Inside an elegant, vaulted building, Max Mara delivered a show it dubbed The Camelocracy, in reference to the many shades of sand, caramel, fawn and mocha it presented.
Inspired by Emilie du Chatelet — an 18th-century free-spirited marquise and intellect — the collection was understated yet luxurious.
The famous teddy coat was remade into a dramatic hooded cape, trousers were designed in rich brocade and waists were cinched with wide, polished leather corset belts. Coats were softened with trailing Watteau backs, or hung off one shoulder thanks to leather straps.
Double-breasted suits and parka coats were rich, luscious and exquisitely tailored, while wide-legged trousers were given a modern twist, worn with tailored bustier tops.
Exaggerated shapes featured throughout the collection, in the form of cravat-like collars on crisp white shirts and mini skirts with voluminous trains.
Across town at Prada, in the brutalist concrete space of Fondazione Prada, the show opened with huge garlands of flowers descending from the ceiling to encase the pillars holding the ceiling up. Why? Because the show was a celebration of the unseen. It was about transforming the mundane and overlooked into something remarkable.
Simple white shirts were lengthened into column dresses and given long trains, while bridal embroidery was scattered on simple skirts. Working men’s donkey jackets and duffle coats were also made in lean, floor-length shapes with added volume at the back, creating something new and extraordinary. As a uniform standard colour, grey featured heavily, worn with pointed shoes and flashes of pink, mulberry and mustard, forcing us look at it with fresh eyes.
In this age of mobile phones, most finale parades of models and the appearance of the designer on the runway are unfortunately greeted with near silence, as those in attendance try to capture the moment. Tellingly, when Miuccia Prada and her co-creative director Raf Simons appeared, the applause was deafening.
Rounding out the day was Moschino and, as ever, designer Jeremy Scott was clearly in a playful mood. Inspired by the aggressive hedonism of punk, models stepped on to the runway with huge, spiked hair. The collection featured plenty of the neat twin sets that Moschino's customers adore, intermixed with flashes of the subversive chaos Scott does so well.
There were vast ballgowns in ice cream shades, a black leather dress was created from a biker jacket, and bags, buckles, and shoes all appeared to be melting, with drips caught mid-fall. It was noisy, riotous fun.
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About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
The specs: 2018 Audi RS5
Price, base: Dh359,200
Engine: 2.9L twin-turbo V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 450hp at 5,700rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 1,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.7L / 100km
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
The years Ramadan fell in May
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
More coverage from the Future Forum
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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More on animal trafficking
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The years Ramadan fell in May
