Balmain pulled off something amazing with its spring/summer 2024 show in Paris, showing a collection that had been remade almost entirely from scratch in just 10 days.
The reason for the rush was that on September 17, half of the collection was stolen in a robbery, forcing creative director Oliver Rousteing and his team to work around the clock to ditch those ideas and start over.
That the collection revealed on Wednesday felt fluid and coherent is a testimony to the extraordinary skill of everyone who clearly pulled out all the stops, to counter the disastrous event.
Starting with 1980s-style tailoring, as snappy skirt suits with big buttons, sculpted hips and wide shoulders, Rousteing introduced softness via skater skirts and pleated dresses of various lengths.
He also added flowers, first as fabric blooms added to handbags, around shoulders and necklines, then as oversize printed florals across structured mini dresses, before returning to physical petals again, most notably added to a mini dress covered in tiny slivers of mirror.
Taken together, there was a lovely contrast between the strict tailoring and the floral bohemia, which showed off what an extraordinary house Balmain really is to have pulled this together in such a short space of time.
Marni
At Marni, the show staged at Ville Lumiere had a runway that meandered through the house, around the garden and up and down the staircase in a charmingly Mad Hatter sort of way. The clothes followed this same eccentricity, starting as slimfit looks in white, tan and pale blue, growing in volume and colour as the show progressed.
What started as a floor-length pencil skirt, slung low on the hips, shifted to become a trapeze dress, to become just a shift dress in sheer, checked cloth and simple ballet flats.
In turn this was replaced with short, full skirts with hems held out with wire, falling in looping folds, as skirts, shirts and jackets grew is size to become more and more outlandish. In bright orange, deckchair stripes and wonderfully clashed checks (Marni's signature) these were all fun and uplifting, yet still lovely and wearable pieces.
Amid the bright striping and exaggerated volume, there were dresses made from hand-stitched flowers that were as beautiful as they were fragile, and three-dimensional metallic dresses of flowers made from recycled tin cans.
Dries Van Noten
Over at Dries Van Noten, men's classic striped shirting and sporting garb was remade into womenswear. Pale blue pin stripe was cut into a bralet top, the rippling edge of a dress and stretched into a wrap-fronted dress, while the wide stripes of rugby-tops appeared as a mini dress and snazzy knitted trousers, while the lined cuffs and hems of cricket whites turned up on tank tops and the piping on an oversized blazer.
This mixing of codes is what Van Noten does best and, as ever, a show that started simply became a masterclass in seeing the mundane anew as colours and patterns were pitched in ways that simply shouldn't work, but in Van Noten's skilled hands became fresh and covetable.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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ICC Awards for 2021
MEN
Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)
WOMEN
Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 540hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 2,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Kerb weight: 1580kg
Price: From Dh750k
On sale: via special order
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Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
Find the right policy for you
Don’t wait until the week you fly to sign up for insurance – get it when you book your trip. Insurance covers you for cancellation and anything else that can go wrong before you leave.
Some insurers, such as World Nomads, allow you to book once you are travelling – but, as Mr Mohammed found out, pre-existing medical conditions are not covered.
Check your credit card before booking insurance to see if you have any travel insurance as a benefit – most UAE banks, such as Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, have cards that throw in insurance as part of their package. But read the fine print – they may only cover emergencies while you’re travelling, not cancellation before a trip.
Pre-existing medical conditions such as a heart condition, diabetes, epilepsy and even asthma may not be included as standard. Again, check the terms, exclusions and limitations of any insurance carefully.
If you want trip cancellation or curtailment, baggage loss or delay covered, you may need a higher-grade plan, says Ambareen Musa of Souqalmal.com. Decide how much coverage you need for emergency medical expenses or personal liability. Premium insurance packages give up to $1 million (Dh3.7m) in each category, Ms Musa adds.
Don’t wait for days to call your insurer if you need to make a claim. You may be required to notify them within 72 hours. Gather together all receipts, emails and reports to prove that you paid for something, that you didn’t use it and that you did not get reimbursed.
Finally, consider optional extras you may need, says Sarah Pickford of Travel Counsellors, such as a winter sports holiday. Also ensure all individuals can travel independently on that cover, she adds. And remember: “Cheap isn’t necessarily best.”
Pakistan T20 series squad
Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Ahmed Shahzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Hafeez, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammed Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Amir Yamin, Mohammed Amir (subject to fitness clearance), Rumman Raees, Usman Shinwari, Umar Amin
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
