Celebrity-branded designs and leather lounging



Did you know that leather seating is one of the hottest trends in interiors right now? If leather sofas make you conjure up taste-free bachelor pads or naff waiting rooms - think again. Whether a special commission by the Candy brothers (the Qatari Diar-backed property developers who, before the recession hit, were designing some of London's most expensive new homes) or the Mies Barcelona chairs and banquettes dotted around DIFC, leather seating is everywhere. As a result, sales of leather sofas are booming, and furniture retailers are expanding their ranges. So why leather and why now? Because leather is perceived as an investment purchase, which is an attraction for the post-recession mindset: people are opting for furniture that will last, rather than throwaway items. But we must forget black and think white, which is not flash, but edgy. Hmm, it might work in a cool, contemporary corporate space but could verge on the chav in a domestic setting. Treat with caution. And reclining? Don't even go there.

This time last year, as retail sales were nosediving, Alessi made the bold move of putting a record number of new products into production. Unveiling them at the recent Maison et Objets show, Alessi made one of the biggest bangs, while signalling a resounding note of optimism that the global economy is poised for a rebound. I sure hope so. Highlights included Piero Lissoni's Trash Can - design at its best, the little bathroom bin has a hinged lid to hide the refuse and a ringed anchor to keep a removable plastic bag in place, and invisible. Nifty! Paolo Gerosa's Spaghetti Measuring Tool is a piece of kitchen jewellery. It can measure spaghetti for one, three or five people - perfect as a housewarming gift for those with style, who can also rustle up a spag bol.

So who doesn't know that Apple released its iPad tablet last week? But how much do architects care? Those who are fed up with the over-the-top Flash programming used on so many architects' websites - it may make them stunning, but also incredibly frustrating to use - have been Twittering with glee. The website Bldgblog summed it up nicely: "Part of me thinks that the iPad not supporting Flash is sweet justice for every architect's website that will now be unviewable on the device." No doubt web designers are relishing the prospect of lots of work un-Flashing those sites. Watch this space.

So what do you buy for the next generation of Sulaiman al Fahims (the former CEO of Hydra Properties and wannabe Donald Trump)? How about the just-released Monopoly: City Edition? The game scraps houses and hotels in favour of industrial parks, skyscrapers, stadiums, power plants and other urban icons. Apparently the rules state you don't need to own all the streets on one block to start building and you can build "hazards" (like rubbish dumps) next to your opponents' properties to devalue them. Could be fun. Monopoly has been one of the most widely played games on the planet since it was invented in the 1930s. There are Monopoly editions for almost every country - from Cuba to China - but what about the UAE? Dubai was apparently in the works a few years ago. Perhaps there aren't enough landmarks (or imaginatively named streets) yet.

So Victoria Beckham is apparently "mulling over" a £25 million fee to design a "fashion hotel" for Dubai's Isla Moda. More celebrity branded buildings? Enough already. How right was the fabulously conceptual fashion designer, Hussein Chalayan, when he publicly announced that celebrity-based fashion was "insulting" and "demeans all the training that designers have had" - a sentiment increasingly felt by architects and interior designers who must despair as developers and landlords fawn over the supposedly fashionable. Cue the tacky Cavalli Club and forthcoming Palazzo Versace Hotel. And who doesn't think the Fendi furniture in the lobby of Sky Gardens looks ill-placed and cheap?

As the UK's famously acerbic restaurant critic for The Sunday Times, AA Gill noted about Edinburgh's Hotel Missoni: "This place is an eye-jarring, migraine-inducing swatch of jazzy pattern. The fabrics crowd and collide ... with a hysterical mime of dazzling Tourette's. It's the most bilious dining room I've eaten in ... what were they thinking?" I guess it all comes down to taste. And money. Which rarely go hand in hand.

Yvonne Courtney is the co-founder of designtastic, a design/ publishing consultancy and ezine.

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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Know your Camel lingo

The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home

Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless

Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers

Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s

Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199

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Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

From Conquest to Deportation

Jeronim Perovic, Hurst

The struggle is on for active managers

David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.

The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.

Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.

Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.

Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.

At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn. 

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher:  Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017

Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free

Fixtures - Open Men 2pm: India v New Zealand, Malaysia v UAE, Singapore v South Africa, Sri Lanka v England; 8pm: Australia v Singapore, India v Sri Lanka, England v Malaysia, New Zealand v South Africa

Fixtures - Open Women Noon: New Zealand v England, UAE v Australia; 6pm: England v South Africa, New Zealand v Australia

What is tokenisation?

Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets. 

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.