The final fashion story of 2010 is unravelling: no, not the shock announcement that Carine Roitfeld, the editor-in-chief of French Vogue, has resigned. The one being played out by two women who have dominated global front pages this month.
First off, we have the red-carpet veteran, Angelina Jolie, who for the past few weeks has been wearing Atelier Versace head-to-toe to promote her latest film, The Tourist.
The combination of Jolie and Versace is movie-star perfection: this is exactly the sort of frock we "civilians", as Liz Hurley would call us, could never lay our grubby hands on. However the question is, if we had the sort of money to buy a Versace wardrobe, would we?
It goes without saying Jolie's image is in very safe hands with Versace. It almost but not quite covers her tattoos and tames down the rather racy image that equally helps keep her in Hello! magazine and our vivid imaginations.
Looking tall and elegant in those fabulous gowns, you can see why she won Brad Pitt. Isn't it this, along with the huge multicultural family and humanitarian efforts, that makes Jolie interesting? Certainly not the fact that she (yawn) wears Versace.
Kate Middleton, on the other hand, is very much an open book in terms of her wardrobe. Being the novice of the two it is interesting to see the future royal is already showing such a shrewd understanding of the new rules of celebrity dressing (ie never forget the common touch).
Having become engaged to Prince William in November, she lost no time in pulling off two outfits (and one hairdo) that contained equal parts aspiration and accessibility.
Her 'do has got women the world over searching out their Carmen rollers and every "value" manufacturer worthy of the name popping out a copy of the now famous periwinkle blue Issa frock.
Middleton's off-the-peg designer dress was by a relatively unknown designer. She "discovered" it. But equally, so could you or I. Her subsequent outfits, worn for the official engagement photos by Mario Testino, are even more illuminating. At the time, I guessed (wrongly) that the cream dress worn by the 28-year-old brunette was by Elie Saab or possibly even Stéphane Rolland - it looked that expensive.
When I heard it actually came from the mid-market chain Reiss, diplomatically described as a "premium" British brand by one newspaper, I was impressed.
Reiss is an interesting one. Pricy for the high street, but very much the sort of shop you might find in any mall, anywhere in the world. David Reiss started out with a menswear store in 1971, then set out to create a new tier of womenswear in 1998, bridging the gap between high street and designer label, which he told me himself had "become blurred". With too many chains battling it out to come up with the best designer copy at the lowest price, Reiss took his brand as far away from the high street as possible to offer what they couldn't: luxury.
Luxury, at least in the way Reiss sees it, is something retail analysts describe as being masstige or massclusive (ie an exclusive product "tailored" to the masses).
Middleton also wore a silk blouse from Whistles and a pair of earrings by the jeweller Links for the portrait session. Both are mid-market. Before the recession, Reiss told me of his expansion plans. Astonishingly, given so many casualties in the fashion industry, Versace, for example, which closed down all its stores in Japan last year, I now see he has pulled them off.
Reiss currently has 90 stores worldwide: 14 in the Middle East, seven stores in the UAE, along with nine in America, five in China and one in Russia.
Anyone wishing to see who's doing astonishingly well in fashion should take a look at last week's profit results by the Spanish fashion giants Inditex (who reported a 42 per cent rise in net profits boosted by the opening of 300 new Zara stores to add to the existing 5,000 in 77 countries) and the Swedish chain H&M (whose figures were up 17 per cent, no doubt thanks to its designer collaborations).
But the mid-market is not far behind and gaining all the time on big-name designers. With the backing of Middleton, could 2011 be the year the "massclusives" finally get a slice of the retail and celebrity pie? Perhaps even a Royal Warrant.
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
FORSPOKEN
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Starfield
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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
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Sreesanth's India bowling career
Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40
ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55
T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12
The Bio
Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses
Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas
His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s
Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business
He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery
Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all
Five healthy carbs and how to eat them
Brown rice: consume an amount that fits in the palm of your hand
Non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli: consume raw or at low temperatures, and don’t reheat
Oatmeal: look out for pure whole oat grains or kernels, which are locally grown and packaged; avoid those that have travelled from afar
Fruit: a medium bowl a day and no more, and never fruit juices
Lentils and lentil pasta: soak these well and cook them at a low temperature; refrain from eating highly processed pasta variants
Courtesy Roma Megchiani, functional nutritionist at Dubai’s 77 Veggie Boutique
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
TOURNAMENT INFO
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Thursday results
UAE beat Kuwait by 86 runs
Qatar beat Bahrain by five wickets
Saudi Arabia beat Maldives by 35 runs
Friday fixtures
10am, third-place playoff – Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
3pm, final – UAE v Qatar
Ain Issa camp:
- Established in 2016
- Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
- Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
- Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
- 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
- NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
- One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region