The online luxury website Moda Operandi, which allows you to pre-order next season's collections as soon as they hit the runway, was co-founded by the fashion industry insiders (and firm friends) Áslaug Magnúsdóttir and Lauren Santo Domingo. The portal that they dub a high-end "pretailer" went live last year. Magnúsdóttir, nicknamed "fashion's fairy godmother" by Vogue, gave a progress report during a visit to the UAE.
What makes Moda Operandi stand out from the e-commerce crowd?
It is the first site to allow customers to pre-order runway styles, compared to many online retailers that focus on selling last season's inventory at a discount. Moda Operandi is the first online luxury "pretailer" that basically allows customers to pre-order next season's collections right after they are presented on the runway. We send our team to photograph the collection in the hours or days after the runway show and then run a trunk show of the entire collection on our site in as little as 48 hours after the pieces were shown.
What prompted you to set up the site?
I first came up with the idea while working with designers in New York and abroad. The designers kept lamenting that many of their favourite pieces in their collections weren't being ordered by traditional retailers and therefore weren't getting produced. At the same time, friends would tell me how they loved a certain runway piece but they couldn't source it. So in essence, I wanted to find a way to connect designers directly with the women who appreciate them. I called Lauren and shared my concept with her and she immediately got it.
What's the biggest benefit for designers?
Getting designers was probably the easiest part of setting up this business because the timing was good and people had grown accustomed to shopping for fashion online due to the emergence of discount websites.
That said, when we approached designers in the summer of 2010, many of them were anxious that the "full-price business" would diminish given the focus on discounting. When we presented them with a sustainable model of full-price retail, they thought it was a dream. It did take longer to secure the more established French and Italian houses because they sought guarantees that the concept was here to stay. In general, though, designers embraced the concept and we now work with more than 300 brands globally. I think designers like working with us because our pre-order model provides them with the earliest feedback possible on what pieces and trends are actually resonating with consumers. Also, our pre-order enables us to provide designers with a positive cash flow going into production - that's a huge advantage, not least for emerging designers.
Online retail is a relatively new concept in the region. What convinces you that the Middle Eastern shopper will jump on board?
The Middle East is actually one of our fastest-growing markets. Women in the region love and closely follow fashion but sometimes struggle to secure pieces they are most excited about. We have a solid, active customer base here.
How does payment work?
Customers pay a 50 per cent deposit upon ordering and the remaining amount is charged upon shipping. Customers then receive the pieces at the same time, if not a bit earlier, than when the collections arrive in stores.
What's next for Moda Operandi?
We are launching our in-season shopping in the next couple of months that will feature a highly curated selection of products across all categories to complement our pre-order trunk shows. Additionally, we are hosting our very first pop-up shop in Brazil in March featuring pieces from some of the British designers who are having a huge moment right now.
Any plans to introduce menswear?
There will be a small selection of menswear in the holiday gift guide that we will launch imminently.
Visit Moda Operandi at www.modaoperandi.com. Contact a personal stylist at stylist@modaoperandi.com
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Sri Lanka squad for tri-nation series
Angelo Mathews (c), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Janith Perera, Thisara Perera, Asela Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Shehan Madushanka, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan and Wanidu Hasaranga
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
MATCH INFO
Leeds United 0
Brighton 1 (Maupay 17')
Man of the match: Ben White (Brighton)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
