Black Book: The latest from Bentley, Miu Miu, Pat McGrath and Louis Vuitton

Every week The National's Luxury magazine team puts together Black Book, a cheat sheet of the most interesting and noteworthy arrivals in fashion, watches, jewellery and cars.

Bentley Flying Spur

Bentley has launched its fourth generation Flying Spur as its first four-door supercar. An all-new hybrid, it blurs the line between a performance sedan and an electric vehicle. The V8 engine can do 0-100 kilometres per hour in 3.5 seconds, half a second faster than its predecessor. This latest model is the result of nearly 20 years of refinement to create what Bentley describes as a ‘spirited’ drive.

Pat McGrath

Pat McGrath is the make-up artist behind some of the most famous runway looks of all time – such as the glassy skin of the Maison Margiela haute couture show earlier this year. Now she has now added a bronzer to her line of cosmetics. Skin Fetish: Divine Bronzer comes in eight lightweight, silky shades and is designed to be swept on to cheeks and temples for a subtle, sun-kissed look. The vegan recipe is available in demi-matte or pearl finish.

Miu Miu

Miu Miu has launched a series of pop-ups for a collection inspired by regal British style. Miu Miu Balmoral – it is named after the Royal retreat in Scotland – is a wardrobe filled with diamond-patterned knitwear and tweed-covered bags mixed with mini skirts and baseball caps. The pop-ups are currently only in Asia, featuring in stores in Seoul, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Osaka, Tokyo and Shanghai, but the collection can be found online at miumiu.com. The limited-edition collection is only available in September and October.

Louis Vuitton

The famous Louis Vuitton Neverfull bag turns 17 this year. To mark the occasion, the fashion house has released a new iteration – the Neverfull Inside Out.

As the name suggests, this is the same roomy tote but is now fully reversible. It is made with a traditional coated canvas exterior, one side showcasing Vuitton’s distinctive monogram and the other, once flipped inside out, showing off the striped interior (including the stamped pocket) that was previously hidden away.

Available in numerous colourways, the striped side bag comes in a neutral shade, a bold yellow or a sassy pink and contrasts the classic Vuitton brown. A separate, detachable pocket can be matched to the inside colour.

Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara