The American artist Rob Pruitt's new designs for Jimmy Choo bring bling to zoology. They include leopard-print, patent-leather wallets, zebra-patterned high heels and US$15,000 (Dh55,000) limited-edition panda clutches decorated with more than 11,000 Swarovski crystals. Mr Pruitt spoke about his work over tea in New York.
How did you react when Jimmy Choo approached you?
It was one of the best offers I'd ever gotten. I think that my art really comes alive when it's activated in these kinds of ways. I would feel terribly sad if it only had an existence on the walls of galleries and, hopefully, museums.
What did you have in mind when you started working on the collection?
When the invitation came, it was about making a collection for cruise wear. So I was thinking about most of the winter still ahead and a cruise being like a moment to fly somewhere tropical and be somebody that you haven't necessarily been before. That's why the collection looks the way it looks, with all those hot colours and clashing designs.
You were also inspired by your own work?
More recent works. The gradient motif which is on the bottom of most of the shoes comes directly from a series of paintings of abstract faces. Then there's the panda project that started as this wild animal that needed protection and became an international symbol of youth and pop culture.
Did you think the collaboration would help to promote your work?
I didn't really think about whether it would help or hurt the paintings. I did it for myself. I thought it would be great to take their iconography and get it out on the street.
Is there another designer you'd like to work with?
Two summers ago I was invited to a party on the Missoni yacht and I was so inspired by the way it looked, so easy, comfortable and elegant, that I thought these are people I would like to get to know better and work on a project with. I would also love to work with Marc Jacobs.
Will you ask them?
I tend to wait to be asked. Even for my art career, I never ask an art dealer if I can have a show.
Why is that?
I suppose it's a way for me to gauge how successful what I'm doing is. If no one is asking then that makes me think that I need to work a little harder.
Would you ever consider becoming a fashion designer?
Sure. Life is long and there are a lot of hours in the day. There's always time to do more.
But you wouldn't give up painting?
No, I don't think I could. I might get thrown out of the art world, but I will never give it up.
Do you think fashion is on the same level as art?
I think they're equal but different. They're not going to build temples to fashion, but the level of creative talent involved is probably not that different from the art world. It's just that it's disposable. I'd like a woman to buy a pair of these shoes and just wear them once and then put them on a pedestal or shelf. It's an idea that makes me smile.
* Bloomberg News
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
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
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
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
West Asia Premiership
Dubai Hurricanes 58-10 Dubai Knights Eagles
Dubai Tigers 5-39 Bahrain
Jebel Ali Dragons 16-56 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
'The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for Failure'
Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, Penguin Randomhouse
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Engine: 80 kWh four-wheel-drive
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 402bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: From Dh280,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
HAEMOGLOBIN DISORDERS EXPLAINED
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.0-litre%20four-cyl%20turbo%20%2B%20mild%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E204hp%20at%205%2C800rpm%20%2B23hp%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E320Nm%20at%201%2C800rpm%20%2B205Nm%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E9-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E7.3L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2FDecember%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh205%2C000%20(estimate)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Background: Chemical Weapons
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
Disposing of non-recycleable masks
Use your ‘black bag’ bin at home
Do not put them in a recycling bin
Take them home with you if there is no litter bin
- No need to bag the mask
