Models walk the runway for the Victoria Beckham SS18 show during New York Fashion Week on September 10, 2017 in New York. / AFP PHOTO / EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ
Models walk the runway for the Victoria Beckham SS18 show during New York Fashion Week on September 10, 2017 in New York. / AFP PHOTO / EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ

Live from New York Fashion Week: Victoria Beckham versus Philipp Plein



Victoria Beckham and Philipp Plein presented shows at two opposite ends of the spectrum during New York Fashion Week.

Beckham's show notes spoke of a desire to express strength through delicacy, and the collection did exactly that. Like Jonathan Simkhai, Beckham choose muted pastel colours and soft creams that were relaxed and calm, and just as the designer herself has embraced a more androgynous style, so her spring/summer 2018 collection felt more ambiguous and pared back. Mixing crisp cottons with off-duty silhouettes, this was a truly lovely collection, dominated by a stunningly soft palette.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Philipp Plein stayed true to his reputation for serving up the unpredictable and exploring the darker side of life. Under the theme Good Gone Bad, Plein stuck to the rockstar staples of  logoed T-shirts, and studded leather and denim, this time throwing in deconstructed corsetry for good measure.

Although definitely risqué by UAE standards (having Dita Von Teese in a giant glass is always going to put a certain slant on things), in New York the spectacle felt right at home. Pleinn had the unlikely models 21 Savage, Rich the Kid and Metro Boomin walking for him, and just in case we hadn't understood properly, he wrote Good Gone Bad across a male model’s torso, and enlisted Nicky Minaj to play at the afterparty.

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'Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World’s Sole Superpower'
Michael Beckley, Cornell Press

Company profile

Name: Steppi

Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic

Launched: February 2020

Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year

Employees: Five

Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai

Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings

Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year

THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

While you're here
Company profile

Company: Verity

Date started: May 2021

Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif

Based: Dubai

Sector: FinTech

Size: four team members

Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000

Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

The biog

Name: Abeer Al Shahi

Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan

Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.

Favourite activities: Bungee jumping

Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

Red Joan

Director: Trevor Nunn

Starring: Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Tereza Srbova

Rating: 3/5 stars

BORDERLANDS

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis

Director: Eli Roth

Rating: 0/5

MATCH INFO

Who: France v Italy
When: Friday, 11pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports

Women & Power: A Manifesto

Mary Beard

Profile Books and London Review of Books 

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet

Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465

Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder

Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm

Transmission: Nine-speed automatic

Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km

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.

The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Transmission: ten-speed

Power: 420bhp

Torque: 624Nm

Price: Dh325,125

On sale: Now

If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.