If money were no object, what would be the perfect gift for someone you love this Eid?
A meal prepared by a Michelin-star chef in your own kitchen? A private tour of Coco Chanel’s home? Or an Hermès Birkin bag in tri-colour?
Personal shopping agency By Appointment specialises in providing unique products and experiences for those who have everything.
“There isn’t anything we can’t do for our clients, as long as it’s legal,” says Sara Khan, who founded the company in 2014.
“Our clients have unimaginable wealth and are totally immune to economic cycles. Our clients typically spend over US$1 million on clothes in a season – it’s normal to wear a €150,000 [Dh620,600] couture dress only once.”
Khan has a window into a world of wealth that most of us can barely imagine. She first got to know many of her VIP clients 20 years ago, when she was selling bespoke luggage for Louis Vuitton in London. She moved to Abu Dhabi in 2000, initially to set up Christian Dior’s Marina Mall boutique.
“I knew that the clients I’d met in London would never come to see me in the boutique. As much as they might want to, they just couldn’t. So instead, I started setting up private appointments in their homes and taking the products to their palaces.”
Khan decided to set up By Appointment so rather than being tied to one brand, she could access a range of products and services from a variety of brands for her clients.
Jewellery and clothing brands approach Khan when they are launching new collections and she then arranges mini trunk shows, pop-up boutiques and fashion shows in her clients’ villas or private locations.
Although many international designer brands have established a presence in the UAE in recent years, Khan’s clients are always on the lookout for more exclusive pieces.
“They don’t want to wear what everyone else is wearing,” she explains. “Especially for weddings, we have to make sure that no two clients are wearing the same dress, and that’s very challenging. We work with a lot of designers to know how many pieces have been brought into Abu Dhabi. If another VIP has purchased the same dress, we can’t have it.”
Designer outfits can also be tweaked for each client.
“The client can change the colour of the lace of a dress, or change the backing – they’re in control of it,” Khan explains.
She finds that the most popular brands with her clients are Hermès, Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels, Goyard and Delvaux. “We have a relationship with Hermès across the globe, and we will find the colour and leather that the client is looking for,” she says.
“Our clients are looking for the limited-edition crocodile, alligator or ostrich pieces,” Khan says.
And sometimes one piece just isn't enough. One client ordered eight different-coloured Hermès Kelly and Birkin crocodile handbags for a birthday celebration, which had to be delivered in 48 hours. “The prices ranged from Dh170,000 to Dh320,000 for the rare Himalayan Birkin,” Khan recalls.
Not all clients are looking for designer goods, however. Past requests have ranged from the obscure, such as an August 1974 issue of Vogue magazine, featuring photos of Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski on vacation in Abu Dhabi, to the extravagant, such as specially engraved rifles for the hunting season.
Ramadan is an extremely busy time for Khan and this year she collaborated with several brands to put together an iPad “look book” of special pieces not readily available in Abu Dhabi. These treasures included fine jewellery, bespoke Hermès bags decorated with diamonds, limited-edition Chanel pieces and a Ramadan collection of kaftans by Moda Operandi. She has also put together Eid gift hampers full of goodies such as Hannah & Safoorah chocolates, Newby Tea and oud candles by Feu de Beaumont from London, with prices starting at US$10,000 (Dh36,700).
Over the years, Khan has developed a close bond with some of her clients, receiving invitations to their wedding parties and afternoon teas, and attending international fashion shows on their behalf to take photographs and purchase collections.
“My clients are the loveliest clients you could wish for,” she says. “They’re humble, down to earth and very appreciative.”
But she admits, “it’s a gilded world of boundless demands that requires solid contacts and creative thinking. You do get blown away, but you have to remain extremely professional”.
Exclusive experiences
People are opting more and more for one-of-a-kind experiences and, unrestrained by budgets, the only limit is your imagination. Eddie Perez runs By Appointment Entertainment, the event services arm of personal shopping agency By Appointment. He arranges niche experiences, elaborately themed parties and meet-and-greets with celebrities, usually within a very limited time frame.
If a VIP has flown in from another GCC country, he might call Perez and say: “I feel like a private dinner tonight with a celebrity guest or a private concert.” Perez and his team will find out what genre is preferred, and which celebrities are in town.
Among the more unusual requests he has met was for two passes to attend Whitney Houston’s funeral and another for six tickets to see a sold-out Lakers basketball game in Los Angeles.
Some of the more sought-after experiences are romantic grand gestures. One client wanted to fly his wife to a store in Paris that makes bespoke lingerie, and another, to propose to his girlfriend on stage during a Stevie Wonder concert.
Perez has arranged backstage meet-and-greets with One Direction, Rihanna, Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake and sometimes, long-lasting friendships are formed between local families and celebrity visitors. Regular visitors Akon and Swizz Beatz, Alicia Key’s husband, are two such examples.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend is always especially hectic. “Clients have a lot of requests for celebrities to come onto their private yachts – like Janet Jackson and Drake,” he says.
When it comes to putting on private iftars, no two are the same. “The presentation is more bespoke and intimate than the normal Ramadan tents,” Perez explains. “We use beautiful chandeliers, themed lighting arrangements, flower arrangements and cut out Arabian-style motifs.”
Personal shopping trips
Sometimes the best part about having a personal shopper isn’t that they source or buy things for their clients, but rather that they teach the clients how to shop for themselves.
There are many personal shoppers happy to spend an hour or more steering clients around the UAE’s shopping malls for the right price.
By Appointment offers a personal shopping service for Dh500 and can arrange private shopping trips in the VIP sections of Marina Mall, the Galleria or Etihad Towers.
Or for Dh750 an hour, Dubai-based Kelly Lundberg, founder of StyleMeDivine, can help clients, male or female, find the right outfits for all occasions. So far this year, 70 per cent of Lundberg’s clients have been male Emiratis. “They’re so used to wearing the kandoura here, they don’t necessarily know what to wear when it comes to travelling in Europe,” she explains.
Lundberg typically meets clients in the Dubai Mall. “We had Leicester Football Club out last month, which was exciting, but we kept getting stopped everywhere. The one thing they wanted was shoes, so we took them to Level Shoe District, then Bloomingdale’s and Chanel.”
Lundberg says the three elements of styling are personality, body shape and colour, but personality is key. “I find out who they are and what their lifestyle is, and try to pick items according to that.”
To Lundberg, personal shopping is about pushing clients outside of their comfort zones. “We don’t want clients going home with items they would’ve picked themselves. The classic mistake people make is playing it safe. They buy what they’ve always bought, because they don’t know what else to buy. Our role as stylists is to help them think outside that safe zone, whether it’s with accessories, pulling together different colours, or introducing them to new brands. Our goal is to hear them say: ‘Oh, I wouldn’t have put that with that, but it looks great’.”
weekend@thenational.ae
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
RESULTS
%3Cp%3E%0D5pm%3A%20Al%20Bateen%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(Turf)%202%2C200m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Ma%E2%80%99Aly%20Al%20Shahania%2C%20Bernardo%20Pinheiro%20(jockey)%2C%20Mohamed%20Daggash%20(trainer)%0D%3Cbr%3E5.30pm%3A%20Al%20Khaleej%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20AF%20Rami%2C%20Tadhg%20O%E2%80%99Shea%2C%20Ernst%20Oertel%0D%3Cbr%3E6pm%3A%20Wathba%20Stallions%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh70%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Bant%20Al%20Emarat%2C%20Bernardo%20Pinheiro%2C%20Qaiss%20Aboud%0D%3Cbr%3E6.30pm%3A%20Al%20Nahyan%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20AF%20Rasam%2C%20Marcelino%20Rodrigues%2C%20Ernst%20Oertel%0D%3Cbr%3E7pm%3A%20Al%20Karamah%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Zafaranah%2C%20Bernardo%20Pinheiro%2C%20Musabah%20Al%20Muhairi%0D%3Cbr%3E7.30pm%3A%20Al%20Salam%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(TB)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Nibras%20Passion%2C%20Tadhg%20O%E2%80%99Shea%2C%20Ismail%20Mohammed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
UAE-based players
Goodlands Riders: Jamshaid Butt, Ali Abid, JD Mahesh, Vibhor Shahi, Faizan Asif, Nadeem Rahim
Rose Hill Warriors: Faraz Sheikh, Ashok Kumar, Thabreez Ali, Janaka Chathuranga, Muzammil Afridi, Ameer Hamza
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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.”
SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELong-range%20dual%20motor%20with%20400V%20battery%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E360kW%20%2F%20483bhp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E840Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20touring%20range%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20628km%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E0-100km%2Fh%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.7sec%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETop%20speed%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20210kph%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh360%2C000%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeptember%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The biog
Name: Timothy Husband
Nationality: New Zealand
Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney
Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier
Favourite music: Billy Joel
Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 1.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 180hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm at 3,00rpm
Transmission: 5-speed sequential auto
Price: From Dh139,995
On sale: now
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
The view from The National
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
