Lebanese design duo Azzi & Osta have launched their first e-commerce site, azziandosta.com, in an attempt to promote slow fashion and better connect with their global customer base.
The designers are also keen to show that, despite the setbacks wrought by the Beirut Port explosion in August, which laid waste to their new atelier, they are looking to the future.
“With all the uncertainty that 2020 brought along, we wanted to create an online space for the brand to be accessible globally, especially having witnessed the remarkable growth of our ready-to-wear collections.
"The website aesthetic is a reflection of the brand’s codes, a digital space to navigate and escape,” say the brand’s founders, George Azzi and Assaad Osta, whose designs have been worn by the likes of Beyonce, Queen Rania of Jordan and, most recently Megan Fox.
Lebanon is everything for us. It's always a source of our inspiration and we know that whatever we do going forward will be more and more an ode to Lebanon
Speaking to The National in the aftermath of the explosion in Beirut, the duo reaffirmed their commitment to their homeland, in spite of the challenges they face.
“Lebanon is everything for us. It’s always a source of our inspiration and we know that whatever we do going forward will be more and more an ode to Lebanon. We like to think that we create dreams and those dreams are made in Lebanon,” they said.
Notably, the brand has decided to launch its new e-commerce site with a pre-order model, which they say will help minimise waste and “create much-needed equilibrium between supply and demand”.
The aim of the new site is to create a welcoming space that replicates the experience offered in the brand’s bricks and mortar atelier. Azzi & Osta's spring/summer 2020 and autumn/winter 2021 collections, which both feature a selection of gowns, slim-line cocktail dresses and sleek separates, are currently available for pre-order on the site, and will be delivered within two to four weeks of an order being placed.
Azzi and Osta’s signatures are evident throughout, from sculptured silhouettes to eye-catching embroidery and clouds of tulle. Elsewhere, exaggerated pleats stand to attention with razor-sharp precision and a classic trench coat is reimagined with a lace-panelled back.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Gulf Men's League final
Dubai Hurricanes 24-12 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
RACECARD
4.30pm Jebel Jais – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (Turf) 1,000m
5pm: Jabel Faya – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (T) 1,000m
5.30pm: Al Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m
6pm: The President’s Cup Prep – Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club – Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m
7pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m
7.30pm: Jebel Hafeet – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
