'I started choosing my own clothes from the year dot'



The leading British fashion designer Amanda Wakeley, a favourite of Halle Berry, Queen Rania of Jordan and Scarlett Johansson, talks about her life and influences in fashion. When I was a child, I had a wonderful dressing-up box full of my grandmothers' cast-offs. They were quite glamorous grandmothers: one drove racing cars around Brooklands racing circuit and the other travelled a lot. As the only girl in our family, I spent my life in a world of my own, forever chopping up saris and other treasures I found in that box. My mother was very tolerant of me cutting everything up. I started making my own clothes when I was tall enough to reach the sewing machine, so I was probably eight or nine years old. I can't remember how many times I ran over my fingers with that sewing machine! It was the Seventies and I was always tie-dyeing sheets and creating things. I remember that I loved the physical craft of making garments and learning how to cut things.

My mum was always very stylish and wore lots of flares and platform shoes. It was quite a glamorous era and she wore a lot of clothes by Jaeger, which was very chic at the time. I started choosing my own clothes from the year dot. I absolutely refused to wear my raincoat because it had buttons and was horrible. I remember hiding it on numerous occasions and to this day I have a button phobia. When I was a teenager I shopped at Fiorucci and I was into vintage fashion. I also customised a lot of clothes. My first party dress was more of a party look: I wore skinny silk pants with a strapless drawstring tunic and a headband.

The first really extravagant thing I bought was a pair of tan suede zouave pants, when I was around 15. I must have spent my whole month's allowance on them. I thought they were the epitome of luxury. I also invested in a suede jacket with my first pay cheque, when I worked in a menswear shop in the school holidays. I spent some years in America in the Eighties and when I moved back to London I couldn't find that easy, luxurious, understated style that I'd been used to wearing in the States. So I started designing my own clothes and sold them to friends. My fashion label really evolved from there.

When I design, two strains run alongside each other. The first is the season's theme, such as Rajasthan, and the second is the question "What do you want, as a busy woman, in your wardrobe?" That question is always the reality check - it's the balance of making sure you include the core pieces and tick all those boxes. I look at vintage pieces for inspiration, rather than to copy - I'm more interested in evolving my collection. I find vintage pieces that influence parts of my collection, such as a shoulder line, a panel of beading or a gorgeous colour, and then I wear the modern interpretation.

Showing the spring/summer 2010 collection at London Fashion Week was especially significant for the brand as it was my first collection in 10 years where I was in complete control of my label. So it was a pretty momentous occasion for me. Nerve-racking. The collection has surpassed our expectations, especially in this difficult financial climate, and the figures are up 25 per cent on targeted sales. The UAE is our largest export market and it's very important for us. It's quite a dressed-up society and our evening wear excels there, especially the vibrant evening dresses and kaftans.

Next season's collection is influenced by India and the ease with which Indian men and women drape fabrics around their bodies, often held together with a belt and with a jacket just thrown over the top. There's a real sensuality and fluidity to the collection. I've gone back to the real essence of the brand, which really pleases me. It's an easy luxury. The shoes are designed in collaboration with Camilla Skovgaard.

Everything I wear is from the Amanda Wakeley collection. But I do buy jeans and also T-shirts from James Perse and American Vintage. I fuel my shoe habit at Christian Louboutin, Miu Miu and Azzedine Alaïa. I also buy boots from Miu Miu, which is where I bought my favourite pair of biker boots and also my most recent purchase, a pair of taupe suede over-the-knee boots. I've always loved Louis Vuitton luggage and Hermès Birkin bags. I have a white, tan and a black Birkin and the white one goes back to Hermès every winter to be refurbished. I also own a sand-coloured Hermès Lindy bag - it's big and squishy and not as obvious as a Birkin. I adore evening bags by Zagliani and the hand-stitched baby Fendi Selleria bags, which I have in both gold and silver burnished leather.

I often wear the diamond thong necklace from my jewellery collection. It's five inches of articulated diamond baguettes suspended from a leather strap. I designed it five years ago and wear it with everything. It has really stood the test of time. I'm often asked if I design for myself and the answer is "sometimes". I'd be mad not to as I'm a woman and I feel very in tune with my customers. I never tire of meeting them and I really love seeing women wearing my clothes.

Company%20Profile
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THE SPECS

Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder

Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)

Power: 141bhp 

Torque: 250Nm 

Price: Dh64,500

On sale: Now

Tentative schedule of 2017/18 Ashes series

1st Test November 23-27, The Gabba, Brisbane

2nd Test December 2-6, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

3rd Test Dcember 14-18, Waca, Perth

4th Test December 26-30, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne

5th Test January 4-8, Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney

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.”

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The%20Super%20Mario%20Bros%20Movie
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The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books

SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202-litre%204-cylinder%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E268hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E380Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh208%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

Watch live

The National will broadcast live from the IMF on Friday October 13 at 7pm UAE time (3pm GMT) as our Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi moderates a panel on how technology can help growth in MENA.

You can find out more here

AUSTRALIA SQUADS

ODI squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Twenty20 squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

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 

How to apply for a drone permit
  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
  • Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
  • Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
  • Submit their request
What are the regulations?
  • Fly it within visual line of sight
  • Never over populated areas
  • Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
  • Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
  • Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
  • Should have a live feed of the drone flight
  • Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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)
RESULTS

6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 1 (PA) $55,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Rajeh, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Musabah Al Muhairi (trainer)

6.35pm: Oud Metha Stakes – Rated Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Get Back Goldie, William Buick, Doug O’Neill

7.10pm: Jumeirah Classic – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: Sovereign Prince, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby

7.45pm: Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Hypothetical, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer

8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 2 (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Hot Rod Charlie, William Buick, Doug O’Neill

8.55pm: Al Bastakiya Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Withering, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass

9.30pm: Balanchine – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner: Creative Flair, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
  1. Join parent networks
  2. Look beyond school fees
  3. Keep an open mind