Emotions and rumours ran wild on the second day of the Paris haute-couture shows. At Giorgio Armani Privé in the morning, where Cate Blanchett, Emanuelle Beart and Megan Fox took front-row seats, the whisper was that the 73-year-old designer, who is known to be recovering from hepatitis, is dangerously ill.
No wonder that the sight of him at the finale, tanned and grinning at the end of the catwalk, following one of his best collections in years, caused a roar from the normally restrained fashion crowd.
You can always rely on Armani for a bit of sparkle. This is emerging as a huge trend especially for red-carpet evening wear for autumn/winter 2009/2010, along with Joan Crawford-style shoulders, floor-length gowns and neat little skirt suits.
Earlier, George Chakra's sublime beaded flapper dresses in grungy hues of teal and graphite oozed the sort of gritty glamour that fans including Cheryl Cole and Paris Hilton adore.
Armani also demonstrated a lightness of touch and restraint when it comes to bling. Most of the 50 looks in the legendary Italian designer's show at the Palais de Chaillot, came dripping with beading, rhinestones, twinkling embroidery and crystal-studded zips which snaked down the spines of hourglass frocks and never once looked anything but elegant and tasteful.
After the show the sprightly Armani hosted a party to launch his new fragrance, l'Idole.
There were, however, tears on the catwalk at Christian Lacroix's final collection of 24 perfect couture outfits, mostly in a palette of sombre black and navy lace with slashed backs and ultra-short hemlines.
The show, staged in the Salon des Boisiers of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs on the rue de Rivoli, was always going to be dramatic (drama is one of his trademarks).
Extremely beautiful and wearable cape coats, black lace shorts, a silver sequin-encrusted peplum jacket and bouncy ballerina tutus, reminded assembled VIP guests, including a sobbing François Lesage, of the Parisian couture embroidery firm, of the fashion world's loss.
When the moment came for Lacroix to take his final bow (to Frank Sinatra's I Did It My Way, sung in French), it was quicker and more painful than anyone had expected.
The crowd applauded. The French designer, who only filed in May for protection from creditors, shrugged. A banner spelling out "Lacroix forever" unravelled and a chapter of fashion history ended along with rumours about a wealthy client and a rescue package.
There has been a weird uncertainty hanging in the air for the past week in Paris. Even when it became clear that Lacroix had gone bust (12 of 24 workers were laid off last Friday) it was assumed that certain French authorities might step in.
It was, after all, Lacroix who ironically rescued haute couture from extinction in the 1980s when he invented the pouf skirt. Now, pouf and he's gone. Actually, one hour after his show he rocked up at the Givenchy show.
Here, the designer, Riccardo Tisci gave a nod to traditional Middle Eastern dress, with variations on the abaya and hooded djellaba, accessorised with Bedouin face jewellery and masks.
A dramatic rumour surfaced later at the Andy Warhol exhibition preview at the Grand Palais, hosted by Dior CEO, Sidney Toledeno.
Karl Lagerfeld was about to be joined at Chanel by Hedi Slimane, the man who invented the skinny-trousered look, but so far not much else.
By 10pm, when the house lights finally dimmed for the Chanel show, staged in the metal and glass surroundings of the Grand Palais, this had been long forgotten.
There is currently one reliable star in the couture firmament and it's Kaiser Karl.
From the moment the first model, Sasha Pivovarova, stepped onto the specially erected white Perspex stage featuring two giant bottles of Chanel No 5, wearing a glittering tweed suit, lined in leopard print, lacy tights and Rapunzel-like hair extensions, a new trend was born.
Models strutted across the stage and posed purposefully in various styles of tweed suits, high-heeled brogues and cloche hats totally different and far more exciting (and wearable) than anything we had seen in the last two days.
No wonder the vast crowd was riveted. Couture is about fantasy but its always nice to be brought down to earth with clothes that have a relevance in the modern world.
Moving from daywear more often embellished with studs and intricate embroidery to evening wear, a theme of asymmetric hemlines developed. Knee length suits also featured a long back panel, which swept the floor. Longer back panels also were incorporated into glittering gowns with panels of sheer and opaque, studded with twinkling crystals, baubles and beads.
For the finale, the panel on one of the giant bottles rolled back to reveal a bouffanted bride in a babydoll dress and a groom in a white tuxedo. Breathtaking stuff.
There may come a day when Lagerfeld and the Chanel haute-couture show cease to matter. Tuesday night certainly wasn't it.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
The Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets
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Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
Normcore explained
Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
MATCH INFO
England 2
Cahill (3'), Kane (39')
Nigeria 1
Iwobi (47')
If you go
- The nearest international airport to the start of the Chuysky Trakt is in Novosibirsk. Emirates (www.emirates.com) offer codeshare flights with S7 Airlines (www.s7.ru) via Moscow for US$5,300 (Dh19,467) return including taxes. Cheaper flights are available on Flydubai and Air Astana or Aeroflot combination, flying via Astana in Kazakhstan or Moscow. Economy class tickets are available for US$650 (Dh2,400).
- The Double Tree by Hilton in Novosibirsk ( 7 383 2230100,) has double rooms from US$60 (Dh220). You can rent cabins at camp grounds or rooms in guesthouses in the towns for around US$25 (Dh90).
- The transport Minibuses run along the Chuysky Trakt but if you want to stop for sightseeing, hire a taxi from Gorno-Altaisk for about US$100 (Dh360) a day. Take a Russian phrasebook or download a translation app. Tour companies such as Altair-Tour ( 7 383 2125115 ) offer hiking and adventure packages.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
