Arab designers Zuhair Murad, Georges Hobeika and Elie Saab may have been forced to withdraw from the haute couture runway in the French capital this week, but the houses that did show proved that, even pitted against a pandemic, the power of imagination is resilient and can soar to dazzling heights.
Paris Haute Couture Week saw the first couture and womenswear collection for Fendi by Kim Jones, the emergence of what Viktor & Rolf dubbed "couture rave" and models on horseback, all of which translated to thoughtful, beautiful and ultimately uplifting collections that took the notion that fashion is about escapism to its zenith.
Here is what to know about the labels that have presented collections so far.
Dior
Perhaps hoping to glimpse a brighter future, over at Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri looked to tarot cards for her inspiration. Delivered virtually as a film by Matteo Garrone, the show was anchored around a young woman in a castle, encountering tarot card characters such as Justice, Temperance and the High Priestess.
With an almost medieval feel, the clothes came in beautifully muted shades of burnished gold satin, olive green silk and parchment-coloured organza, and worked with dense embroidery that looked like old tapestry.
Over several dresses were brocade robes that added to the regal atmosphere, embellished with roundels and rampant with animals motifs like insignia of old. Moodily lit, with drifting smoke and objects that echoed centuries-old portraits mired in hidden meanings, the exceptionally still show offered a moment of quiet amid the noise.
The founder of the house, Christian Dior (like fellow couturier Gabrielle Chanel), was deeply superstitious and believed tarot cards had the power to show the future. For this collection, Chiuri jumps between longing for the future and yearning for the past; in these difficult days, she transports viewers to anywhere but here.
Chanel
For spring / summer 2021, Chanel delivered its haute couture backwards. Showing in its regular haunt, the Grand Palais in Paris – now startlingly empty, save for a few A-listers – the show began with the finale, with all the looks appearing together.
This set the scene for what became a spring wedding theme, while allowing those with short attention spans to see the entire collection without having to sit through the eight-minute video. For their sake, however, hopefully they did watch on, because it was simply lovely to behold.
Light and breathlessly pretty, this collection by Virginie Viard was the stuff of bohemian bridal dreams. With a set comprising floral arches and a petal-strewn floor, Viard showed the full repertoire of the atelier's skill. She delivered masculine tailoring as shrunken, sequined silvery jackets over Oxford bags, an embroidered waistcoat mixed with a boucle skirt, and a man-size shirt worn loose over a floor-length net skirt.
There was hand-painted lace cut into a long peach skirt, a black fitted jacket and a voluminous skirt. Delicate embroidery arrived in all shades, as pretty peach and eau de Nil on black tulle, as tiny pops of cherry on a full skirted strappy dress and, best of all, as a golden cage over a flapper-style black dress.
Adding to the spring romance came an open-front dress covered in lacework daisies, and acres of ruffles in sugary pink, apricot and the palest blue. For the finale, instead of the grand parade, Viard sent out a bride – in exquisitely handworked white duchess satin – riding side-saddle on horseback, trailing a long crystal-strewn veil behind her.
Valentino
For this collection, Pierpaolo Piccioli pared it right back, stripping away the eye-catching prints to instead showcase the remarkable skill of his artisans. Shown as a film, the looks arrived with a description of each piece, plus, charmingly, the names of the team that had worked on it.
Fluid, languid and the exact opposite of constrictive, these clothes flowed loosely about the body, giving the collection a timeless and ageless feel. For the first time, Piccioli introduced menswear into couture, and then bounced ideas across both genders. Sequins arrived as a light strewn hobble dress for her, and a sparkling polo neck for him. A man’s drop-shouldered great coat arrived covered in hand-twisted flowers, while hers was made from intricately folded fabric that looked like origami.
Called Code Temporal, this collection deliberated the here and now, and how we must find ways to live with the present situation. It proved how humble cloth can be transformed into something otherworldly, elevating all around it, an idea echoed in the terrifyingly high platform sandals every woman wore. As Piccioli's atelier proved, in the right hands, fabric can be made to do almost anything.
Viktor & Rolf
Having given up their ready-to-wear some years ago, Dutch designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren are now free to explore the boundaries of couture. For this outing, they came up with the concept of the "couture rave". Embracing the youthful element of raves, mixed with the handwork couture celebrates, the collection almost felt home-made. Obviously, this is home-made unlike anything we have seen, crafted from snips of antiqued lace, handfuls of sequins, layered netting and enough trimmings to outfit the cast of Bridgerton.
Yet the effect was charmingly mismatched, and all the more lovely for it. A crochet bralette top sat over a tiered satin skirt, patched with applique and lace, while another bra-top arrived over a cropped top and huge skirt, completely encrusted with silver beads, buttons and sequins. Elsewhere a cocoon dress was pieced from ruffles, bows and gewgaws in a way that felt joyous, while another look had tights scattered with applique daisies.
Of course, the house of Viktor & Rolf is dab at netting, and there were several excursions into vast skirts – in layered greens, greys and pinks – all worn with cropped tops and single opera gloves. The best look, however, was a shimmery cape, pieced from leftovers and covered in ribbons and bows, which was as summery as it was optimistic. As in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, it carried an air of song about it, an invitation to party.
Schiaparelli
Elsa Schiaparelli founded her couture house in 1927, and in these strange days, the maison’s present designer Daniel Roseberry has fittingly returned to those visual surrealism roots. Fresh from dressing Lady Gaga at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, Roseberry’s spring 2021 couture brimmed with tricks and play.
The show opened with a black satin dress finished with a moulded leather torso and a bright pink bow, and came with a superhero-style six-pack that echoed an idea Schiaparelli herself explored in the 1920s. Glossy black boots came with realistic bronze toes, and a caped jacket had cascading curls perfectly replicated in golden bugle beading. A simple black sheath dress came with enormous drawstring sleeves, and even anoraks were upgraded with sleeping-bag-size hoods.
There were golden padlock bags, large clutches decorated with noses, and a pair of earrings in shocking Schiaparelli pink velvet that doubled as a dress front, pooling all the way down to the floor.
Surreal, witty, unquestionably beautiful and full of promise of better days to come, this is perhaps what we need most in these addled times.
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
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Normcore explained
Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
Florence and the Machine – High as Hope
Three stars
MATCH INFO:
Second Test
Pakistan v Australia, Tuesday-Saturday, 10am daily at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Entrance is free
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Fight card
Bantamweight
Siyovush Gulmamadov (TJK) v Rey Nacionales (PHI)
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROM) v Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR)
Catch 74kg
Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) v Omar Hussein (JOR)
Strawweight (Female)
Weronika Zygmunt (POL) v Seo Ye-dam (KOR)
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli (TUR) v Walid Laidi (ALG)
Lightweight
Leandro Martins (BRA) v Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW)
Welterweight
Ahmad Labban (LEB) v Sofiane Benchohra (ALG)
Bantamweight
Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR)
Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) v Glen Ranillo (PHI)
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) v Aidan Aguilera (AUS)
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) Sasha Palatnikov (HKG)
Featherweight title bout
Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR)
2019 Asian Cup final
Japan v Qatar
Friday, 6pm
Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
U19 World Cup in South Africa
Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies
Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE
UAE fixtures
Saturday, January 18, v Canada
Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan
Saturday, January 25, v South Africa
UAE squad
Aryan Lakra (captain), Vriitya Aravind, Deshan Chethyia, Mohammed Farazuddin, Jonathan Figy, Osama Hassan, Karthik Meiyappan, Rishabh Mukherjee, Ali Naseer, Wasi Shah, Alishan Sharafu, Sanchit Sharma, Kai Smith, Akasha Tahir, Ansh Tandon
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.
Australia men's Test cricket fixtures 2021/22
One-off Test v Afghanistan:
Nov 27-Dec 1: Blundstone Arena, Hobart
The Ashes v England:
Dec 8-12: 1st Test, Gabba, Brisbane
Dec 16-20: 2nd Test, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (day/night)
Dec 26-30: 3rd Test, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Jan 5-9, 2022: 4th Test, Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Jan 14-18: 5th Test, Optus Stadium, Perth
The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)
Nancy Ajram
(In2Musica)
JERSEY INFO
Red Jersey
General Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the leader of the General Classification by time.
Green Jersey
Points Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the fastest sprinter, who has obtained the best positions in each stage and intermediate sprints.
White Jersey
Young Rider Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the best young rider born after January 1, 1995 in the overall classification by time (U25).
Black Jersey
Intermediate Sprint Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the rider who has gained the most Intermediate Sprint Points.
The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees
Tom Sleigh, Graywolf Press
T20 World Cup Qualifier
Final: Netherlands beat PNG by seven wickets
Qualified teams
1. Netherlands
2. PNG
3. Ireland
4. Namibia
5. Scotland
6. Oman
T20 World Cup 2020, Australia
Group A: Sri Lanka, PNG, Ireland, Oman
Group B: Bangladesh, Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
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.
ANATOMY%20OF%20A%20FALL
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If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
The biog
Name: Timothy Husband
Nationality: New Zealand
Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney
Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier
Favourite music: Billy Joel
Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
