reason by scarlet - looked more like a Pussycat Dolls convention than a celebration of current trends.
It hardly mirrored Angelina Jolie's latest Louis Vuitton "Core Values" campaign image which absolutely sums up where Planet Fashion is right now. This depicts the American mother of six, barefoot in silk khaki combats - the sort we know cost more than $2,000 (Dh7,346) - wearing dewy make-up and a deconstructed hairdo, posing with her monogrammed Alto carryall bag, which would cost several times the annual national wage in Cambodia, the site of the shoot, as it happens.
This "just thrown together" understated glamour is, of course, anything but. Dress down luxe is most difficult to achieve when you are going to a truly special party and even harder to pull off if you are over 30. There is something about eveningwear in particular that makes trendy girls such as Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen, or Liv Tyler, suddenly come over all middle-aged and dull.
Even celebrity stylists fail to get their heads around the notion of dressed-down dress-up, as worn by contemporary icons such as Sofia Coppola, who never appears to be trying too hard.
However it didn't phase London's fashion crowd, who demonstrated that when it comes to cool partywear, they have the edge on their American cousins.
And they can't blame the soaring New York heat. The first of the BFC events was an open-air party, staged in the muggy grounds of Somerset House on a humid June evening, to announce who had won backing for the next round of ready-to-wear shows at London Fashion Week.
This will be of enormous importance because the season designers will be showing is spring/summer 2012, a time when London will be hosting the Olympics.
Here, I spotted veteran fashion designers, college lecturers, stylists and fashion PR supremos, mixing seasonal must-haves (Jil Sander brights, Prada and Peter Pilotto prints, Isabel Marant tropical skinny jeans, Jessy J strong make-up, Erdem lace) with something understated (trouser suits, messy tied-back hairdos) and exceptionally elegant (spindle kitten heels, espadrilles).
Forty-something Sarah Mower, a style journalist and the BFC's ambassador for British emerging talent, introduced the line-up of Britain's "Team Fashion" (the milliner Nasir Mazhar and the designers Craig Lawrence and J W Anderson got the loudest cheer) and exemplified what should be worn on such occasions: wide leg trousers teamed with a cream longline jacket punched up by an acid lime Christopher Kane lace top.
The Italian Vogue editor in chief Franca Sozzani, looked equally contemporary in a phosphorescent blue neat A-line skirt suit, her tiny feet clad in pointy kitten heels.
Top Man's dashing white-haired group design director Gordon Richardson, showed what a groovy elder fashion statesman should look like, his boyish checked western-style shirt worn under an impeccably tailored summer blazer and drainpipes. In other words: cool.
A few nights later was the BFC's celebration of The Daily Telegraph's legendary fashion editrix, Hilary Alexander's career in fashion; a far grander affair and yet groovily chilled in terms of dress up. (I noted just one person, Giles Deacon, wore jeans).
The fashion set - Christopher Bailey, Roland Mouret, Vivienne Westwood, Sarah Burton, Matthew Williamson, Katie Grand, Stephen Jones - turned out in force to the newly renovated St Pancras Renaissance Hotel wearing familiarly on-trend gear blended in with their own "signature" detail.
With Katie Grand it's her 1970s platforms and red lipstick. Vivienne Westwood has her orange hair. Alexander wore an ethnic skirt bought on a fashion assignment to India, which fitted in perfectly with the eclectic dress code.
What about me? Two words. Dolce & Gabbana. (Or is that three?). Angelina Jolie might be able to get away with wearing combats, but alas, when it comes to fashion parties, I need a bit of designer leopard print to make me stand out and yet, weirdly, blend in.
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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Results
5pm: Warsan Lake – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m; Winner: Dhaw Al Reef, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)
5.30pm: Al Quadra Lake – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Mrouwah Al Gharbia, Sando Paiva, Abubakar Daud
6pm: Hatta Lake – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: AF Yatroq, George Buckell, Ernst Oertel
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Ashton Tourettes, Adries de Vries, Ibrahim Aseel
7pm: Abu Dhabi Championship – Listed (PA) Dh180,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Bahar Muscat, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm: Zakher Lake – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Alfareeq, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
Company%20Profile
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The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Three stars
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Company%20Profile
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The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
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