Toby’s autumn/winter line was unveiled in Dubai earlier this month. Christopher Pike / The National
Toby’s autumn/winter line was unveiled in Dubai earlier this month. Christopher Pike / The National

The kandura brand Toby's new face



Famed for his modern interpretations of classic kanduras, the Saudi-born designer Hatem Alakeel - the founder of the label Toby - has just revealed the new face of his brand. We get the inside track on the competition winner and take a closer look at the designer's autumn/winter 2012 collection.

The competition

For the past two months Alakeel's label has run an online competition to find "The New Face of Toby", his popular ready-to-wear and bespoke brand. Aspiring models and fashion savants sashayed their way to Saks Fifth Avenue in Dubai's BurJuman shopping centre to be photographed on a catwalk wearing Toby's latest creations. The images were uploaded to the brand's Facebook and Twitter pages, enabling a panel of six eagle-eyed industry insiders to choose the candidate with greatest billboard appeal.

The judges included the TV presenters Diala Makki and Omar bin Butti, the blogger and Dollhouse salon owner Mona Kattan, the celebrity photographer Wadih El Najjar, Luc Decroix from Tag Heuer and the owner of Thrust Entertainment, Elie Lahoud. "The event exceeded all my expectations," Alakeel says. "There was a great turnout and people were very passionate about the brand and concept of taking fashion to another level."

The winner

Commit the name Arash Mohammadi to memory, for he is about to be jettisoned into fashion orbit. The 30-year-old Iranian's handsome face will soon grace forthcoming Toby advertising campaigns, after he successfully saw off stiff competition to become the label's new face.

The judges were looking for a confident, dynamic, educated, multicultural, traditional and progressive face, Alakeel says.

"Arash is a model, but also someone very career oriented and very into personal training - a hard worker with a strong sense of self. He'll now get some great media exposure and a certain platform to expose himself to the Saudi Arabian market and wider GCC countries."

The philosophy

The motivation behind the project was to create new role models for the Middle East's youth and provide one deserving individual with the chance of a lifetime.

"I firmly believe that models can be role models here, just like they are in the West," says Alakeel "There's limited access to regional role models, especially in Saudi Arabia, and some individuals don't have the advantage of being sent abroad... They don't all have the educational tools at their disposal to be able to further themselves, so the point of this campaign was to empower youth and to show them that if you are ambitious and you have a talent you can further your career."

Don't despair if you missed the fashion ferry this time around, Alakeel is already planning "The Next Face of Toby KSA" and considering a similar competition for his impending women's collection.

New collection

Alakeel's latest line, under his new eponymous label, is a range of shirts that fuse Savile Row's understated elegance and sophistication with the Middle East's style and sensibility. The collection has a distinctively wintry feel befitting of an autumn/winter range and uses the colour palette of greys, navy and baby blues - some of the designer's favourite shades.

"With my latest thobe collection I also went back to the classics, launching a new label called the Blue Line," Alakeel says. "I was trying to show another, more serious, functional side of thobes. I'm known for avant-garde designs, so it's good to have different lines to complement what I'm doing. I've tried to give a little edge to this collection, adding a little buckle to the end of very simple thobes, for example."

Know your thobes

If you think all kanduras look alike, think again. Closer inspection will reveal that the UAE's traditional design is one of clean-cut minimalism, while Saudi Arabian thobes are more intricate, tailored and often unconventional.

"Every country's style has a different concept, from the UAE kandura to the dishdasha for Kuwait and the thobe for Saudi Arabia," Alakeel says. "In the UAE they are very adventurous with colours. Take Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, for example, wearing royal blues and maroons etc. However, Emiratis never venture out of the box when it comes to cuts and changes need to be gradual.

"Saudi Arabia, by contrast, is far less daring when it comes to colour but more adventurous with cuts. A typical style would be a mandarin collar with the thobes more tailored and fitted. The 15- to 35-year-old demographic goes all out when it comes to style, textures and fabrics at times like Eid - which has been very beneficial to up-and-coming designers who are taking this road."

To view the latest collections and for details of stockists in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, visit www.urtoby.com

ALL DRESSED UP

The National's fashion correspondent Gemma Champ is writing every day from Paris Fashion Week. See our fashion blog All Dressed Up to read her posts, as well as her letters from London and New York.

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
​​​​​​​Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km

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Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
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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

 

Company: Instabug

Founded: 2013

Based: Egypt, Cairo

Sector: IT

Employees: 100

Stage: Series A

Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors

The Africa Institute 101

Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction. 

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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.
if you go

The flights

Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes. 

The hotels

Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes. 

When to visit

March-May and September-November

Visas

Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.

Ashes 2019 schedule

August 1-5: First Test, Edgbaston

August 14-18: Second Test, Lord's

August 22-26: Third Test, Headingley

September 4-8: Fourth Test, Old Trafford

September 12-16: Fifth Test, Oval

Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
  • Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
  • Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
  • Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
 
 
German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

Lewis Hamilton in 2018

Australia 2nd; Bahrain 3rd; China 4th; Azerbaijan 1st; Spain 1st; Monaco 3rd; Canada 5th; France 1st; Austria DNF; Britain 2nd; Germany 1st; Hungary 1st; Belgium 2nd; Italy 1st; Singapore 1st; Russia 1st; Japan 1st; United States 3rd; Mexico 4th

Huroob Ezterari

Director: Ahmed Moussa

Starring: Ahmed El Sakka, Amir Karara, Ghada Adel and Moustafa Mohammed

Three stars