Boundary-breaking singer Rosalia was the star attraction of Louis Vuitton's menswear show at Paris Fashion Week, on Thursday. But it's a clip of the Spanish star grooving to a viral Arabic song that's caught the attention of many of her fans in the Middle East.
Rosalia opened the live event for the LVMH-owned fashion house with a snippet of her hit song Candy. Emerging from a darkened set, she was wrapped in a puffy white jacket and loose jogging pants, sunglasses around her face.
The Latin Grammy Award-winning pop star then ran through many of her chart toppers animating the set — drawn up to resemble someone's home — sprawling on the couch, jumping on a bed and singing from atop a bright, yellow car. At one point, she danced to Basbousa, the Arabic song which went viral on TikTok in 2021.
Although an old song, the version of Basbousa used in the Louis Vuitton show is a remix by Lebanese producer Haydar Zaiter featuring singer Zizo Al Ahmar. Zaiter released the tune in October 2021.
The Basbousa song challenge then became popular on the video-sharing platform, with users sharing clips of themselves dancing to the track, mostly characterised by exaggerated shaking of the shoulders.
There are also a number of variations, incorporating belly dance and some smooth dabke moves.
The song's lyrics reference a male cat who falls in love with a female cat and whom he lovingly calls Basbousa.
Basbousa is a sweet, syrup-soaked semolina cake that originated in Egypt and is popular in the Arab world.
Louis Vuitton after Virgil Abloh
Since the death of Virgil Abloh in 2021, the Louis Vuitton men’s studio has taken over the brand’s creative control.
Yet Thursday’s set — a vintage childhood home recreated inside the Louvre’s oldest courtyard — was in continuity with Abloh’s coming-of-age styles that have defined his Vuitton tenure from 2018 to 2021.
This season, the youthful studio team and guest designer Colm Dillane channelled growing up “as members of the first generation raised on super-connectivity”. References to the digital age thus abounded in the creative and tailoring-heavy display — which was most successful when kept simple.
Patterns evoked encrypted computer coding, while handwritten notes — which are deemed obsolete in today’s world — were upcycled to produce a surreal white suit and top hat look, the facade of which was constructed entirely of the note paper.
The collection at times felt reliant on gimmicks, such as pixelated apples on an otherwise beautiful round-shouldered wool coat.
The best looks were minimalist, such as a light grey suit jacket that sported one large childlike button and a fabulous, tapered V-shape owing to masterful construction with interlocking layers of fabric.
Celebrities in attendance included Usher, Tyga, British rapper Dave, Emily in Paris star Lucien Laviscount and Game of Thrones actors Kit Harington and Rosie Leslie.
K-pop fans also thronged the venue, hoping to catch a glimpse of BTS star J-Hope, who sat in the front row decked out in Louis Vuitton.
— Additional reporting by AP
Emirati Hadban twins take over Milan Men's Fashion Week again — in pictures
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The Little Things
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto
Four stars
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South Africa World Cup squad
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (w), JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Rassie van der Dussen.
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Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
UAE v IRELAND
All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi
1st ODI, Friday, January 8
2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10
3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12
4th ODI, Thursday, January 14
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
