The socialite Olivia Palermo was one of many wearing athleisure looks at this year’s fashion weeks. Timur Emek/Getty Images)
The socialite Olivia Palermo was one of many wearing athleisure looks at this year’s fashion weeks. Timur Emek/Getty Images)

Fashion notes: The new trending terms is ‘athleisure’



Long-limbed women sporting sleek leggings and casual zip-up hoodies or jackets, perhaps tied around their hourglass waists, are growing in number by the day. Their lean figures briskly pass by in the shopping malls, or stand in line at the cash registers of supermarkets, almost taunting you to do whatever they're doing to get fitter. Is it working? Yes, it is.

Take it from someone who, aside from playing volleyball in high school and sporadically at university, has never really worked out. Put me in a gym, and I won’t know what buttons to press on a treadmill, let alone the uses of any of the other towering, intimidating machines. But as a response to the growing fitness fad, I have joined GuavaPass – the membership service that gives you a big selection of classes around Dubai every week – and have attempted barre, spin, twerk, aerial swing and yoga classes during the past couple of months.

Naturally, I have noticed a change in my shopping habits, too. While I will still do the rounds at Zara and Topshop, my eyes have started lingering longer than usual in the store displays of Adidas and Go Sport. Now, I would much rather splurge on a few pieces from the new floral collection by ­Stella McCartney for Adidas than on a grey wrap-front jumpsuit from Zara. I say splurge, because athletic wear doesn’t come cheap, especially from big-name sport retailers. But it’s a necessity, I tell myself, because looking good while working out is essential to feeling good during (and leading up to) a class.

Parading your gym garb in public was not always an admirable fashion act. But with the increasing inclination towards healthy living, eating, dieting and exercising, it’s a mode of dressing that’s currently in vogue. And I really hope it stays – it’s a refreshing, and ­somewhat liberating, shift in terms of style standards. Casual trainers replace heels and sandals; blazers are switched in for jersey zip-ups. “Athleisure” is a word I recently came across online, and it’s the perfect way to describe this new trend, which isn’t really sports luxe or purely athletic. It’s a marriage of the two – a way to wear gym attire in places other than the gym and get away with it, with the addition (or not) of one or two accessories.

Where once a Juicy ­Couture sweatsuit was the “it” way to publicly proclaim that you worked out, or at least had some sort of exercise regime going on at home, the current craze is more subtle, and thankfully lacks brightly coloured, crystal-­emblazoned velour. There’s no need to overthink athleisure – black leggings, a tank or a baggy sweater and trainers will do just fine. Conveniently, it’s a style that’s being frequently spotted outside fashion weeks, too – and that’s because it just happens to be the typical uniform of a model. After walking the runways, models love nothing else than to get back into their comfy street clothing, which usually consists of a pair of leggings, trainers and a jacket, traditionally in all-black.

Fashion-week guests, too, are clearly inspired by athleisure, often adding just one or two non-gym-related additions to an outfit to give it more character. Olivia Palermo, for example, strutted around London fashion week in a particularly enviable ensemble, which with the exception of her strappy red heels, screamed “sporty”. The lesson to be learnt? Workout attire is perfectly suitable in street style, and if you want to make a more flashy statement, keep a spare pair of heels if you must. And whatever you do, don’t think that the socks-and-heels fashion rule can be applied to rubber Nike slides – keep that look solely for the studio.

hlodi@thenational.ae

Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Dunki
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Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma

When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Neymar's bio

Total club appearances 411

Total goals scored 241

Appearances for Barca 186

Goals scored for Barca 105

Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Credit Score explained

What is a credit score?

In the UAE your credit score is a number generated by the Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), which represents your credit worthiness – in other words, your risk of defaulting on any debt repayments. In this country, the number is between 300 and 900. A low score indicates a higher risk of default, while a high score indicates you are a lower risk.

Why is it important?

Financial institutions will use it to decide whether or not you are a credit risk. Those with better scores may also receive preferential interest rates or terms on products such as loans, credit cards and mortgages.

How is it calculated?

The AECB collects information on your payment behaviour from banks as well as utilitiy and telecoms providers.

How can I improve my score?

By paying your bills on time and not missing any repayments, particularly your loan, credit card and mortgage payments. It is also wise to limit the number of credit card and loan applications you make and to reduce your outstanding balances.

How do I know if my score is low or high?

By checking it. Visit one of AECB’s Customer Happiness Centres with an original and valid Emirates ID, passport copy and valid email address. Liv. customers can also access the score directly from the banking app.

How much does it cost?

A credit report costs Dh100 while a report with the score included costs Dh150. Those only wanting the credit score pay Dh60. VAT is payable on top.

What is graphene?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.

It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.