There’s no better way to support local talent than by donning their made-in-the-UAE designs. And there are quite a few worthy of mention.
If you're a fan of festival fashion and love to rock colours, a kaftan by Neon Edge is just the thing for you. From bright coral reds to electric cobalt blues, its founder Mona Fares combines traditional silhouettes with intricate lace borders, which can be seen online at www.monafares.com. On the same festive note, for floral headwear, look no further than stylist Chloe Bosher's home-grown brand, Dot Your T's and Cross Your I's, offering caps, headbands and cute cat-ear headpieces covered in beautiful flowers, sold at beachwear boutique Praias.
For style that's bold but retains a feminine flair, you'll love the latest tulle-trimmed maxi skirts and bell-sleeved crop tops by the local brand Dinz, founded by sisters Rima and Dina Zahran, who've expanded their brand into homeware accessories, available through their website www.dinzboutique.com.
For directional fashion that’s ultra unique, look into Reemami, founded by the graphic illustrator Reema Al Banna. Her latest collection portrays women’s empowerment through boxing-glove motifs, and features a fringed skirt made purely from shoelaces, available through The Cartel gallery and boutique in Dubai.
If you’re one of those shoppers who always seems to be on a pattern high, on the lookout for the quirkiest of graphic prints, OTT, stocked at ValleyDez in Dubai, has it covered – from skirts flaunting faces of Audrey Hepburn to ponchos printed with poses by Elizabeth Taylor. For overcharged prints in a more cultural context, FMM by Fatma Al Mulla, known throughout the region for her fun phone cases, has a new line of tops, skirts and reversible kaftans, available at Ush Boutique in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
It's quite possible that the above brands are simply not to your taste. Your sense of style may be more urban and fashion-forward in a subtler way. If that's the case, you're bound to bond with Ahmed El Sayed and Saleh Al Banna, the men behind House of Nomad, who made a much-talked-about debut at Dubai's Fashion Forward last month. Their latest collection can be found at The Luxury Arcade in Abu Dhabi. Also noteworthy is the women's wear label Lili.Aiya, a member of the new Dubai Design District's "Resid3nt" community. Her tops and tunic dresses combine modesty and comfort with chic appeal and immaculate attention to detail. As well, the up-and-coming streetwear brand Juniors Be Junior, available online through www.namshi.com, has luxe loungewear and statement snapback caps on offer. Speaking of snapbacks, check out Mermaid by D, a local label that makes snapbacks embroidered with whimsical "mermaid" text, found at The Fashion Vault in Dubai.
When highlighting local talents, I can hardly leave out the abaya brands, with creations that are often some of the most unique and forward-thinking. For abayas that feature metallic pops, textured fabrics and a fun feminine flounce, see Bleach, at House of Fraser in Abu Dhabi, and for pieces driven by luxe minimalism and inspired by Emirati heritage, discover Anthropology of Design on its website www.anthropologyofdesign.com and at Resid3nt pop-ups.
Next time you go for a mall crawl, seek out these UAE-based labels. They’re more appealing than typical high-street finds.
UAE%20SQUAD
%3Cp%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Aryan%20Lakra%2C%20Ashwanth%20Valthapa%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20CP%20Rizwaan%2C%20Hazrat%20Billal%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%20and%20Zawar%20Farid.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Notable Yas events in 2017/18
October 13-14 KartZone (complimentary trials)
December 14-16 The Gulf 12 Hours Endurance race
March 5 Yas Marina Circuit Karting Enduro event
March 8-9 UAE Rotax Max Challenge
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
