Salama Alabbar, the owner and buyer of the accessories store Marami in Dubai Mall, talks about her life in fashion.
When I was younger, I was really not into fashion. My sister used to wear this crazy silver lipstick - it was very 1990s - but I wasn't interested. Then suddenly one day I had a problem and I just felt like letting go. I went and bought a bag from Louis Vuitton and I've been a shopaholic ever since. It was the turning point.
Because in the Emirates we wear abayas, accessories come out the most. That's why we love the bags, the shoes, the bracelets... We have a lot of department stores, but accessories are important. Sometimes you are wearing something really simple, but if you add some accessories it changes your whole look.
My sisters are not as into fashion as I am now. They used to be the fashion girls when we were younger, but now I'm really the one into it, reading all the fashion magazines and all about the business of fashion.
I really like to wear Paul & Joe. For more everyday use I really love Chanel - it's very classy, very feminine. Right now I also like Temperley. We own a Temperley franchise. It was my first venture into fashion.
Before that I used to work in an accounting firm. I studied accounting and it was a given that I'd work in a firm. I did well but I didn't really like what I was doing. My father helped me out, gave me a few ideas, and I switched to fashion.
I wore my first Temperley gown to my aunt's wedding and it was a moment of pride for me because that was when my business launched and people started asking and talking about the dress. It's a grey gown with short sleeves and the whole back is embroidered with crystals. It was breathtaking. Alice Temperley is a really nice person - very happy, active and energetic.
My style in general is classic - not too colourful. Even when I go out, I like timeless things. My mother is very traditional: she's into fashion but in the Emirati way. She likes the jelabiya - always embroidered, always with crystals. It's fashionable in the Emirati sense.
I live in Dubai, but my mother is from Abu Dhabi, which is more conservative, so when we visit Abu Dhabi we all wear our traditional Emirati clothing. It's really nice because it's a change from jeans and so on.
People spend a lot of money on abayas, but there are some really nice tailors. You can tell them what you want and they will do it for a really good price. They don't have to be expensive, especially because you change them a lot.
When we were buying for the shop we went to some exhibitions in Paris. We met a lot of people - we didn't just look at high-end brands. We looked at people who had their own little shops. There's Françoise Montague, who used to design costume jewellery for Nina Ricci. We have her rings here, and she has this little shop in Paris in the Rue Saint-Honoré. She's this little old lady who gives me advice about my business. It's a nice experience because you get to meet people from big corporations and also small designers.
We've also been to London and New York, and we'll have some local brands coming from the UAE - young girls who are starting to design their own jewellery - at a mid-range price. People like to support the local talent.
When I travel, I think it's weird because everywhere you have the same brands, the same shops. I like to shop in Los Angeles; they have nice little boutiques and different types of young, up-and-coming designers.
My favourite pair of shoes is by Giuseppe Zanotti. I bought them a couple of months ago, and they're really high but comfortable with a high platform. They're navy blue with a red heel. I wear them to the mall. Everyone is like: "How do you wear them?" I guess I'm lucky because my feet are narrow.
I like Christian Louboutin, Zanotti, Sergio Rossi - these three brands are the top of my list. For bags, Chanel and YSL are my favourite, especially my Chanel 2.55 bag.
A lot of people go shopping and when they get home they wonder: "When will I wear it?" But for me, whatever I buy I know I will wear it because it's very classic and I can match it with anything I have. Like these shoes by Zanotti: I've had them for two years and I can wear them with anything - I just wear them and repair them.
* Gemma Champ
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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.”