“It’s always good to be back, but it’s not the same,” says Beiruti couturier Rami Kadi. “It’s not like Paris was before the pandemic – it’s very quiet. A lot of clients are not here.”
Rabih Kayrouz echoes his compatriot’s thoughts. “Customers are not back physically; we are still doing lots of appointments remotely online, even for the journalists. Actually,” he admits. “I like this kind of presentation, with a film of the collection online and showroom appointments, rather than a catwalk show.”
It is Haute Couture Week in Paris, and fashion shows are anything but back to normal, with strict Covid-19 protocols for each presentation and seating capacity ruthlessly slashed. The Valentino show, presented at its Paris headquarters, only seated 65 people, whereas normally you would expect 300 or more.
Some designers cautiously cancelled shows, such as Giorgio Armani and Azzaro, but Zuhair Murad decided at the last minute to stage an exclusive presentation, despite Omicron raging through the city, as a bit of a morale booster. His venue was the gilded ballroom of The Westin Paris hotel, which back in the day was the location of Yves Saint Laurent’s famous haute couture collections.
Murad’s collection of finely corseted and beaded gowns on glamazon models in pirate hats captured a bit of that bygone couture romance. His vintage navigation chart prints and constellation embroideries on siren gowns and treasure-chest of jewels dripping over jackets offered escapism from our current reality.
At the Musee Rodin, surrounded by vivid tapestries of Hindu goddesses, hand-embroidered by the Chanakya School of Craft in Mumbai, Maria Grazia Chiuri talked of her collection for Christian Dior. Of it being an investment in human connection, of handcrafted construction, and a recognition of the people in the ateliers that work with her to create the collections.
For summer, crystallised in black, white and Dior grey, the look was quiet and controlled, with long sleek capes, pleated dresses and trouser suits. However, it was the painstaking detail in the craftsmanship and construction – halter dresses made from one piece of mesh or jacquard held together by embroidery and jumpsuits completely constructed from embroidery – that stood out. The evanescent patterns that subtly blended into the colour of the dresses, giving them a calm gleam, were examples of this finesse.
As Chiuri explained in the programme notes: “Embroidered patterns become the central element and are transformed by a vision that makes the atelier a collaborative mode of expression, where haute couture is a form of constant experimentation and questioning.”
In the wider context of experimenting and questioning, we are seeing the start of a resetting of some of couture’s values. For instance, Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Anatomy of Couture moved away from the stereotypical tall, skinny model body shape of the fashion catwalk to show his Valentino collection on a range of beautiful models of different ages and sizes, exploring how a body’s physique evolves with age.
It was a democratising move, resulting in sensuous looks such as fuller-figured models in off-the-shoulder long and midi dresses or an elegant ivory dolman sleeve top paired with a curvy metallic sequin fishtail skirt. In keeping with current trends, there were plenty of micro skirts as well, worn with beautifully decorated coats and black hosiery.
Piccioli’s thoughtful move reflects society’s shift towards body empowerment, so it is interesting to juxtapose his views with that of Thierry Mugler, who died the day before haute couture week began. Mugler once described fashion as “3D art on a human being”.
In the late 1970s and ‘80s he, along with Claude Montana, defined power dressing, reconfiguring the body with big-shouldered 1940s silhouettes of an exaggerated scale – body armour for the new female executive. He also produced body-moulding corsets, worn by the siren supermodels for his catwalk spectaculars and provocatively recorded in Helmut Newton’s glamorously slick black-and-white photographs of the era.
More recently, Mugler created the flesh-coloured latex concoction dripping in crystals for Kim Kardashian to wear to the Met Gala in 2019 and tour pieces for Beyonce. His ideas were avant-garde and revolutionised haute couture at the time, as can be seen in the current exhibition Thierry Mugler: Couturissime at Paris’s Musee des Arts Decoratifs, on until April 24.
Schiaparelli opened this week’s Paris collections and the combination of Mugler’s death a day earlier, and the return of Daniel Roseberry’s collections to the catwalk after Covid, proved an emotional experience for many. There was a sense of loss for those departed, but also a celebration of survival and renewal.
Roseberry’s memorable collection, graphically portrayed in black, white and gold (a monochromatic colour palette is a trend this season) embraced similar extreme silhouettes, with exaggerated collars and shoulders for jackets and dresses. Elsa Schiaparelli’s surrealist heritage was never far away: present in details such as gold palm trees sprouting from the shoulder of a jacket, playful chest-of-drawer handbags, and gold body-part and planetary jewellery.
Couture heritage with reference to Balenciaga and Balmain’s design architecture of the late 1950s and early ‘60s influenced the strong shapes of the luxurious brocades in Maison Rabih Kayrouz’s collection. Juxtaposing the structured pieces were trouser suits with easy fluid silhouettes and long billowing evening gowns in brown, ivory and an uplifting orange.
Eveningwear is the linchpin of haute couture and designers such as Alexandre Vauthier, Olivier Theyskens at Azzaro and Alexis Mabille devote themselves to the craft of making desirable party wear. Stand out looks at Alexis Mabille were a crystal diamond mesh dress with a spine of small bows (a Mabille signature) stacked from chin to toe, and a dramatic black cape with a giant bow collar over a catsuit.
Partygoers would be spoilt for choice at Alexandre Vauthier. With Covid-19 restrictions ending and a pent-up desire to release some energy on the dance floor, Vauthier’s ruffled minidresses are made for the role. It should be remembered that Vauthier’s early career was spent working with Mugler and so there were metallic fabrics, power dressing’s exaggerated jackets over miniskirts and bias-cut dresses (for extra drapery), oozing an overall air of decadence.
Feathery minidresses are a bit of a trend, also appearing in Kadi’s collection. Another experimenter, with an eye on technology, Kadi’s collection was “co-designed” with his computer. He programmed in the shapes, colours, patterns and textures he likes, creating an algorithm by which the computer designed multicoloured swag-beaded mini dresses, intricately beaded jackets over metallic mesh skirts and lots of feathery tulle gowns. Of course, Kadi had the final say on the designs but clearly, he is pushing boundaries.
The use of technology was a reminder of what we have been through in the past two years, with communication reduced to a computer screen. This was how Theyskens learnt to work with Azzaro, over Zoom, when he joined the house just before the pandemic.
Founded in the 1970s by Loris Azzaro, the maison is famed for its shiny eveningwear and Theysken's simple retro-vintage lurex tunic-pant combinations, minidresses, draped jersey, spangled evening gowns and louche pantsuits are an expression of the house’s DNA.
What was particularly pleasing is that Azzaro’s alluring partywear theme, like many of the collections, give a sense of optimism that normal life will eventually resume, even if it hasn’t quite yet.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
RESULTS
6.30pm: Handicap (rated 95-108) US$125,000 2000m (Dirt).
Winner: Don’t Give Up, Gerald Mosse (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer).
7.05pm: Handicap (95 ) $160,000 2810m (Turf).
Winner: Los Barbados, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
7.40pm: Handicap (80-89) $60,000 1600m (D).
Winner: Claim The Roses, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.15pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (Div-1) Conditions $100,000 1,400m (D)
Winner: Gold Town, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
8.50pm: Cape Verdi Group 2 $200,000 1600m (T).
Winner: Promising Run, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.
9.25pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Conditions $100,000 1,400m (D).
Winner: El Chapo, Luke Morris, Fawzi Nass.
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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.
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
SPECS
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
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Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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Honeymoonish
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Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Trolls World Tour
Directed by: Walt Dohrn, David Smith
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake
Rating: 4 stars
'Dark Waters'
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, William Jackson Harper
Rating: ****
Company%20profile
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Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 290hp
Torque: 340Nm
Price: Dh155,800
On sale: now
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
