The opening day of Milan Fashion Week on Tuesday was always going to be a big deal, with the first tentative return to a live audience in 18 long months.
While shows were a mix of runway and digital presentations, the collections felt more solid, more optimistic. Like in New York and London, designers this season offered a reaction to the pandemic and a first look at life after it.
Here are the highlights from day one.
Fendi
At Fendi, Kim Jones served up a beautiful collection of flowing lines and immaculate proportions. Using the drawings of Antonio Lopez – the illustrator friend of the late Karl Lagerfeld who contributed to Fendi decades ago – as decoration, Jones found a sophisticated stride.
Wide-legged trousers, cut-away tuxedos and billowing kaftans in colours that shifted from creamy bone through to inky black helped onlookers to envision a timeless wardrobe.
Roberto Cavalli
In his first collection for the house, new creative director Fausto Puglisi revisited many of the codes that made Cavalli so beloved in the first place.
Dresses were carved around the body – often quite literally – while signature animal prints appeared on dresses, tops and, best of all, a huge puffed skirt, covered with the face of a tiger and worn with a bandeau bra top.
Alberta Ferretti
As an antidote to being cooped up for so long, Ferretti used butterflies to signal our return to the world. Often distilled down to blues and greens on her trademark chiffon looks, the result was beguiling. Added to this, Ferretti turned to handmade elements, such as knotted fringing and macrame as a way to show how much we have all missed simple human interaction.
Jil Sander
The masculine, almost utilitarian aesthetic of the house was softened this season, perhaps because the designer duo behind the label, husband and wife Lucie and Luke Meier, have just had their first child.
The result is a more relaxed, more rounded approach that featured wide-shouldered blazers with vast handkerchiefs tied at the neck, and simple yet comfortable mid-length dresses.
Chopova Lowena
This design duo are obsessed with reworking off-cuts and creating handmade elements, regardless of how scrambled the results.
And while this approach can deliver some hectic combinations, it is also the label's greatest strength, taking viewers on a creative journey. The spring/summer collection offers a dress in two different fabrics that is now joined vertically, and jackets covered in charmingly naive drawings.
Wonderfully chaotic, it just shouts about how much fun fashion is meant to be, and how we could all use a little joy in our lives right now.
Read more
Victoria Beckham, Harris Reed and JW Anderson round out London Fashion Week in style
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In numbers
Number of Chinese tourists coming to UAE in 2017 was... 1.3m
Alibaba’s new ‘Tech Town’ in Dubai is worth... $600m
China’s investment in the MIddle East in 2016 was... $29.5bn
The world’s most valuable start-up in 2018, TikTok, is valued at... $75bn
Boost to the UAE economy of 5G connectivity will be... $269bn
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
