Have you heard that celebrity chic is going out of fashion? The ill wind blowing in with the global credit crunch brings with it an entirely new fashion vibe.
It's not so much that celebrity chic is over, as it is that the famous faces associated with trendsetting for so long somehow no longer fit post-recession austerity chic. Time's up for Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna, Paris Hilton, Renée Zellweger and Victoria Beckham - those stars noted for their reliance on big name designers/stylists rather than their individuality. Looks like it's not just the multinational corporations who may fall victim to the credit crunch.
There's no doubt we are entering a wobbly time when it comes to image. I kind of get the idea behind the new Chanel adverts, where the millionaire supermodel Claudia Schiffer hides her supermodel blonde locks under a black wig, and dons fingerless gloves and a boho hobo get-up. I'm just not sure it works. There's a time and place for shabby chic. On the corner of Haight and Ashbury circa 1967, perhaps? Not mid-October 2008. It is bad enough to have to read daily reports of closures, particularly of clothing brands. Surely we don't need reminding how bad it could get. I still can't decide if Vivienne Westwood was joking by putting "make do and mend" notes advising how to make clothes from old curtains and duvets on the seats of her Paris show. There's nothing like a scary financial climate to crank up the creative juices and break down stereotypes about how only things we throw money at can be stunning. Take the Fiat 500, which has been beefed up, remodelled in shiny red and is now considered sexier than an E-Type Jag. The Noughties have been an era where visually arresting style is often overlooked by anything boasting a colossal price tag, where wearing the latest "It" dress or carrying a YSL Muse handbag speaks volumes about your personal style. As we enter an era of financial uncertainty, we need style icons to not just be refreshingly entertaining when it comes to improvised dressing but, dare I say, optimistic. Watching Valentine Fillol-Cordier, the 23-year-old model and DJ, "out-pap" the entire front row at Chanel made me forget about doom and gloom share prices. Not bad considering she was wearing the simplest denim jacket pulled over a crunchy white cotton dress and wooden platforms - a boyish, posh, French version of Kate Moss. No wonder Christopher Niquet, one of the most influential global stylists around, hovered by her side as if to say, "hands off she's mine". She has the style potential to rival greats like Jackie O or Grace Kelly.
Over in Hollywood, Rumer Willis, the 19-year-old offspring of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, is being groomed for great things. Sporting a hairdo spookily similar to the one worn by her mother in the movie Ghost, but in a shade of ripe conker, Rumer is not nearly as pretty as her mother. However, she is edgier, dresses with a quirky playful rebellion and is curvier. All of which, I reckon, adds up to a role model for our times. Another young woman to watch is the beautiful, blonde, former model-turned-philanthropist Lydia Hearst. The 23-year-old heiress to the publishing fortune slips nicely into the shoes vacated by the vacuous Paris Hilton. Lydia was fast-tracked to supermodel status after Steven Meisel put her on the cover of Italian Vogue for her first-ever shoot. Between organising fundraising benefits for Darfur and speaking for human rights in Africa, she has made her acting debut in the cult TV show Gossip Girl.
Other new "It" girls include Leigh Lezark, the raven-haired American DJ who was a permanent front row fixture at Paris Fashion Week; Jen Brill, the girlfriend of the photographer Terry Richardson and girl-about-Manhattan, and the saucy singer Katy Perry. Despite the fact designers are queuing up to dress them, they do their own thing. Same goes for Isabel Lucas, the former soap star, and her fellow Australian actress Abbie Cornish, both of whom are the breath of fresh air that fashion - and Hollywood - has been gagging for.
We all know there are hard times ahead but there will be great frockwatching, too. Bring it on.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Three stars
Bharatanatyam
A ancient classical dance from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Intricate footwork and expressions are used to denote spiritual stories and ideas.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Company%20profile
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RESULT
Chelsea 2
Willian 13'
Ross Barkley 64'
Liverpool 0
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
RESULTS
Cagliari 5-2 Fiorentina
Udinese 0-0 SPAL
Sampdoria 0-0 Atalanta
Lazio 4-2 Lecce
Parma 2-0 Roma
Juventus 1-0 AC Milan
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
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
SRI LANKA SQUAD
Upul Tharanga (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella
Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana
Chamara Kapugedara, Thisara Perera, Seekuge Prasanna
Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera
Vishwa Fernando, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay
A Long Way Home by Peter Carey
Faber & Faber
Match info:
Portugal 1
Ronaldo (4')
Morocco 0
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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