Digi Cam Running

When I went back home to Bahrain in December I got so bored and frustrated after only 3 weeks of being in the same place I round tripped to Qatar, Dubai, and Oman in 5 days. Oman was my fave city. I stayed at the Shangri La hotel and went for a run on the beach every morning. It was beautiful. Whenever I feel like my life is wonky or if work stress gets to me, a good run really gives me a back some control. These are some snaps I took with my digi camera. Not really the best of quality but they did the job.

Mslm Mag

While the fashion crowds in London are buying the new issues of War and Love magazine, I wandered into the mymagma store looking for a magazine fix of my own. I coincidentally stumbled into Mslm magazine. The launch issue of mslm mag was put together by a group of young women, all second generation muslims living in the Netherlands. I was excited to see a magazine that encompassed women who were muslim and thier traditional/trendy take on fashion. What resulted was a MSLM exhibition and magazine put together by a mix of professionals in design and extraordinary women who had a vision of moving beyond the traditional.

Goodbye My Alef - You shall be missed.

It pains me to know that Alef magazine, my favorite publication will ease to create more exquisite designs of their glossy magazine. For as long as I discovered the first issue a few years back I fell completely in love with Alef, their mission statement, the design of the magazine, and the editorial and content. There are not many professional, creative, unique fashion magazines created for the Middle East which is why Alef is so special to me. Alef to me marks a change, an act of progress in the Middle East and with each issue the magazine has been getting better and edgier and closer to their target and aims. Their content is a collect of Middle East tidbits. Designers, artists, events, boutique openings and news of a pack of creatives are documented and presented in a clean and busy manner, much like a bazaar. But what Alef really does to me is introduce me to my own culture and makes me very proud to be Arab. I can relate to the stories, to the fonts, to the title, and the writers. I can relate to the news and to the familiar faces in the pages. The pages are so thick and glossy I wait patiently to get home in my jams and make me a cup of tea before I start scouring each page one by one.
Alef magazine have a written a short apology and excuse on their web page claiming they have some issues with the publishers in the Middle East and they will stop making the magazine for now. I am not satisfied with that answer and am pestering the staff for an interview to talk about the legacy that Alef is leaving behind if they ease to end printing and making my beloved Alef. Since Alef's quarters are based off Ladbroke Grove where I have been visiting frequently due to my work with Boutique 1 magazine I am hoping also to pop by if I nail the interview to snag me the last copy of Alef. Seeing as I hardly can find it in the UK I see it as some sort of loyal fee. Anyways all shall come together shortly.


FASHION, LUXURY & LIFESTYLE- Alef's Mission Statement
Just as Alef translates into the letter A in Arabic, Alef represents the first magazine of its kind in the Middle East. A fashion, lifestyle and luxury title, it aims to inform, inspire and entertain readers through a commitment to the highest levels of content and design . Alef’s editorial mission is to bring together emerging and established artists in an exploration of fashion, luxury and lifestyle; to showcase the cultural contributions of the region ;and to create an aesthetic that challenges both Western and Middle Eastern presumptions . Although developed with the support of Vila Moda, one of the Middle East ’s most eminent retail emporiums , Alef is not a “magalogue”—it is a completely independent title that will feature editorial coverage and advertising from the world’s most prestigious luxury brands .We are united by a passionate belief in Alef’s tremendous potential as a vehicle for cultural innovation .We hope that you will join us.

Sheikha Mozah ... such elegance !

I stumbled upon Beautiful Muslimah a blog about fashion and the hjab and was amazed at the amount of content Alixianna the blogger had about the hjab and fashion. It is a tricky and popular matter to have fun with fashion whilst wearing a hjab and covering up, but the blog is so rich with ideas, tips, and articles on how to mix both up, it looks rather fun and not as hard as I thought it would be! I will def go back for more an depth read ! But until then check out these pictures of Sheikha Moza. She is the wife and high-profile figure of her Qatar's politics and society, and plays an active role in Qatar's government. She is the driving force behind Education City and is also the Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, President of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, Vice-President of the Supreme Education Council and a UNESCO Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education. For a well rounded visionary in the middle east , she also has fantastic style, and wears her hjab with such elegance and grace!

Sheikh of Chic

Now I am trapped in my apartment working furiously towards my final deadline all I can do is web-surf and sigh with frustration at all the places I want to go to and people I want to meet instead of putting together my portfolio. On the other hand, the weather is dreadful so I don’t feel so bad. After wearing summer dresses and sunglasses for a whole week I find myself irritable with every gust of wind that rattles my window. Come back summer weather!

On more of a sunshine note, back in the Middle East the Sheikh of Chic (Kuwaiti Prince Majed Al Sabah), and founder of of Villa Moda, London’s equivalent of Harvey Nics, has unveiled plans to open a Villa Moda store in my home town Bahrain!

Villa Moda opened in 2002 and sells everything designer from Armani to Prada. Majed Al Sabah’s aim was to bring luxury brands to the Middle East, and single handedly changed the way Middle Eastern women view shopping for brands. Villa Moda is so successful it boasted record profits of 25 million dollars last year alone.

Majed Al Sabah brought to the Middle East luxury brands women had to travel abroad for. He created a luxurious atmosphere to shop in hiring only top notch interior designers and architects to create a space where luxury went with luxury. I was lucky enough to visit his store in Kuwait as well as Dubai where I felt like I was shopping in London’s finest luxury boutiques. Mission accomplished Mr. Al Sabah.

But Majed is a visionary and I was thrilled to see him unveiling plans to develop an ambitious new project that combined retail, art, and fine dining to create a cultural experience for the Middle East.

His Villa Moda cultural projects design is based on his glass box in Kuwait; it will emphasize light, transparency and movement. Consumers in the Middle East will be able to experience his new concept for the first time as no retail experience has ever combined fine eateries and contemporary art with shopping. Confirmed brands for his new cultural project include Prada, Marni, Miu Miu, Victor&Rolf, Jil Sander, Martin Margiela, Nina Rici, Dries Van Noten, Issey Miyake, Vivienne Westwood, and Tsumori Chisato.

Below are images from his Damascus boutique which is in the center of the Syrian Bazzar. Though smaller than his stores in Kuwait and Dubai he mixes up high fashion along with Syrian antiques, jewelry and locally made beautiful garments. The clothes are draped on top contemporary furniture from Frank Gehry and Marc Newson ; Everything was sourced by Sheikh Majed himself. The furniture is always renewed and moved around, creating a continual evolving interior. And for the launch of his Damscus store he invited over 50 press and opinion formers to come to Damascus for an unforgettable weekend experience, you could probably still find a lot of the press releases online from Elle US, Wallpaper, Surface, Vogue Italy, Vanity Fair, New York Times Style. To read a short interview with the Sheikh of Chic , click here!

The Burj

Having been to Dubai more than 6 times in the last few years I’m ashamed to say I still have not been to the Burj Al Arab. It’s always there outside my hotel bedroom window yet it wasn’t a priority to visit as much as it was priority to shop and soak in the sun. Now that I’ve written about tribal wear, and have gotten around to blogging and researching about it a bit more, I see many things differently in the Burj Al Arab interiors. There was so much fuss about it and still is it just seems to easy or tacky even to brag about it, but looking at the stimulating interiors of the atrium and underwater restaurant.

I can’t help but see ethnic , ethnic, ethnic patterns and prints and burst of color+inspiration.I can't help seeing a dash of Missoni as well. For those of you who haven’t a clue what I’m on about, the Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island 280 meters out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It is an iconic structure, designed to symbolize Dubai's urban transformation and to mimic the sail of a boat. Inside the building, the atrium is 180 meters tall and has characterized itself as the world's only "7-star" property. I guess fashion blogging has allowed me to see inspiration in fashion almost everywhere including teh Burj which I think would be a great location for a shoot.