Every week, The National's Luxury magazine team puts together Black Book, a cheat sheet of the most interesting and noteworthy arrivals in fashion, watches, jewellery and cars.
Dyson teams up with Stormzy
Dyson, the global technology company, has teamed up with the British musician Stormzy, naming him as its latest global ambassador and the new face of its OnTrac headphones. The Vossy Bop rapper fronts a new campaign about the headphones. To highlight the headphones' 55 hours of noise cancellation from one charge, Dyson and Stormzy created a campaign film that follows 55 hours of the musician's life, from working in the studio to boarding planes and hanging out with friends to spending more reflective time alone.
Dh1,999 ($544)
Bottega Veneta fragrances
Bottega Veneta has released five new fragrances inspired by the rich trading history of where the brand began: Venice. The series is a skilful mixing of influences, from the East, West, North and South and are made using 100 per cent natural origin ingredients. Colpo di Sole, for example, marries Moroccan orange blossom with tranquil French Angelica oil, while Alchemie is a blend of precious Somalian myrrh and spicy Brazilian pink pepper. Deja Minuit, meanwhile, weaves the heat of Guatemalan cardamom with geranium from Madagascar.
In a further nod to Venice and its storied glassmaking heritage, the bottle is fluid and irregular, as if hand-blown, and rests on a base of green Verde Saint Denis marble.
Dh1,650 for 100ml
A driveable Batmobile from Wayne Enterprises Experience
Wayne Enterprises Experience, a concept retail project, has announced the world's first driveable Batmobile, as part of the character's 85th anniversary. It is an exact replica of the Tumbler Batmobile from the Dark Knight trilogy and has been authenticated by Warner Bros. Only 10 will be produced and will be constructed from Kevlar and carbon fibre, with a 6.2-litre 525hp engine.
It will have a fully functioning smoke-screen system and can even accommodate a replica gun turret on request. Aimed at serious car collectors and Batman enthusiasts only, would-be owners must request allocation, with only a lucky few invited to move forward and purchase the car, with a 15-month production time. The price tag? $2.99 million.
Dior's punk ballet flats
Dior has unveiled a tough new shoe from its Cruise 2025 collection: the punk ballet flats. Made in supple leather, the familiar ballerina shape is now wrapped in buckled straps and comes with a squared toe, like a ballet pointe. A mix of contrasts, the new flat is given an air of tenacity by playing with ballet codes, as it swaps out the ribbons used to hold the slipper in place for punkish black leather buckles. To add to the rebellious mood, the top strap is studded with metal eyelets and stamped in gold with the famous company name, Christian Dior.
Dh4,900
Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey
Avedis Hadjian, (IB Tauris)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
More from our neighbourhood series:
The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
The biog
Favourite book: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Favourite holiday destination: Spain
Favourite film: Bohemian Rhapsody
Favourite place to visit in the UAE: The beach or Satwa
Children: Stepdaughter Tyler 27, daughter Quito 22 and son Dali 19
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
Rating: 4/5
Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz
TICKETS
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs: Audi e-tron
Price, base: From Dh325,000 (estimate)
Engine: Twin electric motors and 95kWh battery pack
Transmission: Single-speed auto
Power: 408hp
Torque: 664Nm
Range: 400 kilometres
Results:
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 2,000m - Winner: Powderhouse, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap Dh165,000 2,200m - Winner: Heraldic, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
7.40pm: Conditions Dh240,000 1,600m - Winner: Walking Thunder, Connor Beasley, Ahmed bin Harmash
8.15pm: Handicap Dh190,000 2,000m - Winner: Key Bid, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
8.50pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed Dh265,000 1,200m - Winner: Drafted, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
9.25pm: Handicap Dh170,000 1,600m - Winner: Cachao, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
10pm: Handicap Dh190,000 1,400m - Winner: Rodaini, Connor Beasley, Ahmed bin Harmash
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
