The 2024 Met Gala is here.
Each year, fashion's biggest night out has celebrities and fashion designers flocking to New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art for an evening of sartorial splendour to mark the opening of the Costume Institute’s latest exhibition.
This year, the exhibition titled Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion has lent itself to The Garden of Time theme, with stars including Kendall Jenner, Michelle Yeoh and Lana Del Rey in attendance.
“Florals? For Spring? Groundbreaking,” Meryl Streep's character Miranda Priestly sarcastically said in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada. The line, based on the inner workings of Vogue and its famed editor Anna Wintour who runs the Met Gala annually, feels like a relevant read of the 2024 red carpet and its attendees.
In interpreting the horticultural theme, a crop of starlets opted for floral creations.
Nicki Minaj donned Marni by Francesco Risso, in the form of a yellow minidress adorned with pink, orange and blue flowers; Amanda Seyfried sported a metallic Prada gown, dotted in frosted florals; and Riley Keough wore a semi-sheer Chanel gown with sequinned petals.
On the fantasy end of the spectrum, we saw a host of stars inspired by fairy tales, unsurprisingly Sleeping Beauty in particular. Jenner appeared to wear Maleficent-inspired black Givenchy by Alexander McQueen; Saltburn star Barry Keoghan dressed in a brown velvet Burberry suit, which looked like it had been lifted from the pages of a Victorian children's story; and Kim Kardashian wore dramatic corsetry by Maison Margiela.
Co-chair Zendaya walked the red carpet twice, with two distinct John Galliano looks.
Her initial arrival saw her in a deep blue Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano creation, fit for a fairy-tale villain. She later swapped her look for a black gown from Galliano's spring/summer 1996 Givenchy collection with a Philip Treacy for Alexander McQueen floral hat.
Cardi B took the crown for one of the most dramatic moments of the night. One of the final arrivals at the event, the American rapper shut down the red carpet in a voluminous black tulle Windowsen gown that covered much of the Met Gala entrance and staircase.
Sartorial craftsmanship also dominated the conversation on the night.
Model Gigi Hadid donned a custom-made white gown by Thom Browne, decorated with scattered 3D yellow roses, which took more than 70 people about 13,500 hours to construct, according to the designer.
“It’s always a privilege to watch Gigi come to life. She is a true talent who shines at whatever she does,” Browne told Vogue. “I wanted her look to embody the fragility and immense work that you see in [museum curator Andrew Bolton’s] exhibition, blooming on the carpet and into the Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
Co-host Jennifer Lopez wore a Schiaparelli gown, which she told red carpet reporters took “about 800 hours” of work and featured 2.5 million beads, in a bid for her to “be perfect for the Sleeping Beauties [theme]”. On the night, Lopez and Zendaya served as co-hosts along with Wintour, Chris Hemsworth and Bad Bunny.
A number of stars wore looks by Indian designers. Actress Alia Bhatt arrived in an ethereal blue sari by Sabyasachi, which was decorated with embroidery and gems that reportedly took more than 1,900 hours to put together.
Isha Ambani, daughter of Mukesh and Nita Ambani, arrived wearing a fishtail dress with a long train by Rahul Mishra, which transitioned from antique gold to a flower, butterfly and dragonfly embellishment on the train. The gown took more than 10,000 hours to complete, according to Isha's stylist Anaita Shroff Adajania.
Mindy Kaling, meanwhile, wore a pale champagne-coloured gown by Gaurav Gupta, with intricate and ornate pleats framing her face.
Nepalese-American designer Prabal Gurung was also a go-to on the night. Bridgerton star Simone Ashley arrived in a sequinned, cut-out dress by the designer, who also created a look for Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova. Speaking to Town & Country magazine, Gurung said he wanted to “blend the ideas of Sleeping Beauty and the Garden of Time, combining the delicateness and floral elements into a couture gown”. The outcome was a layered yellow and green dress, created alongside bedding company Boll & Branch, truly taking the Sleeping Beauty cue to heart.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Top investing tips for UAE residents in 2021
Build an emergency fund: Make sure you have enough cash to cover six months of expenses as a buffer against unexpected problems before you begin investing, advises Steve Cronin, the founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com.
Think long-term: When you invest, you need to have a long-term mindset, so don’t worry about momentary ups and downs in the stock market.
Invest worldwide: Diversify your investments globally, ideally by way of a global stock index fund.
Is your money tied up: Avoid anything where you cannot get your money back in full within a month at any time without any penalty.
Skip past the promises: “If an investment product is offering more than 10 per cent return per year, it is either extremely risky or a scam,” Mr Cronin says.
Choose plans with low fees: Make sure that any funds you buy do not charge more than 1 per cent in fees, Mr Cronin says. “If you invest by yourself, you can easily stay below this figure.” Managed funds and commissionable investments often come with higher fees.
Be sceptical about recommendations: If someone suggests an investment to you, ask if they stand to gain, advises Mr Cronin. “If they are receiving commission, they are unlikely to recommend an investment that’s best for you.”
Get financially independent: Mr Cronin advises UAE residents to pursue financial independence. Start with a Google search and improve your knowledge via expat investing websites or Facebook groups such as SimplyFI.
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Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
Mane points for safe home colouring
- Natural and grey hair takes colour differently than chemically treated hair
- Taking hair from a dark to a light colour should involve a slow transition through warmer stages of colour
- When choosing a colour (especially a lighter tone), allow for a natural lift of warmth
- Most modern hair colours are technique-based, in that they require a confident hand and taught skills
- If you decide to be brave and go for it, seek professional advice and use a semi-permanent colour
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Oppenheimer
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UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
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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Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
THE DETAILS
Director: Milan Jhaveri
Producer: Emmay Entertainment and T-Series
Cast: John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee
Rating: 2/5
Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.