London Fashion Week kicked off in a buoyant mood. Sandwiched between the big-money capitals of New York and Milan, this particular fashion city is well aware that its strengths lie in showcasing young, emerging talent and trailblazing cutting-edge trends.
Both were evident on Friday. Shows and presentations by Corrie Nielsen, Bora Aksu, Basso & Brooke and the newcomer Teatum Jones produced some trends that mirrored those we saw coming out of New York last week (sportswear, tangerine, black and white), and many more that could only ever have come from London (print, punk, origami pattern-cutting, washable suede bikinis and asymmetric hems).
The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, officially opened the event, commenting on the exciting year it has been for British fashion, notably Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen creating the wedding dress for the Duchess of Cambridge and the opening of a shopping mall adjoining the new Olympic Park, which has received almost £2 billion (Dh11.6bn) in investment from the private sector.
Flicking back his unruly hair, the mayor congratulated himself on rescuing significant funding from the "jaws of the treasury" and securing it for the good of the home designer industry.
Following a summer of riots and gloomy retail sales, this was good news. He also announced a collaboration of fashion and sporting projects to coincide with the 2012 Olympics.
"By reducing youth employment we can solve crime and unlock the niche of talent I believe this country has," he said.
He revealed one instance where a young woman had approached him ("post-riot") asking him to find her a job in fashion.
"Who knows, she could be the next Stella McCartney," said Johnson, adding: "Have I got that right?"
London fashion historically remains very youth-centred, both in its art-school graduate designers and clothes on the catwalks here.
While many defect to New York or Paris, some are happy to remain. Some do a bit of both, such as Justin Thornton and Thea Bragazzi of the label Preen, who staged a catwalk show in Manhattan last week and a static presentation in London.
"We still feel very much part of the scene here," London-based Bragazzi told me, talking me through the spring/summer 2012 range featuring textured crepe and metallic silk slim skirts and sequinned dresses, with frilled trims on hems and sleeve cuffs, in pastel shades.
The little tangerine dress is coming through as a firm favourite, featuring in the collections of Felder Felder and Jean-Pierre Braganza.
A major trend to emerge is print, which is traditionally something of a London "thing". Although it's been a case of the rest of the fashion community coming around to their way of thinking, the print specialist Basso & Brooke, who pioneered digital printing techniques, proved who does it best.
Showing their seventh collection in one of three venues at London, an old post office sorting office near the British museum in Bloomsbury, Chris Brooke and Bruno Basso sent out simple, fluid day dresses in geometric patterns and muted shades of greys, cream and blue infused with bolts of bright colour.
The inspiration for the collection was a 35-day drive from London to Beijing undertaken by Basso. "Some of the landscape was so bleak I started to fantasise about colour."
The finesse of this was complemented by Brooke's ingenious origami-like pattern cutting which, although complex, looked effortless and flattering to the female form.
Key trends so far include long, svelte tube dresses and loose tunics slashed to the thigh; tribal-like neon Day-Glo neckpieces and asymmetric hems, including the so-called "double dip", which is longer at the back than the front.
Models appearing on the London catwalks are often paid in clothes, a fact that keeps some high earners away. However, the UK capital remains a good place for emerging talent. On the Felder Felder catwalk was Amber Le Bon, 21, the daughter of the 1980s pop star Simon Le Bon and the model Yasmin Le Bon.
She has the elegant poise of her mother but is equally sought after for the attribute (pixie boots and head band-aside) that helped make her father a star: hair. Le Bon's reaches past her waist, and modestly covered her back in one revealing evening gown.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
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The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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MATCH INFO
Fixture: Thailand v UAE, Tuesday, 4pm (UAE)
TV: Abu Dhabi Sports
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Company%C2%A0profile
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY 2 MANCHESTER UNITED 5
Galaxy: Dos Santos (79', 88')
United: Rashford (2', 20'), Fellaini (26'), Mkhitaryan (67'), Martial (72')
The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
Surianah's top five jazz artists
Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.
Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.
Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.
Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.
Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.