A Magazine, Issue 73

no. 73 AUG/SEP 2014 LL10,000

Power trip Straight to the top

Fashion City slickers Lifestyle Tripoli's renaissance Art Fall fairs Beauty From prim to playful Travel Another side of Edinburgh Design Habitats with humanity Tech Leaders of the fashion pack

© 2014 CHLOE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

FAKHRY BEY STREET, BEIRUT SOUKS - DOWNTOWN BEIRUT CHLOE.COM

FAKH RY B EY STREET B EIRUT SOUKS D OWNTOWN P 01 991 1 1 1 E X T 57 0

www.dior.com - 01 99 11 11 ext.592

109 ALLENBY STREET, BEIRUT CENTRAL DISTRICT, LEBANON 01 991 111 EXT: 579

EMILIOPUCCI.COM

LIBANON - A MAG - DP 460x300 - AUG_SEP14.indd 1

17/07/2014 11:40

140 EL MOUTRANE STREET BEIRUT LIBANON - A MAG - DP 460x300 - AUG_SEP14.indd 2

17/07/2014 11:40

The Golden Arches Logo is a trademark of McDonald’s Corporation and its affiliates used with permission. Moschino is proud to support Ronald McDonald House CharitiesŽ

BEIRUT 62 Abdel Malek Street 01 99 11 11 ext. 222 | ZEGNA.coM

B E I R U T

BY M-GROUP SAL ACHRAFIEH, ACCAOUI STREET, IVORY BUILDING, BEIRUT - LEBANON T. +961 1 333767 - INFO@MGROUPME.COM CUSTOMISED INTERIOR DESIGN SERVICE

POWELL SEATING SYSTEM

|

RODOLFO DORDONI DESIGN

CREATE YOUR OWN DESIGN EXPERIENCE AT MINOTTI.COM

Inside No. 73 AUG/SEP 2014

Cityscape

46 Beirut Sunset cocktails, hearty hiking 50 London British icons make their mark 52 Paris Hotels, high life and stuffed fowl 54 Milan From fabulous food to fashion 56 New York Art that inspires 58 Venice The Made in Italy stamp

Playground

62 Mixed media Festival founder Sonia Hadchity 64 Dance Ballet gets its hands dirty 68 Monograph Godfather of glamour 74 Music Lebanon’s psychedelic ‘60s

Design

158 Update A full itinerary 160 Trend Brazil’s winning streak 162 History Rem Koolhaas’ master narrative 166 Structure Zaha Hadid brings it home 168 Tour Norway’s rugged design 172 Voyager A habitat with humanity

Fashion

86 News Fashion gets nostalgic 88 Collection Marc by Marc Jacobs 92 Statement Clothes make the woman 94 Technology Fashion meets sci-fi 98 Investment Failures of fast fashion 104 Lesson When smart equals sexy 106 Accessories The finishing touch 112 Hot stuff Trending topic 120 City Slicker New York, New York 136 Say My Name Return of the logo

High Art

178 Exhibitions What’s on view 182 Fair Beirut Art Fair 186 Anniversary Studio Voltaire 190 Institution Arab art goes global

Lifestyle

198 Revival Tripoli’s renaissance 202 Bistro A French food love affair 204 Brewery The new kid on the block 206 Party House parties get a makeover 208 City The lighter side of Edinburgh

Inside

Beauty

210 Counter Designer beauty 212 Grooming Modern masculinity 214 Runway The new Holly Golightly 216 Inspiration Nail art 218 Health Rethinking old habits

Last Word

220 Forecast Fragrance horoscopes no. 73 AUG/SEP 2014 LL10,000

Power trip Straight to the top

Fashion City slickers Lifestyle Tripoli's renaissance Art Fall fairs Beauty From prim to playful Travel Another side of Edinburgh Design Habitats with humanity Tech Leaders of the fashion pack

Cover She’s in a Dolce & Gabbana dress. Her clutch is by Roberto Cavalli Photographer Alice Rosati. Stylist Amelianna Loiacono. Hair Hiro and Mari. Makeup Deanna Melluso from Face Atelier.

Model Maritza Veer from Next Models

Delicate Harmony A precious drop of pink summer dew, trickling from clear white diamonds and mystic blue sapphires.

33 Weygand Street, Downtown Beirut, Lebanon. www.georgehakim.com

GH Summer 2014 23x30.indd 1

7/14/14 9:49 AM

Publisher

Tony Salamé Group TSG SAL

Editor-in-chief MacKenzie Lewis

Art directors

Senior art and production director Maria Maalouf Senior art director Mélanie Dagher Guest art director Raya Farhat

Editors

Associate editor Pip Usher Assistant editor Celine Omeira Italy editor Renata Fontanelli UK editor Grace Banks US editor Robert Landon Editorial interns Talia Abbas, Carine Lemyre

Writers

Marissa Cox, James Haines-Young, Daniel Hilton, Robert Landon, Clara Le Fort, Sabina Llewellyn-Davies, John Ovans, Mehrnoush Shafiei, Natalie Shooter, Rich Thornton, Jasper Toms, Jennifer Usher, J. Michael Welton

Photographers

Fashion photographers Robert Bellamy, Emilio Rini, Alice Rosati, Tsar Contributing photographers Paul Clemence, Francesco Galli, James Haines-Young, Clara Le Fort, Fredrik Nilsen, Hassan Nisr, Roland Ragi, Josh White Illustrator Mélanie Dagher

Stylists

Amelianna Loiacono, Vanessa Bellugeon, Amine Jreissati, Joe Arida

Jennifer Usher Jennifer Usher lived in Edinburgh as a musician for six years before moving to London to pursue new adventures. For this issue, she returned to Scotland’s capital just in time for festival season.

Benthe De Vries Dutch model Benthe De Vries splits her time between Milan, Paris and Amsterdam. She is a longtime favorite of A, and has appeared in a wide range of international publications, including Amica and Marie Claire.

Advertising

Melhem Moussallem, Karine Abou Arraj, Stephanie Missirian

Production and printing

Senior photo producer Fadi Maalouf Printing Dots: The Art of Printing

Responsible director Nasser Bitar

140 El Moutrane St., Fourth Floor, Downtown Beirut, Lebanon, tel. 961.1.974.444, a@aishti.com, aishtiblog.com

power play Power means different things to different people. To some, it’s a highflying job. For others, it’s the courage to overcome a fear of the unfamiliar or the innovation to introduce a new way of thinking. In this issue, we explore power in its many incarnations. We consider what it means to be – or, more accurately, to dress like – a fearless business leader, and look at the authority that comes with being the first, whether it’s Burberry paving the way with new technology or a Beirut hostess pioneering a party trend. Somewhere between all that, we conquered any hesitation to leave our comfort zone, heading to Scotish festivals, taking in ballet performances and test driving tweed nails. As summer fades into fall and the back-toschool spirit overcomes even the most mature among us, A magazine is going on a power trip.

Come along for the ride.

MacKenzie Lewis

A cityscape

Just in Beirut Orient Express (left)

Kick-start your day with Orient Express’ specialty coffee, and return for an afternoon pick-me-up of veggie salads and sandwiches.

With a relaxed atmosphere throughout the week, the café transforms into an upbeat watering hole on the weekend.

Badaro Main St., tel. 01.390.408

Melissa x Karl Lagerfeld (right)

An ode to this year’s World Cup, Karl Lagerfeld teamed up with Brazilian shoe brand Melissa to create a limited edition collection of sandals adorned with tiny soccer balls, while others styles feature ballerinas wearing sunglasses and perforated heels.

Available at Aïzone stores.

Seven for All Mankind (below)

Tawlet (above)

Amid the pine forests of Bkassine, Tawlet’s latest branch offers a hearty ending to a day in the Chouf mountains. With a menu cooked by women from the village itself, it’s a dining experience that places emphasis upon the local traditions and produce of the area.

Bkassine, South Lebanon, tel. 01.448.129 A 46

Valentino Fall 2014 RTW (above)

Female Italian pop stars from the ‘60s and ‘70s provided the main inspiration for Valentino’s fall/winter 2014-15 collection.

Standouts include cashmere capes, shirtcollar dresses and embroidered tulle gowns.

Available at Aïshti stores. ©Raya Farhat, Café de Pénélope, Orient Express, The Circle, Vanina, Tawlet, Valentino

The Los Angeles-based premium denim brand has opened another branch, this time in Beirut City Center. Known for exceptional fit and quality, the brand’s jeans have graced the thighs of Hollywood A-listers, including Kate Bosworth, Jessica Alba and Ryan Reynolds.

Beirut City Center, Hazmieh, tel. 01.287.187, 7forallmankind.com

140 EL MOUTRANE STREET BEIRUT LIBANON - A MAG - SP RHP 230x300 - OCT_NOV14.indd 1

17/07/2014 11:39

A cityscape

Just in Beirut Camper (right)

Spanish footwear brand Camper has opened its second outpost in Lebanon. Known for casual yet quirky designs, Camper’s innovative spirit has made waves since its founder, Lorenzo Fluxà, was born into his father’s shoe company.

Beirut City Center, Hazmieh, tel. 01.287.187, camper.com

Vanina (above)

Tatiana Fayad and Joanne Hayek’s in-demand and eco-friendly jewelry collections support local craftsmanship. Vanina’s first boutique is now open in the heart of Mar Mikhael.

Armenia St., Mar Mikhael, tel. 01.896.481 vaninadesign.co

& D I æ G H 3 æ Q æ O R S H (below)

7 K H & L U F O H (above)

Lebanon’s newest hotspot, The Circle is an open-air lounge bar overlooking the Mediterranean. Open for the summer, it offers a wide range of unique dishes and fresh fruit cocktails from 6p.m. onwards, just in time to catch the sunset.

Halat sur Mer Marina, Halat, tel. 78.898.878 A 48

©Raya Farhat, Café de Pénélope, Orient Express, The Circle, Vanina, Tawlet, Valentino

Café de Pénélope serves up comfort foodinspired sandwiches, salads and sweets.

Early birds can pop in from 8 a.m., while night owls can revel in cocktail sipping.

Forest Bldg., Kfoury St., Badaro, tel.

01.390.987, cafedepenelope.com

A cityscape

Just in London

LyleÍ s (below)

London has fallen in love with the tasting menu, and this new restaurant from James Lowe and John Ogier doesn’t disappoint.

Simply sit back and let each dish surprise you.

Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High St., lyleslondon.com

Steve McQueen at Thomas Dane (below)

Winner of the Turner prize in 1999, 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen began his career as a fine artist. His latest short on violence will be shown exclusively at Thomas Dane Gallery.

11 Duke Street St. James’s, tel.

44.207.925.2505, thomasdanegallery.com

Victoria Beckham Dover Street (below)

London’s women-run book publisher has reintroduced the literary mood to Bloomsbury.

A new line of dust jackets, adorned with designs by female illustrators from the ‘30s, are one of its hottest exports so far.

59 Lambs Conduit St., tel. 44.207.242.9292, persephonebooks.co.uk

Mondrian London (below)

The louche glamour of Hollywood comes to London’s riverside in the shape of The Sea Containers house by the Mondrian hoteliers.

In a city with infinite hotel options, this is summer’s best by far.

20 Upper Ground, morganshotelgroup.com, tel. 44.800.606.6090

© Victoria Beckham, Lyle’s, Mondrian London, Steve McQueen, Persephone Books

Posh Spice expands her empire into the British High Street with this sleek concept store: Victoria Beckham. Expect trademark VB glamour, in-store exclusives, bespoke accessories and personal stylists to transform you with Victoria’s pared-back smolder.

36 Dover St., victoriabeckham.com

Persephone Books (above)

A 50

REPOSSI.COM

SYLVIE SALIBA - Quantum Tower Achrafieh - Beirut - Lebanon - Tel 01 330 500 Sylviesaliba.com

Repossi SS13 SP AISHTI 230x300.indd 1

15/07/2014 11:00

A cityscape

Just in Paris Dries van Noten: Inspirations (left) Bringing together London punks and the Rajasthani aristocracy; enchanted gardens and Renaissance-era curiosity cabinets; Bollywood and military wear, this heady exhibition explores the brilliantly imaginative creative process of Belgian designer Dries van Noten.

Runs until November 2 at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 107 Rue de Rivoli, first arrondissement, tel. 33.1.44.55.57.50, lesartsdecoratifs.fr

Le Hibou (above)

Early birds and night owls flock to this allday restaurant, café and bar for classic bistro dishes and cheeky cocktails served among 19th-century portraits, vintage café furniture and a handsome collection of stuffed fowl.

Outside, on the see-and-be-seen terrace, birds of a feather preen in the sun.

16 Carrefour de l’Odéon, sixth arrondissement, tel. 33.1.43.54.96.91

MGallery Molitor (below)

When the Piscine Molitor opened in 1929, it immediately became the place where chic Parisians lived la belle vie. Newly restored to its Art Deco glory, the complex now includes a sleek, contemporary hotel with a rooftop cocktail bar, a swish Clarins spa and stylish bedrooms overlooking the glamorous historic pool. Dive in.

13 rue Nungesser et Coli, 16th arrondissement, tel. 33.1.56.07.08.50, mgallery.com

Coretta (below)

Chez moi (above)

Close the door on your own unwashed sheets and candy wrappers, and head for the home of retailer Jean-Baptiste Charpenay-Limon, who has turned his living space into a well-edited gallery/concept store showcasing modern French designs.

Pick a book from his bookshelves, rifle through his china cabinet, walk off with his coffee table: make yourself at home.

25 Rue Hérold, first arrondissement, tel.

33.6.61.26.23.31, chezmoiparis.com A 52

©Alexandre Soria, Luc Boegly, Le Hibou, Chez moi, Coretta

The spare, modern decor and cool marbletopped tables in this light-filled restaurant overlooking Parc Martin Luther King are but a thoughtful backdrop to chef Jean-François Pantaleon’s colorful dishes. Save room for dessert – bright red strawberries are summer on the tongue and a light Paris-Brest is invigorated with sweet-tart passion fruit cream.

151 bis Rue Cardinet, 17th arrondissement, tel. 33.1.42.26.55.55, coretta.fr

and pay for your coffee with your mobile

Tap2Pay 23x30cm Aîshti (Coffee).indd 1

7/15/14 1:55 PM

A cityscape

Just in Milan

Ristorante Unico (left)

Unique (unico in Italian) is the right adjective for this restaurant, perched on the roof of one of the Milan’s highest skyscrapers ahead of the 2015 World’s Fair. Unique describes the service (a waiter for each table), the atmosphere and food overseen by the famous chef Felice Lo Basso.

30 Via Achille Papa, tel. 39.02.3926.1025, unicorestaurant.it

Coc÷ (above)

Nicoletta Cecolini has been working as a theatre costume designer for several years.

Her passion for clothes inspired her to open a remarkable shop located in the Brera area, where she sells her collection and rents out stunning outfits for special nights.

4 Via Varese, tel. 39.02.2900.6562

CaÍ puccino (left)

Together with pizza, a foamy cup of cappuccino is a symbol of Italian cuisine. A new cafe in Porta Venezia is dedicated to the caffeinated masterpiece, served alongside regional delicacies, like burrata cheese from southern Italy and focaccia from Genoa.

Via Malpighi, tel 39.02.2953.3923, ca-puccino.com

Brioni’s newest shop is its biggest yet, and set to become a global destination for men’s tailoring. The three-floor, 1,200-squaremeter boutique is housed inside Brioni’s Via Gesù headquarters and features a great mix of old-style luxury and contemporary furniture.

2 Via Gesù, tel 39.02.7639.0086, brioni.com

Brian & Barry Building (left)

From top quality food to dozens of fashion and design brands, this recently opened department store in the heart of Milan offers a dizzying assortment of choices. Enjoy a spectacular view of the Milanese skyline from its 12th floor restaurant.

28 Via Durini, tel. 39.02.9285.3353, thebrianebarrybuilding.it A 54

© Cocò, Ca’puccino, Brioni, Brian & Barry Building, Ristorante Unico

Brioni (above)

WATCH THE FILM AT JIMMYCHOO.COM LEBANON, BEIruT SOukS, +961 1 991 111 ExT 595

A cityscape

Just in New York Esperanca Terena (left)

“Esperanca Terena,” a new exhibition by photographer Eliseu Cavalcante, features a stunning series shot while staying with Brazil’s native Terena tribe during a tense political standoff over land ownership. The intimate images reveal both the natives’ struggle to stand their ground and their boundless hope for an enduring resolution.

Consulate General of Brazil, 220 E. 42nd St., eliseucavalcante.com

Summer heat can wreak havoc on skin, but a treatment at celebrity facialist (Madonna and Kate Winslet among her clients) Tracie Martyn can refresh and renew. Her Enzyme Exfoliant, known for its skin resurfacing qualities, is especially popular.

101 Fifth Ave., Penthouse, tel. 212.206.9333, traciemartyn.com

13&9 (right)

From lamps to shades to furniture, interdisciplinary collective 13&9 designs it all with a cool sense of geometry. Produced in small scale with expert craftsmanship, their “Hexagon” bag collection has come to Stillfried Wien in Tribeca.

Stillfried Wien, 40 Walker St., tel.

212.226.2921, 13and9design.com

The Roof (above)

Crowning the Viceroy New York hotel, The Roof is the latest addition to the Big Apple’s string of rooftop lounges. With walnut ceilings and custom leather sofas, The Roof offers stunning views of Central Park and a perfected Moscow Mule.

124 W. 57th St., 29th Floor, tel. 212.707.8000, theroofny.com

Artemide (below)

Celebrating 10 years of collaboration, Artemide will introduce three lighting styles by designer Karim Rashid to the American market. The new fixtures show that even after all these years, the brash designer is still pushing the boundaries of form and function.

46 Greene St., tel. 212.925.1588, artemide.us

A 56

Beyond the SuperSquare (right)

As part of the exhibition “Beyond the SuperSquare,” the Bronx Museum of the Arts is setting up “SuperPuesto,” a public art installation in the form of a contemporary-looking wooden pavilion.

Created by artist Terence Gower, the temporary space houses educational and public programs in conjunction with the Museum’s special exhibitions.

Runs until late fall, 1040 Grand Concourse, Bronx, 718.681.6000, bronxmuseum.org

© Artemide, Eliseu Cavalcante, Markus Mansi / 13&9, The Roof Viceroy, Tracie Martyn, Yoandy Rizo Fiallo / The Bronx Museum

Tracie Martyn (left)

A誰shti | 71 El-Moutrane Street | T - 01.991111 A誰shti Seaside | Jal el Dib | T - 04.717716 zagliani.com

A cityscape

Just in Venice Venetia Studium (left)

Venetia Studium has opened a new showroom in the former studio of legendary glassmaker Salviati. The space features a vast selection of traditional Fortuny lamps and home goods in hand-printed textiles.

Dorsoduro 180 A., Calle del Bastion, tel.39.041.522.6635, venetiastudium.com

Hotel Excelsior Lido (above)

Glass Tea House Mondrian (right)

Combining the quintessential Venetian elements of glass, tile and water, legendary photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto has created a sanctuary for the traditional Japanese tea ritual on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, just behind Palladio’s San Giorgio Maggiore Church.

1 Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, tel.

39.041.5229138, lestanzedelvetro.com

Teatro La Fenice (below)

Each year the Teatro La Fenice – the theater where opera was born – comes roaring back to life. This fall’s schedule includes productions of Verdi’s extravagant “La Traviata” and Rossini’s “Inganno Felice.”

In typical Venetian fashion, the theater is designed so audiences can observe one another as much as the stage.

Campo St. Fantin, 1965 St. Mark, tel.

39.041.786511, teatrolafenice.it

OPVS (left)

The debonair Omar Pavanello has completely revamped his shop not far from the Rialto.

One of Venice’s most talented artisans, he and his team lovingly craft leather bags from the finest Italian leather dye, often in gorgeous shades that many luxe brands are unable to attain. His work is now shown in full glory, thanks to an interior that recalls the high modernism of Mies van der Rohe.

San Polo 2671, Calle Seconda dei Saoneri, tel.

39.041.8223227, www.opvs.it A 58

©Baccarat, Jorge Zalzupin,Julice Boulangere,Heleno Bernardi/Mano,Museu da Casa Brasileira,Sheraton WTC

A perennial hotspot during the Venice Film Festival, the pink confection known as Hotel Excelsior will serve as a VIP epicenter during this year’s event. It will also pay a sweet homage to the festival with a red carpetcolored dessert topped in 18-carat gold leaf.

Lungomare Guglielmo Marconi 41, Lido Venezia, hotelexcelsiorvenezia.com, tel.

39.041.526.0201

A B C D B AY E H M A L L , G R O U N D F L O O R , L E B A N O N T. 0 4 4 1 7 2 1 7

A playground _ mixed media

Alone on a desert islandƒ Festival director Sonia Hadchity

As founder of this fall’s Outbox International Film Festival, Beirut’s annual celebration of short films, Sonia Hadchity likes her art fast and to the point. She reveals how she’d slow down the pace if ever stranded on sandy shores. outboxfilmfestival.com

The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

Books by Edgar Allen Poe will help if I run out of ideas for shorts. The Black Cat is an excellent example of the unusual twists and turns that characterize his plots.

Ella and Louis by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong

Nothing lifts me up when I’m down more than Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald’s music, so I’d take this 1956 album by both of them with me.

A 62

Resan (The Journey) by Peter Watkins

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly soundtrack by E. Morricone

The Triplets of Belleville by Sylvain Chomet

Cities of Salt by Abdul Rahman Munif

This 14-and-a-half hour film has screened only a few times since premiering at the Toronto Film Festival in ‘87. A deserted island is the perfect place to finally watch it without guilt.

One of my favorite movies, marked by that feeling of loneliness the protagonist gets even when surrounded by people. It’s fascinating.

His name is now synonymous with western movies, so Ennio Morricone’s legendary soundtrack would be appropriate background music for an adventure.

I’ve only read the first two volumes of this quintet, first published in Beirut in the ‘80s. What better excuse to finally finish it?

FINAL BLU Press ad 23 x 30.pdf

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

1

6/25/14

1:40 PM

A playground _ dance

Ballet two pointe oh! Š English National Ballet

By Rich Thornton

A 64

This and opposite page “Dust” from “Lest We Forget,” choreographed by Akram Khan

A classical dance gets a revamp Elegant, sophisticated and emotionally intelligent, ballet has always been the realm of mature socialites who know – or claim to know – their pas de deux from their port de bras. Traditionally, ballet is best enjoyed if you know French, hold a degree in classical dance and really, really like tutus.

Now, contemporary dancers are challenging the status quo with cross-cultural collaborations that are bringing the magic of ballet to a younger and more diverse crowd. The English National Ballet made headlines this summer when they performed on the main stage at Glastonbury Festival, a 200,000 person, five-day outdoor music festival that happens in the U.K. every June.

On a stage normally reserved for popular music icons and world famous bands (Metallica played the night before and Dolly Parton later that afternoon), the company performed a piece called “Dust” from “Lest We Forget,” a new ballet created to commemorate World War I. “Dust” was choreographed by Akram Khan, a Brit of Bangladeshi descent whose background in the Indian classic dance of Kathak brought a bold and earthy tone to a world so often associated with pink dresses and pirouettes. Choreographer Russell Maliphant, who quit ballet in his youth to pursue contemporary dance, also

collaborated with the English National Ballet on “Lest We Forget” – his first return to ballet in over 20 years. Artistic Director Tamara Rojo, who commissioned the choreographers, explains, “Through history, ballet has always progressed when it has absorbed other ways of dancing and then refined them to the absolute maximum in order to enrich the art form.” Bringing this art form to a new audience via a music festival was another Rojo masterstroke.

Ballet has also been getting a makeover

in the U.S. In May this year, indie-rock musician Sufjan Stevens premiered his second contemporary ballet with 26-year-old New York City Ballet choreographer Justin Peck. In 2012’s “Year of the Rabbit,” Peck used a rearrangement of Stevens’ existing work as the music for his show; for this year’s “Everywhere We Go,” the indie-rocker composed the entire original score. Whether or not the production will join the ranks of “Swan Lake” and “Romeo and Juliet” as ballet classics is less important than the fact that already the New York City Ballet has reported A 65

A playground _ dance

an increase in younger audience members.

Hollywood has also been a key player in making ballet cool. Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis’ electric performances in the deviant ballet drama Black Swan has made the classic dance discipline that bit more rock and roll.

The 2000 blockbuster Billy Elliot – the story of a poor British boy who joins the ballet – was so popular it led to dance schools having more boy applicants than girls for the first time in their history.

© English National Ballet

Proof that ballet is becoming more popular can be seen with the inception of Beirut’s first ballet school, Ecole de Ballet Terpsichore, in 2008. Founded by Patricia Mantoura and Georges Anghelus, the success of the company’s most recent performance of “Carmina Burana” at the Sunflower Theatre in February shows that an appetite for ballet exists even away from grand opera halls and 40-piece orchestras. If Beirutis have the confidence to collaborate with local musicians and other contemporary dancers, then perhaps they’ll be the ones joining the big bands at Glastonbury in 2015.

A 66

A playground _ monograph

Godfather of glamour

By Grace Banks

A collector’s tome celebrates Oscar de la Renta A 68

© Bruce Weber / Vogue / Condé Nast, Louis Faurer / Condé Nast Archives, Oscar de la Renta / Assouline, Peter Lindbergh / Vogue Condé Nast

This page Bruce Weber captured the designer’s work for Vogue (top), images that feature in the book (bottom) Opposite page Oscar de la Renta’s debut collection for Elizabeth Arden, 1963, shot by Louis Faurer

A 69

A playground _ monograph

This page Over 160 illustrations fill the pages of the collector’s coffee table book

De la Renta doesn’t accept mediocrity. At 81 years of age, the designer’s perpetual journey towards innovation has marked him as a leader. Trained by couturier Balenciaga in the early ‘50s, he went on to work for Lanvin and Balmain in Paris, but it was his A 70

ability to mingle with the doyennes of the international fashion scene that made him a household name. At a time when celebrity and fashion were beginning to mesh, people wanted to know who the chic friend – and favored designer – of Jackie Kennedy was.

Mower, ambassador for emerging talent at the British Fashion Council, highlights de la Renta’s importance in the development of the ‘60s fashion scene. Unlike some of his counterparts from the heyday of couture, he managed to secure a status in pop Americana and heritage couture with ease.

The 208-page coffee table book showcases the importance of de la Renta’s work.

Including stunning images by Richard Avedon, Steven Meisel and Peter Lindbergh – with whom he worked alongside luminaries like Grace Coddington – de la Renta’s impact on fashion editorial is clear. But the book also looks at the story

© Oscar de la Renta / Assouline

Oscar de la Renta’s dynasty has had several phases. Before achieving any morsel of fame he had a tendency towards creative periods with distinct beginnings and ends. There was his love for Spain, born from his mother’s heritage and summers spent there as a child; architecture, an interest since travelling around the world as a youth; and his passion for the Caribbean, with the Dominican Republic as his birthplace. In Sarah Mower’s book The Style, Inspiration and Life of Oscar de la Renta, the acclaimed fashion writer delves into the history of a designer whose brand incorporates fashion trends and haute couture in one swift swoop.

A 71

A playground _ monograph

This page A stunning display of the designer’s talent (top) and a classic shot of Kate Moss in Oscar de la Renta for Vogue (bottom)

It focuses on the designer’s personal inspirations, examining how they’ve changed throughout his life. A near obsession with flowers and an adoration for women are palpable. In Anna Wintour’s introduction to the book, she talks of de la Renta’s ability to understand the female form and female desires: “He just does really good clothes, never overtly sexy but attractive, colorful and feminine.” Those nipped waists, full skirts and bright 3-D florals are a tribute to two of his greatest influences, with de la Renta pioneering bold blooms long before they were summer’s signature print.

De la Renta isn’t just a designer. He’s part of a mid-century movement of modern style that didn’t compromise on glamour. His clothes are fresh, and they’re collectable.

Above all, his legacy proves that even the most intricate couture is to be worn, not left on the clothes hanger.

Visit assouline.com A 72

© Bruce Weber, Oscar de la Renta / Assouline

behind the glossy photographs and the breathtaking runway shows.

LEB_5437_F36_Launch_Aishti_Masculin_23x30cm_Eng.indd 1

06/24/2014 9:15 PM

A playground _ music

LebanonÍ s psychedelic ï 60s

By Natalie Shooter

Long-forgotten tunes worth revisting Think the impact of The Beatles and the wave of psychedelic bands that followed was limited to the U.K.? Think again. The Arab world was listening and hit back with its own brand of psych-pop. Dig into the depths of Lebanon’s musical past and be transported to an era where compelling rhythms and vocals fused with lovesick lyrics and mod haircuts.

The Sea-Ders One of the earliest rock bands in Lebanon, the Sea-Ders had psychedelia with harmonic vocals and a hint of Oriental melodies down to a tee. In Lebanon, there’s been a recent resurgence of interest in the band, with blogs such as Project Revolver tracking down former drummer Zouhair Tourmoche for an interview. They were the beat band that should have made it big after U.K. heavyweight label Decca showed interest.

A 74

The band relocated to London and Decca released their single “Thanks A Lot” and an ensuing EP. Rumor has it that when the band didn’t make the money the label expected, the label charged them the costs and the group fled back to Lebanon, abandoning their instruments in the process. And so they faded into obscurity, leaving behind only a handful of songs. Highlights of the band’s output include the smooth and sunny “’Cause I Do Care” and the Oriental-psychedelic fusion of “For Your Information.”

Lion Productions 2011 CD rerelease, amazon. com The News Elias Rahbani may be the most underappreciated of the Rahbani brothers, but he was definitely one of the most experimental.

Dig deep into his discography, away from his more commercial releases, and you’ll find everything from disco melodies to funk and a barely known psychedelic outfit, The News.

“Teardrops,” from 1969, with lyrics written

by Georges Abdo and music by Elias Rahbani, has killer guitar riffs and gentle vocals.

Visit YouTube for Teardrops - The News

Dark Eyes Barely anything is known about the existence of the lo-fi psych band Dark Eyes. If you’re exceptionally lucky you might stumble across their rare 45-rpm record “Mary Don’t Forget” in a Beirut flea market; if so, hang onto it – the occasional single appears online for upwards of $80. The only known song from Dark Eyes, “Mary Don’t Forget,” is a charming slow-mover complete with groovy organ melodies and brass accompaniment.

Waking Up Scheherazade Vol. 2 compilation, discogs.com Tony Franks And The Hippin Souls Freakbeat from Lebanon – who’d have thought it? This gem of a band from the ‘60s did slow-moving garage freakbeat with distorted vocals and a subtle Middle Eastern flavor. Their single “Crazy Woman” is mod to the core, with heartbroken-but-I-don’tgive-a-damn lyrics that could easily take on The Spades, The Alarm Clocks or any of the delightfully scuzzy American garage psychpop bands of the mid ‘60s.

Waking Up Scheherazade Vol. 2 compilation, discogs.com

©Waking Up Scheherazade Vol. 2, The Sea-Ders, Elias Rahbani

Clockwise from top Waking Up Scheherazade, The Sea-Ders and Elias Rahbani

WWW.AISHTIBLOG.COM

WWW.AISHTIBLOG.COM

A誰shti, Downtown Beirut 01. 99 11 11

A fashion _ news

Fashion fragments The season’s trends and style news

ï 90s on repeat

Need more proof that the ‘90s are back? Two fall advertising campaigns are flashbacks to the decade of the supermodel and the pixie-haired It-girl. Linda Evangelista stars in ads for Jeremy Scott’s Moschino, while a grown-up Winona Ryder is the face of Rag & Bone’s newest collection.

Visit moschino.com and rag-bone.com

FendiÍ s beat drops

At summer’s menswear shows, Fendi models sported Selleria leather headphones hand stitched by the house’s artisans, a collaboration with Beats by Dre. Rumor has it they’ll be available in limited edition by the start of next year.

Visit beatsbydre.com

Archi Dior

Ladies first

Giambattista Valli’s fall 2014 couture collection is fit for a boardwalk beauty – proof that summer’s retro staples will linger just a little longer.

From top: Tory Burch bikini, Tory Burch cosmetic bag, Moschino shoes A 86

Walk the walk

So long, subtlety. Even the most reserved men are turning to statement shoes this fall.

Clockwise from top: Corneliani, Balenciaga, Dior Homme

© Dior Joaillerie, Giambattista Valli, Tory Burch, Moschino, Fendi, Rag & Bone

Jewelry designer Victoire de Castellane’s newest collection for Dior Joaillerie was inspired by the architecture of Christian Dior’s dresses. See jewels that appear pleated, belted and draped when they launch at La Biennale Paris, September 11-21.

Visit dior.com

A fashion _ collection

In focus

By MacKenzie Lewis

Marc by Marc Jacobs welcomes Katie Hillier and Luella Bartley

A 88

©Marc by Marc Jacobs, Shutterstock, Hillier London, Getty Images, Sølve Sundsbø

Luella Bartley and Katie Hillier at their debut collection for Marc by Marc Jacobs (center), inspired by BMX bikers (top). Luella Bartley wrote for magazines including The Face (left) before launching a fashion label in 1999 (right)

When Marc by Marc Jacobs launched in 2000, the diffusion line instantly found its niche. His downtown New York muse was the mischievous counterpart to the quietly defiant Marc Jacobs woman: a pre-hipster Lolita dressed in ‘70s short-shorts, military jackets and kitsch apple details. Models of the moment Liberty Ross and Devon Aoki walked his runway shows, while Winona Ryder and Milla Jovovich scribbled wish lists in the front row. It was Jacobs’ moment, a time when his biggest nuisance was the endless number of high street stores copying his designs.

Fast-forward 10 years and those Marc by Marc Jacobs-clad coquettes are grown, lamenting that pieces from the label’s more recent seasons won’t even sell in Lower East Side consignment shops. As the brand expanded to the mainstream, some say it was watered down; others say it stopped evolving. Whatever the reason, demand had all but evaporated. Success, it seems, comes at a price.

Marc Jacobs was sidetracked. His business partner, Robert Duffy, admits that with a namesake collection, several fragrances, a makeup range, childrenswear line and 16 years at Louis Vuitton under his belt, the designer had let his diffusion line get “stale.” But Jacobs, one of fashion’s biggest power players, wasn’t too proud to call in backup.

Last year, he tapped Katie Hillier as creative director of Marc by Marc Jacobs, a decision that set the label back on track for success.

As a longtime accessories consultant at the brand, Hillier has worked with Jacobs for years. On top of that, the West London native designs her own jewelry and accessories line, Hillier London, with a roster of clients that includes Victoria Beckham and Stella McCartney.

Hillier is now a formidable influence in the industry, but her start was fortuitous. In 1999, fledgling designer Luella Bartley met a thenunknown Hillier in a Chelsea pub and hired her as an assistant the next week. “Katie is slightly OCD. She did everything – press officer,

The Marc by Marc Jacobs fall/winter 2014-15 collection references Power Rangers (top). A proud Marc Jacobs watches from the front row (bottom)

89 A

A fashion _ collection

Clockwise from left During her socalled “wilderness years,” Bartley wrote Luella’s Guide to English Style, while Hillier found success with her jewelry line, Hillier London. Their first joint collection for Marc by Marc Jacobs was met with acclaim.

production, development, and, later, she produced the accessories as well,” Bartley told Style.com earlier this year. Bartley took a chance on Hillier and it paid off: Hillier’s Luella handbag designs became early Noughties icons.

Bartley’s own road to that triumphant moment had been rocky. After a stint in fashion journalism, she partnered with stylist/journalist and friend Katie Grand to launch her fashion label, Luella, in 1999. Her first collection, “Daddy I want a Pony,” ensured Bartley became the go-to designer for hip kids like Chloë Sevigny and Alexa Chung, with Vogue calling her “a poster child for London cool.” She went on to inaugurate Target’s groundbreaking Go International designer line and accept the BFA’s Designer of the Year award. But in 2009, Bartley lost one of her biggest financiers. Momentarily defeated, she shuttered the label, retreated to Cornwall with her partner, three kids and horses and penned Luella’s Guide to English Style.

It was Hillier who convinced Bartley to end her four-year sabbatical which she dubs the “wilderness years,”) and return to the atelier as design director of Marc by Marc Jacobs – a story Bartley tells with tears of gratitude in her eyes. This February, the duo showed a collection that reinstated the brand’s glory days, with the catchword “Revolution” stuck like sponsorship stickers across shirts and down leggings. BMX bikers and Power Rangers – yes, A 90

the ‘90s action show – showed influence in motocross leggings and lace-up boots, and metallic shifts layered over tribal tattoo-print turtlenecks. There were standout pieces, but styling is where Bartley and Hillier really make magic. It’s not just the clothing you want; they’re creating the girl everyone hopes to be.

The collection cast a spell on the cool young things, and in a decade, vintage shops will be courting those girls for the treasures in their closets. But who’d want to part with a piece of the uprising? Bartley has held on to pieces from early Marc by Marc Jacobs collections; not so much spoils, but a lesson on building – and ruling – an empire.

©Marc by Marc Jacobs, Shutterstock, Hillier London, Getty Images, Sølve Sundsbø

Fifteen years later, they would bow together on the runway as professional equals, the two-woman powerhouse behind Marc by Marc Jacobs’ celebrated fall/ winter 2014-15 collection.

A fashion _ statement

Angela Ahrendts’ sharp, tailored and subtly sexy look was represented on the fall/winter 2014-15 runways at Balenciaga (left) and Victoria Beckham (right)

Clothes make the woman

By MacKenzie Lewis

Ancient Egypt’s fifth pharaoh, Hatshepsut, came to power in 1479BC, one of the few women to rule the kingdom. In statues, she is often depicted wearing a body-con dress with her royal headdress – a court outfit that certainly courted attention. In official art, however, she sports the pharaonic regalia worn by males, including a hunting kilt and false beard. When forging her legacy, Hatshepsut carefully considered appearances, contriving a masculine look that embodied authority.

An upcoming exhibition at London’s Design Museum investigates clothing as a visual language. Exploring 150 years of style, “Women Fashion Power” poses one key question: “Is it time to assess the role of fashion in the public sphere as not a frivolous distraction, but an essential component of the working woman’s tool kit?” With an increasing number of women holding prominent positions in government and the corporate world, it’s a timely query.

A 92

As she transitioned from First Lady of Arkansas to the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s style evolved with her.

Trading printed dresses for nondescript pantsuits and a cropped haircut, Clinton tried to shift the conversation from her fashion sense to her politics by blending into Washington’s sea of suits. It was a tactic similarly employed by Pakistan’s first and only female prime minister, the late Benazir Bhutto, when she took up office, foregoing designer dresses in favor of a uniform of loose-fitting tunics and pants.

©Balenciaga, Victoria Beckham, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana, Shutterstock

Power dressing

©Balenciaga, Victoria Beckham, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana, Shutterstock

Marissa Mayer opts for retro silhouettes in floral prints, like those that graced the runways at Dolce & Gabbana and Oscar de la Renta this fall

“Women Fashion Power” co-curator Colin McDowell explains, “This exhibition shows how women have used different approaches to dress in order to make statements that are unique to their personalities.” When it comes to contemporary power players, their personalities (and clothing) are expected to reflect confidence, shrewdness and determination – stereotypically “masculine” traits. The inference is clear: getting in with the big boys requires looking like them. But is it possible for a woman to assert authority without sacrificing that complex mélange of other qualities that define her, in particular, her femininity?

Angela Ahrendts thinks so. Before joining the ranks at Apple Inc. as the first female senior VP earlier this year, she transformed Burberry into a £7 billion global brand in just under eight years. Her go-to label of choice?

Burberry, of course. Ahrendts holds her own in pantsuits: not the broad-shouldered, shapeless silhouette of the ‘80s, but an elegant, modern interpretation consisting of a fitted blazer, crisp button-down shirt and wide-leg silk pants. She tops most looks with a Burberry trench coat, always buckled to emphasize her figure. Balenciaga’s tailored pants and embellished fitted sweater or Victoria Beckham’s pleated midi-dress

with chain detailing, both from the fall/ winter 2014-15 collections, would be fitting additions to her closet.

Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo and Fortune magazine’s 8th most powerful businesswoman of 2013, prefers sleeveless A-line dresses similarly cinched with a belt at the waist. Never one to shy away from a print or pattern, her jewel-toned hues are a staple in her enviable wardrobe. Dolce & Gabbana must have piqued Mayer’s interest with several ’50-inspired dresses in floral prints, while Oscar de la Renta could have designed his fall collection – full of fit-andflare silhouettes – with her in mind.

Ahrendts and Mayer may sit in two different style camps but they both command serious respect as self-assured, clever and – most notably of all – fiercely feminine powerhouses. They’ve struck a balance that allows them access to the boy’s club without the threat of getting lost inside it. It’s a lesson thousands of years in the making, but Hatshepsut would be proud.

93 A

A fashion _ technology

Fashion meets science fiction

By Pip Usher

Exclusivity for all

The main lights are low, a few spotlights shining on the thin strip of catwalk that parts the sea of fashion types. Sarah Jessica Parker sits in the front row, tiny and perfectly turned out. It looks like any runway show, but something’s different. Are the models wearing glasses?

Von Furstenberg wasn’t using them merely to make a fashion statement. Wearing her own pair of Google Glasses for the week leading up to Fashion Week, she recorded exclusive pre-show footage. Most powerfully of all, the models that wore them were able to share their perspectives as they stepped out into the glare of the catwalk. The observed had become the observers – and from that, a unique insight into the fashion industry became available to the masses. As Isabelle

© Burberry, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg / Google Glass

In September 2012, Diane von Furstenberg surprised the jaded bunch of industrytypes sitting through her New York Fashion Week show. Teaming up with Google, she accessorized models’ outfits with futuristic, high-tech Google Glasses. Debuted to the world only a few months prior, the wearable

computer has fiercely divided public opinion over concerns about both intrusion of privacy and aesthetics.

A 94

This page Paloma Faith performs at Burberry’s Shanghai show (top, left) and the Georgian terrace facade sets the scene (bottom) Opposite Page In a tribute to Mary Poppins, supermodel Cara Delevingne swoops over the audience

Olsson, lead designer of Google Glass, explained, “It was one of the first times, really, that fashion and technology collided.”

The line between technology and fashion is blurring. No brand knows this better than Burberry, the 158-year-old British fashion house. When Angela Ahrendts took the helm as CEO in 2006, she revolutionized a struggling luxury label – one that had gained unfavorable associations with British “chav” culture and battled against counterfeits – into a global powerhouse with a roll call of digital innovations.

In 2010, Burberry made history with the first 3-D, live-streamed catwalk show. Beaming the London show to five exclusive events that happened simultaneously around the world, attendees wore futuristic 3-D glasses at custom screening sites. As Christopher

Bailey, Burberry’s creative director, explained to press at the time, “This unprecedented event enables people to experience the energy and atmosphere of this show from around the world.” Burberry’s competitors watched in guarded silence; since then, live streaming has become an integral part of most major luxury brands’ catwalk strategy.

Burberry’s pioneering decision to integrate Twitter into its spring/summer 2012 show was even more radical. Coined the “tweetwalk,” pictures of each look were snapped and shared with the brand’s millions of followers before the models hit the runway. And 2014’s catwalk extravaganza, staged to celebrate a flagship store opening in Shanghai, used digital technology to engage Chinese consumers. Guests of the show were entertained by a theatrical ode to Britain, with a runway styled to look like 95 A

A fashion _ technology

This page DVF’s recent collaboration with Google Glass (top) and Marc by Marc Jacobs’ fall/winter 2014-15 campaign

an archetypal Georgian terrace found in the streets of London. But far-away fans weren’t forgotten; Burberry offered a parallel experience through mobile messaging service WeChat, allowing users to interact with Shanghai and London skylines by shaking and tapping their phones. The front row seats may still be the most exclusive, but Burberry has mastered the art of making everyone feel like an insider, regardless of age, income bracket or location.

So what does this mean for the runway?

Traditionally the domain of It-girls, actresses and editors-in-chief, the catwalk has been democratized with technology. While the cost of couture may remain prohibitive, the front row experience can now be accessed by anyone with a computer. Power is being handed to the people, and the brands recognizing that will accelerate fastest into a future in which technology and fashion merge seamlessly into one. As Diane von Furstenburg crowed with wonder in her Google Glasses, “We live in such an amazing world. Things that we thought would be science fiction exist.”

© Burberry, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg / Google Glass

It’s not just fashion shows that are evolving.

This year, Marc Jacobs took model scouting

from the streets to social media, using Instagram and Twitter to search for fresh faces for his fall/winter 2014/15 Marc by Marc Jacobs campaign. The idea was simple: hopefuls uploaded a photo with the hashtag #castmemarc and waited for a call. With 70,000 entries, it certainly spoke to the next generation of wannabe Naomi Campbells.

More significantly, it bestowed a sense of industry inclusivity upon a generation of young, digital-savvy trendsetters that will shape fashion’s future.

A 96

©2014 TUMI, INC.

Designed in America for Global Citizens like D ave A l t ar e sc u • D i g i t al M u si c I n n o vat o r Learn more at TUMI.COM/GlobalCitizens

Avai l ab l e at A ï sht i St o r e s 0 1 9 9 1 1 1 1

A fashion _ investment

By John Ovans

The failures of fast fashion

Looking good is thirsty work in a more literal way, too.

It’s hard to imagine, but producing one cotton shirt takes approximately 2,700 liters of water and dying one kilogram of fabric takes another 600. When water shortages in a country like Lebanon are as commonplace as high heels, it makes the kind of sense that doesn’t.

Problems, whether pertaining to human rights, fair trade or the environment, are rampant across the supply chain. But while many are only just waking up to the environmental impact of the textile industry, the ethical fashion movement has been around for years, and is now on an upward trajectory in the luxury industry.

Chalking up their defining attributes side by side, experts

A 98

© Stella McCartney, Shutterstock

Conscious luxury

In June, a customer of U.K. high street shop Primark found something hidden inside her new dress: handstitched into a label were the distressing words “Forced to work exhausting hours.” It was the stuff of P.R. nightmares and deservedly so, a message in a bottle that brought the consequences of global consumption to public consciousness. The demand for fast fashion means that many high street stores are producing up to 18 collections a year to sate a seemingly unquenchable thirst for ever-current wardrobes.

Stella McCartney

99 A

A fashion _ investment

Gucci

Meanwhile, sustainable fashion produced by smallscale eco brands is often derided by critics, not unfairly, for poor design. The values are there, they say, but the fashion isn’t; therein lies the major problem. However, recent years have seen the luxury model embracing certain practices, and shoppers, increasingly inquisitive about how their clothes are made, have access to pieces a far cry from the hemp ponchos of yesteryear. Stella McCartney, whose label eschews fur and leather in favor of innovative alternatives, is one of the most vocal about her efforts towards sustainability. Aside from fabrication, traceability throughout the supply chain is something that is proving to be key to the greenconscious shopper. Gucci produced a range of handbags in which the steps throughout production were 100% traceable, sold with a “passport” relating the origins of each element in the design.

A 100

While these are relatively small motions, Gucci and McCartney’s parent company, Kering, whose portfolio of brands additionally includes Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga, has announced a five-year plan to change its practices on a much larger scale. The changes will focus on the main issues concerning environmental impact, specifically to do with carbon dioxide emissions and other hazardous chemicals, waste, water and sourcing of raw materials. Much to the chagrin of kink fans everywhere, they’re also looking to completely phase out environmentally damaging PVC. Back in 2011, Kering, along with Burberry and several other conglomerates, also founded the Sustainable Luxury Working Group as a means of discussing social and environmental challenges in the luxury sector. Speaking in absolute terms, however, it is very difficult to be wholly “ethical” because it’s such a broad term, and a tricky one at that. McCartney is pragmatic about her approach, saying simply, “Our philosophy is that it is better to do something than nothing.”

Ultimately, the fashion industry is about beautiful, desirable things. Brands are proving slowly but surely that luxury and sustainability can be harmonious bedfellows.

© Gucci

have noted that the concepts of sustainability and luxury have several mutually inclusive values, particularly that of a product’s durability or timelessness. Investment purchases from luxury brands have long been argued as an example of shopping ethically, because with a higher price tag, people buy less and keep well-made pieces longer. When you think about it, it’s just smart shopping.

A誰SHTI SEASIDE BLDG. JAL EL DIB, LEBANON TEL. 04. 717 716 www.aishti.com

SPA

gROundpiEcE

MEDA (MB) ITALIA www.flexform.it

design by ANTONIO CITTERIO

FLEXFORM

A . D . n AtA l i A c o r b e t tA / f o t o g r A f i A m A r i o c i A m p i

made in italy

A fashion _ lesson

Michael Kors

Dsquared2

When smart equals sexy While many of the models who walked the pre-fall 2014 collections traded university lectures for photo shoots, you wouldn’t know it from the runway looks: conservative silhouettes and buttoned-up shirts in IvyLeague shades of charcoal, seal brown, midnight blue, cream and crimson.

As summer’s wanderlust begins to fade, designers are drawing inspiration from the back-to-school buzz and gung-ho optimism that accompanies fall. The look of the moment is an ode to the scholarly.

September brings with it not only the first day of classes but also the much-hyped nuptials of notorious ladies’ man George Clooney to Lebanese-born lawyer and humanitarian Amal Alamuddin. With a weakness for Oscar de la Renta and a penchant for big Balenciaga Velo bags, 36-year-old Alamuddin is the newest A 104

By Mehrnoush Shafiei

addition to fashion’s public arena. The media has taken a keen interest in the future Mrs. Clooney’s every move, confirming what many already knew: brainy girls are not immune to the lure of high fashion.

The flurry of speculation that surrounded the engagement – how did she manage to get him to commit? – was rivaled only by a global interest in her wardrobe and working life. Sexy and smart are the season’s hottest coupling.

Case in point: DSquared 2’s ‘60s-inspired pre-fall collection is collegiate dressing without pretension. Sequined pants unapologetically interrupt a stern (and dare we say, stuffy) monochromatic color palette and a tailored jacket and sparkly micromini skirt combination create an academic aesthetic infused with sex appeal.

If one of the hallmarks of pre-fall is transitional clothing, then Michael Kors clears that hurdle with a collection that’s easy to layer and mix-and-match. With menswearinspired looks ranging from overcoats and

cozy sweaters to breezy accordion skirts, the clothes evokes a sharp sense of puttogetherness without looking like you’re trying too hard, a quality that has become the brand’s specialty. In the same vein, Michael Kors’ stylish and practical briefcase satchels – a common sight on most college campuses – are perfectly suited for lugging books around town.

Over at Dior, Raf Simons left masculinity out of the equation with looks to suit the boss-of-the-boardroom woman. Thanks to Simons’ steadfast commitment to the Dior codes, the suits of the collection are both judicious and hyper-feminine.

It’s not often that fashion shows hit a philosophical nerve, but in many ways, the pre-fall collections made us scratch our heads, question our assumptions and deconstruct our longstanding stereotypes.

Perhaps this is the cue to pause for a moment and reverse the question on everyone’s mind: How did Clooney manage to get her to commit?

© Dior, Dsquared2, Michael Kors

Dior

Cerebral chic

Fashion

City slicker Say my name

A fashion _ accessories

Lay it on Photographer Tsar Stylist Joe Arida and Amine Jreissati

A 106

She’s in a Top Secret bra, Dries Van Noten shirt and Stella McCartney pants. Her bag is by Saint Laurent.

Clockwise from right She’s wearing a Vhernier bracelet and ring, a AS29 ring, Garrard and Elise Dray bracelets, Vhernier and AS29 rings, and a Garrard bracelet. Available at Sylvie Saliba.

107 A

A fashion _ accessories

She’s wearing a Dior sweater and her iPhone cover is by Dsquared2 Clockwise from top Her necklaces and bracelets are by Yvan Tufenkjian, her rings are by Cartier and Bvlgari, her watch is by Bvlgari and her rings are by Chaumet

A 108

She’s in a miu miu sweater and her wallet is by Hermès Clockwise from top She’s wearing a Repossi necklace and Seaman Schepps bracelets, available at Sylvie Saliba. Her ring is by Georges Hakim and her bracelet is by Cartier. She’s wearing vintage Napoleon III era rings, also available at Sylvie Saliba.

109 A

A fashion _ accessories

Her blazer is by Stella McCartney and her hat is by Gucci Her necklace, bracelets and rings are all by Hermès

A 110

She’s in a Chloé top, Céline jacket and Victoria Beckham sunglasses. Available at Aïshti stores.

Clockwise from top She’s wearing Cartier and Bulgari necklaces, a Ralph Masri bracelet and ring, a Cartier ring, a Georges Hakim bracelet and Ralph Masri rings Nails Ï Day Spa. Model Celine Omeira

111 A

A fashion _ hot stuff

Trending topic The fall looks gaining major followers

A 112

Fendi

Prabal Gurung

Tory Burch

Jason Wu

Stella McCartney

The right angles

Pucci

A 114

ChloĂŠ

Paul & Joe

Stella McCartney

Dior Gucci

Maison Martin Margiela

A fashion _ hot stuff

Working oversize

Altuzarra

MSGM

Moschino

Michael Kors

DSquared2

Bookish beauty

115 A

Jason Wu

A 116

Jason Wu

Christopher Kane

Maison Martin Margiela

Antonio Berardi

Oscar de la Renta

A fashion _ hot stuff

Green with envy

Giambattista Valli

DSquared2

ChloĂŠ

Bottega Veneta

Altuzarra

Orange crush

117 A

A 118

Burberry

Michael Kors

Dior

Burberry

Fine print

Bottega Veneta

Moschino

ChloĂŠ

A fashion _ hot stuff

ChloĂŠ

Giambattista Valli

Roberto Cavalli

Antonio Berardi

Pelt perfect

119 A

Balenciaga

Pucci

She’s wearing a Fendi dress and clutch.

Her shoes are by Dior

This page She’s wearing a Dolce & Gabbana dress and a Roberto Cavalli clutch Opposite page She’s in a Roberto Cavalli dress

This page She’s in a Moschino coat and belt. Her bag is by Roberto Cavalli Opposite page She’s wearing a top and shorts by Dsquared 2 and Marni boots

She’s wearing a top and shorts by Dsquared 2 and her bag is by Maison Martin Margiela. Opposite page She’s in a Maison Martin Margiela vest, Mikael Kors pants and Dior shoes

This page She’s in a Tory Burch jacket Opposite page She’s wearing a Maison Martin Margiela dress and Dior shoes. Her belt and clutch are by Roberto Cavalli

She’s wearing a Prada dress

She’s wearing Diesel dress and Saint Laurent belt.

Available at AĂŻshti stores.

Hair Hiro and Mari Makeup Deanna Melluso from Face Atelier Model Maritza Veer from Next Models

Say my name Photographer Emilio Tini Stylist Amelianna Loiacono

This page She’s wearing a Prada dress and shoes Opposite page She’s in a Gucci coat and scarf

This page She’s wearing a scarf and earrings, both by Saint Laurent Opposite page Her skirt, sweater and bracelets are all by Fendi. Her belt is by Etro

This page She’s wearing a Maison Martin Margiela playsuit, sweater and boots Opposite page Her dress and scarf are by Dior

This page She’s in a swimsuit and bag, both by Valentino Opposite page She’s wearing Jimmy Choo heels

This page She’s wearing a Dsquared 2 jumpsuit, bracelets and gloves Opposite page Her dress and bag are by Dolce & Gabbana.

This page Her coat and shirt are by CĂŠline and her belt is by Fendi Opposite page Their dress, shirt and bag are by Moschino Available at AĂŻshti stores.

Hair Nicholas James Makeup Anna Maria Negri from WM Management Models Anastasia Maikova from Women Management and Benthe de Vries from Next Models

Outer beauty Photographer Robert Bellamy

Stylist Vanessa Bellugeon

She’s wearing a Dior coat and Prada gloves

She’s wearing a Dior dress and Céline shoes

She’s wearing a fur coat, sweater and bag by Céline.

Her jeans are by Saint Laurent

She’s in a coat, sweater, shirt and jeans by Saint Laurent. Her bag and shoes are by Céline

She’s in a Gucci dress. Her bag is by Fendi

She’s wearing a Saint Laurent cape, Dior sweater and Fendi skirt

She’s wearing Céline earrings. Her coat, gloves and bag are all by Dior.

Hair Sébastien Le Corroler Makeup Tiziana Raimondo Model Julia Jamain from IMG Models

WWW.AISHTIBLOG.COM

WWW.AISHTIBLOG.COM

FENN & ALINA EN COUPLE DEPUIS 1 AN

148 SAAD ZAGHLOUL STREET - DOWNTOWN BEIRUT

Available at A誰zone stores 01 99 11 11

MELISSA LOVELY. INVERNO 2014.

www.melissa.com.br

A design _ update

A full itinerary

By Marissa Cox

Fall’s design events Nouveau Rebel by Lee Broom (left)

London Design Festival (left)

London Design Festival celebrates its 12th year this September. Highlights are BMW’s collaboration with designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, a kinetic sculpture comprising two silver mirrored structures that will hang from the center of the V&A’s Raphael Gallery, and the Global Design Forum, a program of talks by 20 high-profile international designers and thinkers.

Runs September 13-21, London, londondesignfestival.com A 166

Paris Design Week (above)

Set up as a continuation of Paris’ Maison et Objet, Paris Design Week will showcase the hottest new talent in product, graphic and furniture design. This year the theme is energy, and don’t miss “Now! Le Off,” an exhibition at Les Docks that will showcase a selection of young and up-andcoming designers.

Runs September 6-13, Paris, parisdesignweek.fr

© Paris Design Week, London Design Festival, Design Junction, Nouveau Rebel by Lee Broom, Maison et Objet, Indigo Brussels Home Edition

Famed for his dramatic use of cut glass, the renowned British product and furniture designer Lee Broom will launch his Nouveau Rebel collection during London Design Festival. The five designs will incorporate Italian Carrara marble and hand-blown lead crystal that reference the traditional uses of marble.

Visit leebroom.com

Indigo Brussels Home Edition (right)

The world’s weavers, printers and makers of everything decorative will be out in full force during the Indigo Brussels Home Edition show. This is the go-to event if you’re looking for unique fabrics and home furnishings.

Runs September 9-11, Brussels, indigo-salon.com

Design Junction (left)

Think of Design Junction as London Design Week’s younger, cooler sister. The event will exhibit cutting-edge furniture, lighting and product design in a disused warehouse in central London, a backdrop that provides the perfect blank canvas for an array of quirky, contemporary and luxurious designs.

Runs September 18-21, London, thedesignjunction.co.uk

Maison et Objet (right)

The yearly furniture spectacle will host a special event during Paris Design Week with a theme of sharing. Tapping into our propensity to share everything through social media channels, there will be various exhibitions exploring the theme, including “Words” by Elizabeth Leriche, which looks at language and typography.

Runs September 5-9, Paris, maison-objet.com

167 A

A design _ trend

BrazilÍ s winning streak

With bold outdoor furniture from local designers, Brazilmania is still at a fever pitch

By J. Michael Welton

Soft and sinuous (left)

Fluid and curved (above)

Karim Rashid’s Mesa Vida table is a sisalfiber, water-based resin piece that can be produced with or without a top, in monochromatic tones or mixed colors for each part of its structure. karimrashid.com

A 168

Solid and sustainable (above)

Designed by Roque Frizzo, the Noronha collection for Saccaro draws inspiration from a Brazilian archipelago called Fernando de Noronha. Durable Garapeira wood supports the powder-coated aluminum structure and is a sustainable Brazilian favorite. The color palette, said to be inspired by coastal reefs, is nothing if not vibrant. saccaro.com.br

© A lot of Brasil, Espasso, Karim Rashid, Saccaro

Revolutions per hour – or RPH – is the inspiration for a new sofa from Fabio Novembre. The original 2006 version was upholstered, but this model, made of polyurethane foam with a metallic internal frame, can be covered in different fabrics and leathers. It’s available as a chaise longue on either the left or right side. alotofbrasil.com

Sunny and bright (left)

Carlos Motta‘s Rio outdoor dining chair, from Espasso, is a celebration of Rio de Janeiro’s beaches, mountains and outdoor culture. Weatherproof, the chair is available in primary colors and pastels with a frame made from sustainable eucalyptus. espasso.com

Light and malleable (right)

Reissued in recycled aluminum with electrostatic paint, Paolo Ulian’s Row bench can be expanded and adapted to suit any space. From A Lot of Brasil, it’s available in three sizes and black, white and yellow. alotofbrasil.com

Popping and postmodern (left)

An evolution of the Kandissa sofa – designed

by Allessandro Mendini in 1979 – the K2 sofa has been modified in size and shape.

Launched this year, it’s offered in a range of materials, including lacquer and Amazonian wood. alotofbrasil.com

169 A

A design _ history

Absorbing modernity

By Robert Landon

Before Rem Koolhaas was an architect, he was a writer. In the late ‘60s, he was a news reporter and wrote a script for soft-core porn king Russ Meyer. Of course, Koolhaas has gone on to produce genre-busting buildings, from Portugal’s Casa da Musica to the Seattle Central Library. Yet many argue that his writings, especially Delirious New York and S,M,L,XL, have impacted the profession even more than the buildings themselves.

Now 70, Koolhaas has just pulled off the writing gig of a lifetime, establishing a master narrative for the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale. Never one to do things in half-measure, the cantankerous Dutchman only accepted the job after the Biennale acceded to three demands: twice

A 170

as much time for him to prepare for the event; a doubling of the event’s length from three to six months; and the power to shape participation by all the independent national pavilions, who were asked to address his chosen theme, “Absorbing Modernity: 1914-2014.”

Remarkably, his wish was the world’s command. Whereas usually the national pavilions are a maddening hodgepodge of ideas and approaches, this time they explored a common theme, though in richly varied ways. At one extreme, the Americans turned their pavilion into a working research center, where visitors flip through the same files that the pavilion’s “partners” use to research the deep structures of

©Francesco Galli / Biennale di Venezia

Rem Koolhaas challenges the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale

This Page The elements of architecture come together in Venice, from balconies (top) and ceilings (bottom) to elevators, walls and hallways (following pages)

A 171

A design _ architect

contemporary architectural practice. At the other extreme sits the Venice Pavilion, where Daniel Libeskind gently rejects Koolhaas’s call-to-arms by presenting 100 abstract drawings. He says the handmade drawings unearth the foundations of his own architectural production, which lies in the act of drawing itself.

Looking in parts like deconstructed skeletons or Dadaist architectural plans, Libeskind’s works explore the narrow line between representation and pure abstraction, the formation of structures and the shattering of them.

Meanwhile in the Biennale’s main pavilion, Koolhaas (and a seemingly endless roster of researchers and assistants) has curated “Elements,” his own massive exhibit. In it, he dissects the indispensable subunits of architecture one by one – from doors to ceilings, windows to central heating.

The presentation of each has its own look and feel, from a funhouse of corridors to a wall crowded to the rafters with every conceivable kind of door.

© Francesco Galli / Biennale di Venezia

“A few years ago, I would never have thought of proposing such a bland idea for an exhibition,” Koolhaas told journalists ahead of the event. “But when we started researching the histories of these elements, it was like looking for the first time through a microscope and discovering completely unknown species.”

A 172

Will all this hard thinking usher in a new phase in Koolhaas’s own architectural production – a reinvention the likes of Wright’s late-phase organic style or Oscar Niemeyer’s design for the Serpentine Gallery when he was 96? It is hard to say, but perhaps “Luminaire,” a work designed by Koolhaas specifically for the Biennale, holds some clues.

A faux-Renaissance facade lit by hundreds of Swarovski crystals, “Luminaire” provides a highly cinematic entrance to the Biennale’s sprawling Mondo Italia pavilion. Recalling a Fellini dreamscape, the transparent and aggressively historicist facade is at once welcoming and ironic, structurally unnecessary but bright with potential meanings. Does this work represent a brighter, more transparent Koolhaas, someone more willing to revel in the light? Or is that false facade a reflection of yet one more delusion Koolhaas is forcing us to confront?

Of course, the great Dutch master is unlikely ever to tell us. Like any good writer, he wants to keep us in suspense.

A 173

A design _ structure

Think again

By Sabina Llewellyn-Davies

(IFI) for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut (AUB), a fitting choice as the Iraqi-born architect earned her undergraduate degree in mathematics there before going on to study at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.

Zaha Hadid’s neofuturistic designs are certainly daring – so daring that some of them never actually see the light of day. But those that do – such as the Chanel Mobile Art Pavilion, the Bergisel Ski Jump, the Phaeno Science Center and the Guangzhou Opera House – are all standout design marvels.

Hadid is the first female architect to be awarded The Pritzker Architecture Prize, and this year she reached another first when she became the first woman to win the Design Museum’s Design of the Year Award for the stunning Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku.

The building, which houses a reading room, conference workshops and research rooms, as well as a roof terrace with far-stretching views over the AUB campus and beyond, was inaugurated this year. “The war in 2006 in Lebanon was a setback and caused delays. Also, the complexity of the implementation of the technical design was a real challenge for the local contractors who were not used to building slanted walls, for example,” says Dr. Rami Khoury, director of IFI, an academic think tank that initiates research related to regional issues and international affairs. It is currently working on several programs to address regional concerns, including the refugee crisis, climate change, food security and urbanism.

Her work is dotted all over the world, so it was just a matter of time until Beirut had a Hadid building to call it’s own. In 2006, her design was chosen to house the Issam Fares Institute A 174

The building’s frontage features a pattern of

rhombus-shaped windows and indentations.

The greater part of the structure is elevated above ground by a cantilever and a long ramp passes through trees leading up to the second floor. “We always look beyond the initial client brief and work hard to interpret the purpose of an institution as it is not only the form of a building that interests us. We also research new and better ways in which people can use a building,” said a spokesperson for Zaha Hadid Architects.

The structure stands out from the existing AUB campus buildings constructed throughout the 20th century in various revivalist styles. “My personal impression is that the physical structure clearly helps [our work]. The spaces are airy and light and the facilities enable us to put on events with ease,” says Khoury. “The design of the building definitely creates a positive identity for IFI.” His opinion is one of many: the modernity of the building’s design has both fascinated and infuriated. But above all it tantalizes the visitor, perhaps the best outcome for a respected think tank.

© Hassan Nisr

Architect Zaha Hadid shakes up the AUB campus

Beirut, Lebanon

A design _ tour

Norway’s nature creeps into design

A 176

By Robert Landon

Oslo’s waterfront glitters with petrodollars.

But as soon as you move beyond its small central core, you see signs that, before the discovery of oil in the ‘60s, it was perhaps Europe’s most modest capital. Before long you will encounter the wildness that reaches from the surrounding mountains down into the heart of the city. Parks are refreshingly ramshackle. Lawns go untrimmed. Down weedy alleys you may find tiny wooden shacks tucked between Palladian villas and modernist behemoths.

Norwegians’ natural modesty. They prefer to buckle down than to brag about the fruits of their labor.

Norway’s design and architecture scene possesses a similarly rugged appeal.

Traditionally, the country has played second – or third – fiddle to fellow Scandinavian powerhouses Denmark and Sweden, but not because of any dearth of talent. More likely, this lack of kudos results from the

Kolleketed By Created by the brilliant designer-stylist team of Jannicke Kråkvik and Alessandro D’Orazio, this newly opened shop gives new form to exquisite styling work that for many years the two displayed in the pages of Elle Decor. The store’s quirky, carefully curated collection,

Perhaps this lack of guile is what makes their designs so beguiling. No matter how sophisticated they get, they seems to retain a thrilling dose of the rough natural world. Four new additions are coloring the city’s design landscape. With one remarkable exception, they smuggle the rawness of the Nordic wilds into the city’s most urbane precincts.

© Ekeberg Sculpture Park, Trattoria Popolare, The Thief / Mattias Hamrén and Jason Strong

Nordiculture

This page The natural beauty of the Ekeberg Sculpture Park Opposite page James Turrell’s “Ekeberg Skyspace”

177 A

A design _ tour

Tables await guests at Trattoria Popolare (top). A spectacular view of The Thief (bottom)

which combines new and vintage objects in clever ways, has quickly become the brightest light in Oslo’s vibrant design scene.

Rathkes gate 4, tel. 47.400.42.743, kollektedby.no

Trattoria Popolare Downstairs, Oslo’s favorite new trattoria envelopes you in a cozy, countrified version of Scandinavian modernism, from its teak furnishings to its creamy palette. By contrast, the upstairs dining room is a study in understated elegance. Wood-lined floors and walls are at once rich and raw-looking, while green-tinged leather seats add friendly dignity. The menu, based on classic Italian recipes, makes the most of fresh ingredients, like Norwegian asparagus and Italy’s San Daniele ham.

Trondheimsveien 2, tel. 47.21.38.39.30, popolare.no The Thief Last year, The Thief hotel opened its doors in the newly reminted Tjuvholmen Island, once a down-and-out dockside district and now one of the city’s most soughtafter addresses. This small palace of glitz, which recently won six stars from Britain’s The Independent, has nothing raw or natural about it. The Thief is an exercise in visual and artistic excess. Its art-packed rooms harbor everything from Antony Gormley to Andy Warhol, and a partnership with the nearby Astrup Fearnley Museum keeps the collection fresh.

Landgangen 1, tel. 47.24.00.40.00, thethief.com A 178

© Ekeberg Sculpture Park, Trattoria Popolare, The Thief / Mattias Hamrén and Jason Strong

Ekeberg Sculpture Park Sitting on a verdant hillside above Oslo’s waterfront, the newly opened Ekeberg Sculpture Park shelters a treasure trove of contemporary sculpture. Buried underground are two remarkable works by James Turrell. From a tree hangs two beautiful, mysteriously intertwined figures by Louise Bourgeoise. And the list goes on: Lynn Chadwick, Tony Cragg, Sarah Sze, Matt Johnson and more. Most extraordinary of all? The art is made to integrate harmoniously with – in fact, almost disappear into – a sprawling landscape of green glades and Nordic pines.

Kongsveien 23, ekebergparken.com

A designer _ voyager

Habitat with humanity

By Pip Usher

Š Samar Dani

The world’s best bazaars come home

A 180

This page Traditional Indian jewelry Opposite page Ghoulish masks in Delhi (top) and Habatiq founder Samar Dani

Samar Dani’s kohl-rimmed eyes gleam when she talks about her travels. “I remember my first time in Aleppo’s market.

It was amazing! I loved the way they used their displays, their craftsmanship – how they cram everything into one place. It’s an assault on the senses, but your eyes dart everywhere,” she exclaims as we lunch in her airy apartment in downtown Beirut.

The founder of Habatiq, an e-boutique dedicated to authentic crafts and jewelry from major markets across the world, Dani has channeled her globe-hopping hobby into a business that she hopes will fuel part of Lebanon’s online growth.

The aesthetic of Dani’s apartment offers insight into her business model and mind.

Against cool white walls, gigantic plants

and bold-talking paintings from the Caribbean compete for attention. There are brightly woven rugs from Morocco and a bookshelf that dominates one wall, its shelves lined with novels about Persian food and Arab poetry. Dani describes her style as eclectic, picking pieces “that are true to their idea.” There’s no master plan; she just selects things she likes and fits them into her space afterwards. And, somehow, it works.

The same goes when she sources items for Habatiq. Trawling though the clutter of bazaars, she searches for handmade crafts and jewelry that reflect the cultures of the country in which they were made.

Authenticity is key. After all, Habatiq was founded with the aim of accentuating a A 181

A designer _ voyager

habitat with inimitable pieces (its name was created by blending “habitat” and “boutique”) and she’s catering to women confident enough in their own style to buy non-branded, traditionally crafted items.

Whether it’s understanding the motif embroidered on a beaded scarf, or the reason bells adorn tribal anklets and necklaces (some say it’s to ward off snakes; others claim it’s so men of the tribe can tell if a woman is running away), Dani clearly gets a high from hoovering up crumbs of information.

But with enthusiasm can come naivety, as she discovered after one of her first trips to Istanbul. Pulled aside by a charming young A 182

man that spoke Arabic, he was quick to recommend his brother’s shop in the bazaar.

They’d fled Syria, and had a wide selection of crafts from their country for sale. Once Dani had gathered a substantial selection of pieces, the shop owner opened a hidden drawer to reveal five pieces of embroidered silk textiles that had been hand-stitched by old women in a village near Aleppo. The pieces were irreplaceable; they represented a dying art, relics of Syria’s heritage that had been smuggled from the Aleppo souk before it was destroyed. Deeply touched by the story, she bought every piece. It was too good to be true. Several months later, surrounded by Indian women swathed in her “unique Syrian scarves,” Dani realized

© Samar Dani

This page Trinkets from the bazaars of Cairo

This page A turquoise necklace from Turkey (left), a Turkish carpet shop (top right) and a woven Uzbek bag (bottom right)

she’d been spectacularly played. It was a valuable business lesson – and better yet, a cracking anecdote.

It’s strange to imagine Dani as part of the corporate world, with her pixie cut and travel tales, but she spent many years working to a different rhythm. To understand her story completely, one must rewind several years to when she was employed within general management at Exotica. She’d spent two decades with the floral company, “pushing herself too hard” as she established the business in the Emirates. All that changed after a breast cancer diagnosis in 2006. As Dani recalls, “When I got cancer, I said to the

oncologist, ‘When does the treatment finish? I need to get back to work.’” After grueling chemotherapy and the ensuing recovery period, she realized “that things could get done at a slower pace.” It was time to leave the rat race. After a few months of unemployment, the Habatiq concept was formed over tea with friends.

Habatiq is a labor of love. Dani is devoting her time to work that makes her happy and keeps her healthy. She travels to countries; she learns about new cultures; and she brings small relics back to Beirut for a niche community of people who are interested in similar things. Looking back at the past few years, she admits, “It’s been a nice journey.”

A 183

A high art _ exhibitions

On view

Michael Craig-Martin British artist Michael CraigMartin, a leader in conceptual art, takes everyday objects and transforms them with vivid palettes. Resisting the urge to elaborate, he transcribes contemporary objects’ outlines onto canvas and then uses artificial color to challenge the viewer’s perception.

On view until August 6 at Gagosian Gallery, 12 Pedder St., Hong Kong, tel. 852.2151.0555, gagosian.com

A 186

© Team Lab / Pace Gallery, Mike Bruce / Gagosian Gallery, Galerie Tanit, Eduardo Ortega / Gary Hume / White Cube

Ultra Subjective Space Japanese collaborative digital artists Team Lab draws upon numerous cultural influences – from 17th-century Japanese art to modern-day anime – to create vivid installations.

Working as a collective, the interdisciplinary group pushes the viewer to explore extremes of creativity with its blend of art and technology.

On view until August 15 at Pace Gallery, 508 W. 25th St., New York, tel. 1.212.989.4258, pacegallery.com

© Team Lab / Pace Gallery, Mike Bruce / Gagosian Gallery, Galerie Tanit, Eduardo Ortega / Gary Hume / White Cube

Stoneware and Porcelain Creating life from clay, painter and sculptor Simone Fattal molds characters that remain nameless and faceless. With their powerful bodies and stylized limbs, the sculpted men and women recall mythical, ancient kingdoms.

On view until September 4 at La Galerie Tanit, Armenia St., Mar Mikhael, tel. 03.257.805, galerietanit.com Unicorn Thick pastel colors, triangular shapes and architectonic motifs – British artist Gary Hume’s “Unicorn” paintings favor familiar forms with an abstract element. His highly personal style looks light, but occasionally toys with a more sinister element, like the playful bunting with a teeth-like pattern.

On view until August 23 at White Cube, 550 Agostinho Rodrigues Filho Rd., Vila Mariana, São Paulo, tel. 55.11.4329.4474, whitecube.com

A 187

A high art _ exhibitions

Forest of Illusions Three artists that grew up in China in the ‘80s come together for an exhibition exploring concerns with the human condition in today’s world. Tsang Kin Wah subtly weaves discontent and sexual suppression into his paintings; Cheng Ran uses bleak humor to explore the isolation of urban dwellers; and Yang Yi Shiang’s paintings expose the weakness of humanity.

On view until August 23 at Galerie Perrotin, 50 Connaught Rd., Central, Hong Kong, tel.

852.3758.2180, perrotin.com

© Cheng Ran / Galerie Perrotin, Stefan Zenzmaier / Salzburg Foundation

Tony Cragg Following the success of its decade-long “Walk of Modern Art” project, the Salzburg Foundation has furthered its cultural reputation with three new sculptures by Tony Cragg. Part of a new art project scheduled to run for five years, Cragg’s sinewy bronze sculptures sit regally beneath the famed Hohensalzburg Castle.

On view until September 29 at Thaddeus Ropac Gallery, 2 Mirabellplatz, Salzburg, tel.

43.662.881.393, ropac.net

A 188

A high art _ fair

From Paris, with love?

Beirut Art Fair ups its game with the help of three French curators

A 190

Beirut Art Fair, for all its hype, tends to be rather maligned by the more critical end of the art world. To be taken seriously, art fairs these days need to be more than temporary department stores selling bits from a list of galleries. They must have debates, screenings, performances, interventions.

They are expected to offer an experiential aspect, in keeping with contemporary art and its stimulation-hungry audience.

Counterintuitive though it may seem, they are now judged on the quality of their

non-commercial offerings, the key to being considered an interesting proposition for anyone other than collectors.

Beirut Art Fair has done a good job of hosting a collecting event in a difficult country like Lebanon, managing to stimulate the market and bring galleries and collectors from abroad. In previous years, however, it hasn’t introduced much critical depth – something that may change this year with the addition of two

Š Sawart, Agial Art Gallery, Galerie Tanit, Emmagoss Gallery

By Jasper Toms

This page An untitled piece by Oussama Baalbaki Opposite page Marwa Adel’s “The Journey-5”

new curators, Fabrice Bousteau and Silke Schmickl – to the existing credibility of Jerome Sans. Sans is a notable French critic who has worked with influential institutions such as the Palais de Tokyo, and will be curating emerging design at the fair, as he did last year. Bousteau is a French-born Indophile who has curated a mobile art pavilion for Chanel, is currently publishing a text with Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton, and most notably curated the exhibition “Paris-Delhi-Bombay” at

the Pompidou Center in 2011. In Beirut he will present a lovely-sounding cabinet of curiosities-style exhibition of Indian artworks around the concept of Dharma.

Schmickl, meanwhile, is a Sorbonneeducated film and photography curator from Germany who co-founded the Parisbased film label Lowave; she will curate a series of video works from the region.

This fifth edition of the fair, which takes place at Biel from September 18191 A

A high art _ fair

“Oriental Dancer” by Jean Paul Guiragossian (left) and “A Vista d’Occhio”

by Moje Assefjah (right)

Some headline aspects of the fair, however, remain problematic. For example, the remit of covering the entire MENASA region – the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia – is an impossible task that smacks of A 192

The aim of showing artists who are “inspired by their heritage and their history turmoil, creating their art work away from the globalization buzz, fashion trends and the star system” may be laudable but also a touch romantic, considering that Beirut is far from off the map, and sits at the nexus of a hotly buzzing global network where hyper-connected transcultural influences are both produced and absorbed. But not all art fairs can do everything at once, and in Beirut, staging an event of this scale in an efficient manner is a feat in itself. Having cracked that now, hopefully this year’s offerings from Bousteau and Schmickl will add an interesting layer to this buzz point in Beirut‘s burgeoning art calendar.

© Sawart, Agial Art Gallery, Galerie Tanit, Emmagoss Gallery

21, continues its journey of expansion and intellectual development. The event was founded in 2010 by Parisians Laure d’Hauteville and Pascal Odille. For last year’s fourth edition, 46 galleries visited from 14 different countries, exhibiting to a healthy audience of 18,000 people. The four-day happening offers the chance to survey art from the region, with a mix of contemporary works and modern pieces on show that give an approximate image of the saleable art produced in the Levant and its surroundings over the past half-century or so.

the sort of unreconstructed colonialistic framework that no attempt at meaningful curation is likely to rectify. This chimes unfortunately with the fact that the shape of the fair is defined entirely from a French point of view, with only token integration of local curation and orchestration. While the involvement of additional curators this year is admirable, that they are also Parisian in education and perspective may sit uncomfortably as people ask why curators from the Middle East’s blooming art scene are not contributing.

PAPERWORK IS COMPLICATED MAKE YOURS SIMPLE

CALL

1577

ORDER HOME

SERVICE

AND LIBANPOST WILL COMPLETE YOUR PAPERWORK WHEREVER YOU ARE. www.libanpost.com Connect with us

A high art _ anniversary

At the center of it all

Studio Voltaire celebrates 20 years of shaping contemporary art A 194

Some of contemporary art’s most exciting voices have come up through the nurturing walls of a South London organization that has been discreetly pushing art forward for the past two decades. Established in 1994, Studio Voltaire started as a collective of 12 artists that occupied an abandoned tram shed before moving to its current complex, studios and a converted Victorian chapel

gallery. The latter is currently exhibiting a giant, brightly colored painting of a vagina with a coil inside it, flanked by two penises, painted in the space by respected 70-year-old American feminist artist Judith Bernstein as part of the program celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Today, the studios host 45 artists, and a

Š Studio Voltaire

By Jasper Toms

This page “Hermitos Children” by Marvin Gaye Chetwynd and work by Phyllida Barlow Bluff (bottom) Opposite page An installation by Nicole Eisenman

195 A

A high art _ anniversary

thriving live events program compliments the central focus on visual art. But what distinguishes Studio Voltaire from the majority of exhibition spaces is its dedication to commissioning new work, setting it apart as an active agent in the process of art-making and canon-shaping, and earning its reputation as a cauldron for important works of the future. The lynchpin philosophy of “placing the artist at the center of everything we do” is the key to its credibility and success. According to its director of 10 years, Joe Scotland, “Our ethos has remained the same.

What’s changed is the greater level of support we now offer artists.”

This page Anne Collier’s “Woman With A Camera (Cheryl Tiegs/Olympus I)” and a Judith Bernstein installation (bottom) Opposite page Chetwynd’s “The Walk To Dover”

© Studio Voltaire

Since its unassuming beginnings, the collective has grown to hold a defining role in the British emerging art scene, often giving future names their first London exhibitions, and new international artists their first shows in the U.K. Now-famous artists such as Phyllida Barlow and Elizabeth Price cut their teeth here. Scotland commissioned Barlow at a turning point in her career just after 40 years of teaching, when she wasn’t represented commercially and hadn’t been given due attention by museums. Following her exhibition at Studio Voltaire, she was taken on by Hauser & Wirth before having major shows at Tate Britain and The New Museum. Video artist Elizabeth Price had her first public exhibition in the

A 196

gallery here, presenting her first film work; she went on to win the Turner Prize in 2012. When asked what made him feel most proud of their work, Scotland decides, “Enabling artists to do ambitious projects at crucial points in their careers.”

As Scotland muses on the identity his organization has built, he takes pains to emphasize, however, that it doesn’t try to exhibit “the next hot young artist,” but rather artwork they feel deserves attention. “Our program is idiosyncratic and people are often surprised.

We show artists at different stages of their career and some might be young, but some might much older.”

One thing that enables this freehand approach is Studio Voltaire’s charity status. Supported by Arts Council England and running Kickstarter campaigns for specific artist projects, it can realize artworks that would not be commercially viable but are important and contribute to the tone of contemporary art as it evolves.

The now-well-known Marvin Gaye Chetwynd is one

artist who has enjoyed an ongoing series of commissions from Studio Voltaire, beginning with her first film and performance work in 2005, and culminating in her new 20th anniversary commission for the gallery. Scotland’s second celebratory installation for the year also comes from longstanding collaborators Joanne Tatham & Tom O’Sullivan, who were one of his first commissions in his role at the organization.

This year, for the first time, a commercial partnership with the French fashion house Chloé will fund a pop-up shop in Mayfair called House of Voltaire, selling special commissions by some of London’s most brilliant fashion designers, including Simone Rocha and Roksanda Ilincic. The special editions model has long been a feature of Studio Voltaire’s online shop, and enabling artists and designers to make money in simple ways like this chimes with Studio Voltaire’s laudable goal – more relevant in 2014 than ever before – of being a safe-room from London’s ravenous economic pressure.

197 A

A high art _ institution

New chances, new challenges

Š Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

By Jasper Toms

A 198

This page Pieces by Turkish fashion collection Dice Kayek at The V&A Museum, London (top) and social designer Florie Salnot’s collection of jewelry (bottom) Opposite page Najla El Zein Studio’s “The Wind Portal”

A place for Middle Eastern artists in the grand museums of Europe and America

Headlines tell of how Middle Eastern works are being enthusiastically snapped up by the Euro-American world of international contemporary art. While this sort of attention may be better than none, many artistic producers from Arab countries are more interested in the weightier credibility and collaborative potential that engagement from canon-building museums can bring.

Over the past decade, museums such as Tate Modern and LACMA have developed active curatorial policies for art and design from

the region, but such programs are still in their relative infancy. In the UK, the British Museum was the first to begin collecting contemporary Arab art, led by Venetia Porter since the ‘80s. It wasn’t until the mid-2000s that the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and Tate Modern opened comparable collections.

Miriam Lloyd-Evans works alongside Porter in her role as head of international engagement for the Middle East. She explains that one issue is that these museums 199 A

A high art _ sound

Top Screenshots of “Letter to a Refusing Pilot” by Akram Zaatari (top) Bottom “Preface to the Third Edition (Édition française) Plate VI” by The Atlas Group’s Walid Raad

are building a story: “It is still a case of filling in the art historical canon”. This is why, after the interest in new works triggered by the Arab Spring, the trend has now shifted away from contemporary towards modern.

Rowan Bain has four years behind her as assistant curator in the Middle Eastern department at The V&A Museum, making her ideally placed to shed light on how institutions of this scale approach contemporary Arab design. Visiting Beirut this June for Beirut Design Week, she gave a talk about her commission of “The Wind Portal” by Najla El Zein and shared details about collecting with A.

Lloyd-Evans supports the idea that Middle Eastern art need not represent the local but will be valued for its part in the global moment. “Artists must resist any urge to produce work that fulfills expectations about regional turmoil or political messaging,” she warns. But while the sensationalism surrounding Arab political contexts is bemoaned as being reductive, it has also generated a wave of public interest internationally. This means newly acquired works achieve great visibility, and fast – Tate Modern lately exhibited newly purchased pieces by Wael Shawky, The Atlas Group, Zineb Sedira and Akram Zaatari relatively quickly after acquisition, and scheduled related talks.

A 200

Artist opportunities are up thanks not only to these changes in collecting but also growth in residency schemes and collaborative events, such as Friday Lates or Fashion in Motion at The V&A. Cross-cultural platforms like Edge of Arabia and the Crossway Foundation specialize in forging transcultural partnerships, while ArteEast and AFAC offer an overview of what’s out there. These all exist to connect Arab artists with exhibition opportunities in the wider world, but their priorities echo Bain’s words on her curatorial perspective: “It’s not only about where the artist comes from. It’s about what they’re doing and how well, or how originally, they are doing it.”

© Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Bain acknowledges that, like El Zein, many Middle Eastern designers who collaborate with Western museums received their higher education in the West. This teaches them to develop ideas in the same conceptual language spoken by curatorial staff. Bain emphasizes, however, that The V&A prioritizes artworks for their own excellence, not the framework in which they are presented. She adds that her department isn’t necessarily looking to reaffirm existing understandings of artistic objects from Western culture. “We collect for different reasons, such as interesting craft methods, strange production contexts or outstanding beauty.”

Neither is it always about sourcing works that can be read as exemplary of where they come from; El Zein’s design is notable for its merging of cutting edge with traditional techniques in a way that represents the current trend in design around the world.

A vertu _ advertorial

Beyond the basic How mobile phones just got aspirational

Celebrating the launch of the company’s pinnacle smartphone, the Signature Touch, A magazine spoke with Vertu’s Global Head of Concept Creation and Design, Hutch Hutchison, to discuss the company’s commitment to luxury and how Vertu’s ethos makes them stand out from the crowd.

Once upon a time – well, 40 years ago – the very first mobile phone was born. It weighed two and a half pounds, was 10 inches long and could only be used for 20 minutes before the battery went flat.

“Our manufacturing process balances the artisan world of the luxury industry with the fast-paced world of mobile technology,” Hutchison says, “and each phone is handmade by a single craftsman to uncompromisingly high standards.”

Manufacturing in England, Vertu employs the principles of couture and applies them to your mobile phone. From its beautifully stitched calf leather to skillfully polished grade 5 titanium casing, the Signature Touch boasts a classically elegant and consciously masculine design, reminiscent of its

These days, mobile phone technology is much more in line with our lifestyles.

Leading the way for more than a decade is Vertu, the English luxury mobile phone manufacturer who is delivering an unrivalled experience via expert craftsmanship, innovative technology and unique services.

predecessors, yet slimmer, cleaner and more contemporary.

A mobile phone, of course, is not just about what it looks like, but also what you can do with it. Vertu is renowned for its range of finely curated services, described as a suite of exclusive offers, content and assistance across its range of three distinct models, which along with the Signature Touch include the Signature and the Constellation. These services are centered around the Vertu Concierge, a system designed to facilitate ease at a bespoke level: as customers use the system more and more, the Concierge becomes attuned, and subsequently tailored, to their needs. A Vertu phone is, demonstrably, an intelligent one, one that suits customers that are regarded as global. With this in mind, the Signature Touch was designed with the ethos of a “one world phone.” Thanks to coverage of a greater array of bands, including 4G, than practically any other phone on the market, users can enjoy top-quality calls without all the background fuzz.

“In a world where everyone has a mobile phone, I believe Vertu customers are seeking something one-of-a-kind,” Hutchison says.

With the Signature Touch, it seems Vertu is giving them just that.

A 204

© Vertu

The Signature Touch incorporates the best of the previous models, while Vertu continues to listen to its audience when it comes to the latest technology. “We have deliberately elected to excel in areas that are most relevant to our customers,” Hutchison says, referring to high-performance audio and imaging technology. This includes sound tuned in collaboration with Bang & Olufsen and featuring Dolby Digital Plus virtual surround sound for peerless mobile acoustics, and a camera certified by Hasselblad for crystal clear imaging with full HD display. They’ve also continued to use the extraordinary fifthgeneration solid sapphire crystal screen.

aVaiLaBLe aT a誰sHTi sTores 01 99 11 11 New York

LoNdoN

Paris

MiLaN

roMe

Madrid

Moscow

TokYo

HoNg koNg

sHaNgHai

Š ShutterStock, Minkara Sahar Interior Design Studio / Miramar Hotel, Beit El Nessim Nessim

A lifestyle _ revival

TripoliÕ s renaissance

By Daniel Hilton

A 206

The rich, forgotten city

Lebanon’s Tripoli might just be unique. Not because of a rich history spanning 5,000 years and not because of its position between cedar-speckled mountains and blissful sandy beaches; not even thanks to the Tripolitanean sweets the city is famous for. It is unique due to the fact that, despite all of these attributes, only 2% of Lebanon’s tourists visit the country’s second city. A somewhat turbulent past and a reputation as Beirut’s more conservative sister might be behind the city’s paucity of visitors, but now its inhabitants are out to change all that.

“I’m from Tripoli and I love it, so naturally I want people to come and see my city,” Mira Minkara tells me over a coffee on a blisteringly hot Lebanese morning.

She has been a guide here since 2000 and now draws many Beirut-based tourists to her northern city, with its Crusader castle built by the one-eyed French count Raymond de Saint-Giles and Mamluk mosques, hammams and a labyrinthine souk second only to those in Cairo. “It has everything to be a great touristic city. We have the biggest number of monuments crowded in one place than anywhere in Lebanon.”

Mira isn’t the only excited about the city. In 2007 Nabil Najjar, a New York-based photographer, visited and fell in love with a house tucked away in the narrow streets of Tripoli’s seafront el Mina district. “It was in very bad 207 A

A lifestyle _ revival

condition,” says Najjar’s wife and partner, Maya Sourati. “He wanted to restore it and so worked with the people of Mina. He wanted the neighborhood to be involved in the project, so he would buy some of the materials from the locals.” Midway through a restoration that took four years, the pair decided to turn the house into a boutique guesthouse, Beit El Nessim. Six exquisitely turned out rooms can be found off a walled garden and interior courtyard, styled with influences not only Lebanese, but from India, Egypt and Syria. “It’s a bit mystical actually.

The house belonged to a very humanitarian man called Dr. Labban who served the people of Mina,” Sourati explains. That spirit is maintained with yoga and mediation classes Najjar teaches, as well as youth A 208

workshops, poetry readings, performances by underground Lebanese musicians and an exhibition collaborating with the French Cultural Center. The elegant oasis, with whitewashed walls and arches of thickly-cut warm yellow stone, is a perfect base from which to grab a boat from the workaday waterfront to the Palm Islands nature reserve or to wander over to the Rachid Karami International Fair, a modernist masterpiece of architectural design by the legendary Oscar Niemeyer.

Further down the shore, away from the bustle of the city, lies the newly opened Miramar Hotel Resort and Spa, whose very existence proves that Tripoli’s tourism scene is on the rise. Despite its size (30 rooms,

three pools, five bars and restaurants, and a 14-room spa) interior designer and Tripolitanean Sahar Karame has made every effort to give the hotel a personal, boutique feel and drew from her surroundings. “I tried to use colors and mixed styles, as well as craftsmanship to reflect the city,” she reveals, adding, “Tripoli is well known for using copper and nickel. All the tables are made in Tripoli, inside the old souks using them.” Karame has strived to make each room as individual as the city itself, creating a resort unlike any other in the country. But for her, it’s all part of finally getting Tripoli discovered by the rest of the world. “I think I did something great for Tripoli and it’s added value to the city. It’s something that it has never seen before.”

© Minkara Sahar Interior Design Studio / Miramar Hotel, Beit El Nessim

This page An eclectic mix of styles with stunning results at Miramar Hotel Resort and Spa Opposite page The colorful coast of Tripoli (left) and Beit El Nessim’s beautiful, welcoming interior (right)

MEA_MOBAPP_23x30.pdf

1

5/20/14

11:55 AM

A lifestyle _ bistro

French flavor

By Daniel Hilton

Beirut’s bistro boom

It is here that I meet Alexis Couquelet, chef of restaurant Couqley, which started Beirut’s bistro renaissance almost five years ago. As we perch by the zinc bar one could be forgiven for thinking we were on Paris’ Left Bank. “This is very, very Parisian, from the light bulbs to the tiles. It was very important we followed the French look, ” says Couquelet, clearly proud of his work.

“We ought to remember there are a lot of Francophonie in Lebanon, so people see this and they feel, because a lot of them have lived in France for a long time, like they’re travelling back.” Ambiance is one thing, but for the many Francophiles in Beirut, classic A 210

© Café de Pénélope, Prune, Couqley, Les Fenêtres

At the height of the Counter-Reformation, in 1639, the mustachioed King Louis XIII of France declared the personal protection of the Christians of Mount Lebanon. Thus began a four-century association between France and the mountainous Levantine slither of land now known simply as Lebanon. Gallic influence is easily uncovered in the eastern Mediterranean enclave, and the impact of France’s mandate over Lebanon in the early 20th century can still be spotted in places such as Beirut’s Gemmayzeh, an antique area pockmarked by examples of Lebanon’s particular brand of art deco, “nouveau-Phoenicienne.”

This page Les Fenêtres (top) and Prune (bottom) are two newer additions to the scene Opposite page Café de Pénélope welcomes guests, morning and night (top). Couqley initiated the rise of the bistro (bottom)

French cuisine is what they miss the most.

Bloody steak frites, aromatic escargots, duck confit and pain perdu, rich and sweet, are menu mainstays and in turn have inspired similar spots elsewhere.

A 15-minute saunter down the road to trendy Mar Mikhael lie two bistros, Prune and Les Fenêtres, which opened their doors just last year. Prune, a thicket of wrought iron and marble-topped tables in a cozily converted mechanic’s garage, picks up where Couqley left off, combining common dishes such as fois gras with creative personal additions like their signature poulet aux prune, succulent grilled chicken breasts smothered in a plum sauce. Housed in an older, more traditional

Lebanese building, Les Fenêtres is hidden at the top of stairs and past a secluded terrace with trees cracking through the tiled floor leading to an interior of polished wood and Oriental arched windows. Here they look beyond just France, over La Manche and to England, where a cuisine-weary companion can opt for fish and chips or even “le full English breakfast” if they so wish – though to pass over their silky steak tartare, fiery with horseradish, would be a shame.

Les Fenêtres is not alone in looking beyond the borders. Café Diem in Sodeco is a whitetiled shoebox of a bistro that combines the convivial atmosphere of France with a more international menu. The likes of beef

carpaccio and Asian shrimp dumplings accompany bistro-esque comfort foods such as braised chicken, while during the day the emphasis leans towards fresh baguettebased sandwiches. Similarly, in Beirut’s up-and-coming Badaro, month-old bistro Café de Pénélope retains the popular French feeling with its cognac-laden art deco corner bar serving a breezy clientele a fruity rosé sangria. Its menu, however, is Europe-wide, sporting soft chevre salads and amusebouche, like brie and confiture or chorizo and manchego, that lunch-goers can have swiftly placed in a baguette. This year it seems the bistro, like many of its clients, is retaining a French flavor while increasingly following international inspirations.

211 A

A lifestyle _ brewery

Ice-cold Colonel

By James Haines-Young

Lebanon’s newest brew ery

Haddad spent seven years working on sales and marketing in the boardrooms of Adidas but always kept his teenage passion for brewing close to heart. “I started when I was 18 and began with liquor before moving to beer. It was very hard – there was no Google or anything, so information was difficult to access,” says Haddad. He traveled to Europe to get the proper training and started brewing at home. Then, just over a year ago, he left behind the boardroom and the bedroom-brewery to open something of his own. A year on, he has a staff of four (as A 212

well as his brother) and is churning out four types of brew as fast as he can lovingly craft them.

However, it wasn’t enough to just open a microbrewery in a country dominated by one brand, Heineken-owned Almaza.

Haddad wanted to build something sustainable that had a low impact on the environment but, importantly, had an innovative design. Not only is the location near the sea stunning, but the building is striking: a long glass window from the bar shows the brewery’s inner workings, while the restaurant serves up tasty classic dishes.

Perhaps most impressive is the environmental aspect of the project. By sourcing industrial pallets and a Lebanesedesigned material called Eco-Board, a building material made from plastic bags and packaging, Haddad has built himself a recycled brewery. “I was in scouts all my life and I was really interested in green technology, so right from the beginning I wanted it to be green,” he says. With EcoBoard the brewery is also about to become a living garden. “It has green walls and a green roof, so we will start growing the vegetables for the restaurant right on the

building,” says Haddad.

Haddad made environmental consciousness a priority from the start, but not everyone was supportive. “Many people told me it wouldn’t be nice,” he admits. “They weren’t used to it, but now those people want to do the same. This is how things change.”

Haddad says that while the local surfers will certainly like Colonel, they’re not his target.

“What we wanted were beer lovers. Young people, but people who appreciate green, crafted and artisanal products,” he says.

As well as their main beer – a Czech lager – Colonel is also making three additional types of beverage. The lager will hit supermarkets in Batroun this summer, and a red Irish, black Irish and German light will all be available from the brewery bar.

A microbrewery doesn’t churn out on the same scale as mass-production, so for now they’re keeping things local. If they expand slowly, Haddad is confident the quality will remain tip-top, and that stores in Beirut will soon sell Colonel as well.

His enthusiasm is infectious; he clearly loves brewing. But how does Jamil Haddad describe Colonel’s drink? “Real beer,” plain and simple.

©Roland Ragi

The sun-kissed shores of Batroun have always been about relaxing. From the windsurfers, sailors and swimmers to the beachgoers and midnight clubbers, it’s earned a reputation for being a laidback hedonists’ playground. But something new is brewing on the golden shores of north Lebanon that could cause a stir nationwide.

Jamil Haddad has opened Lebanon’s newest microbrewery, which he named Colonel (with the French pronunciation) after a local landmark – the surfer spot of Colonel just south of Batroun. As well as a microbrewery, Haddad has opened a restaurant and bar so that lovers of bespoke brews can come down and sample beers with a difference.

www.aeronautica.difesa.it

www.aeronauticamilitare-collezioneprivata.it Available at all A誰zone stores, +961 .1. 99 11 11 Produced and distributed by Cristiano di Thiene Spa

A lifestyle _ party

Top The professional barmen of Butler’s Bottle prepare for the night ahead Bottom The savory delicacies from Pizza Cups

Host with the most

By Pip Usher

Oscar Wilde, writer, infamously decadent pleasure-seeker and all-around wit, once wrote that “life is too important to be taken seriously.” A man renowned amongst fashionable circles in the 19th century for his glittering conversation, he was the flamboyant centerpiece to any party.

Beirut is the modern-day Wilde: bright, boozy and always looking for a good time. With a reputation for hedonism and hospitality, its inhabitants know how to throw parties that reverberate long after the sound systems are turned off. And as the summer heats up, ambitious entrepreneurs have given the traditional party a makeover.

It’s no longer enough to host a party; social one-upmanship has become a competitive A 214

sport and everyone’s participating.

Butler’s Bottle is one such business shaking and stirring up the scene. Describing his cocktail bar service as “a new concept in town,” founder Elie Khoury, an ex-bartender, has channeled his significant experience into an enterprise that offers bespoke bar setup at private parties, fashion occasions and corporate events. With a range of seasonal cocktails made by highly trained professional bartenders, he brings the ambiance of Beirut’s best bars to his discerning clientele.

Are your guests still hovering timidly around the dance floor’s periphery when the clock strikes midnight? Not to worry – Butler’s Bottle bar staff are happy to step in, snapping photos of guests as they gulp booze straight from the bottle. Grinning, Khoury explains that they “change the evening from any old event to a party.”

He’s also capitalized on a global obsession with street parties, food vans and al fresco entertainment. His logoed lime green

van was spotted serving killer cocktails at Beirut Design Week and will make the festival rounds this summer. It’s quirky and it’s cool, an addition to Beirut’s showy party scene that Wilde himself would approve.

A customizable cocktail bar may be essential, but every host knows good food is the quickest way to their guests’ hearts. Pizza Cups, a catering business that will soon celebrate its first anniversary, has caused a stir amongst Lebanon’s social butterflies for its cup-shaped miniature pizzas. Launched by a housewife, her son and his friend, their shared obsession with food led to frenzied experimentation in the kitchen. Now, their sweet and savoury pizza cups, homemade with fresh ingredients, are being fought over for functions. Shaking his head in disbelief, Wassim El Haddad, one of the founders, recalls a recent client who begged them to cater at her birthday party, a week before her best friend’s own Pizza Cups-catered event.

Loyalties, step aside: when it comes to being first, things get fierce.

©Butler’s Bottle, Pizza Cups

Private parties amp up the volume

DELIVERING EXPRESS AIR SOLUTIONS TO LEBANON.

.......

DHL Express now flies into Beirut; providing a wide range of Express Solutions to Economy Select and Time Definite customers. This flight provides consistent, reliable connections that ensures your shipments are delivered on time every time. Ship with DHL and put the Middle East’s largest Express Network to work for you. dhl.com.lb

A lifestyle _ city

Great Scot

The lighter side of Edinburgh

Famed for its moody weather, gothic architecture and incomprehensible accent, Edinburgh is an intoxicating city any time of year. While wandering down the tiny cobbled alleys of The Royal Mile or sheltering from the wind in The Sheep Heid Inn, the oldest pub in Scotland, it’s easy to see why the likes of Robert Burns and Irvine Welsh have found such inspiration here. But there’s more to the city than wintery preconceptions and, as any local will tell you, it’s in the summer months that Edinburgh really comes alive.

Home to the world’s biggest international arts festival, Edinburgh in August guarantees a whirlwind of world-class theatre, dance, music and literature. The 67-year-old Edinburgh Festival includes an endless roster of events, from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to the Edinburgh International Book Festival. You could spend days simply wandering through the Old Town, being lured into various exhibitions, though it’s worth booking tickets to a show at an institutional

A 216

venue like Usher Hall. This spectacular concert hall is host to everyone from Adele to the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, but there’s a particular buzz during festival season. Internationally renowned violinist Nicola Benedetti will be playing Erich Korngold’s violin concerto with the Czech Philharmonic this season, an opportunity to catch the most famous classical musician of today in her element.

For entertainment on a more casual scale, The Filmhouse screens diverse independent cinema in a beautifully renovated former church. From here, wander through the upmarket New Town and onto Queen Street, its wide sidewalks quintessentially Edinburgh and home to some of the city’s trendiest hangouts. Duck into Bramble to sip the cocktails that put Edinburgh nightlife on the map – Bramble was the first place in Scotland to feature in Bartender Magazine’s Top 20 Bars in the World.

Festival crowds can be overwhelming in the

© Shutterstock, The Witchery, G&V Royal Mile Hotel, Prestonfield House, Timberyard, Bottega Veneta, Etro, Moschino

By Jennifer Usher

peak of August, but a walk to the National Gallery of Modern Art offers a peaceful respite. The grounds, which have been masterfully landscaped by Charles Jencks, are an exhibition in themselves.

Once inside the neo-classical building, you will find works by Picasso, Warhol, Emin and Hirst, to name a few. To get back to the city center, follow the Water of Leith canal’s leafy footpath. Passing through Dean Village, an old milling community that is now a World Heritage site, it’s hard to believe the electric atmosphere of the Edinburgh Festival is radiating just a few kilometers away. But that’s the wonderful thing about Edinburgh: it’s a city of contrasts. Big enough to justify being Scotland’s capital and small enough to feel neighborly. Brimming with ever-evolving culture, but traditional enough to evoke a sense of Scottish patriotism in every visitor.

The Witchery An Edinburgh legend almost as renowned as the castle itself, The Witchery is the epitome of gothic decadence.

Castlehill, The Royal Mile, thewitchery.com

G&V Royal Mile Hotel Created by Italian design mastermind Missoni, this cutting-edge hotel provides a standout alternative to tradition.

1 Georges IV Bridge, tel. 44.131.220.6666

Etro

Bottega Veneta

Moschino

A stylish stay

Prestonfield House Grandeur is taken to new heights at this resplendent baroque estate, where the restaurant and hotel perfectly exhibit old school luxury.

Priestfield Rd., prestonfield.com

Eat like a local Set in a refurbished 19th century warehouse, contemporary-cool Timberyard sources its ingredients from local growers and breeders.

Linger at the bar over a cocktail infused with homemade syrup, or settle in for a full eightcourse tasting menu for an unforgettable culinary experience.

Timberyard, 10 Lady Lawson St., timberyard.co

217 A

A beauty _ counter

Keep cool Estée Lauder’s Re-Nutriv Ultimate Contouring Eye Lift pampers while plumping. A cool ceramic tip soothes delicate skin while delivering a silky firming formula for a smoother, suppler eye area.

Visit esteelauder.com

Inside and out

B Balenciaga Almost two years in the making, Alexander Wang’s first fragrance for Balenciaga combines fresh, green top notes and a strong, dark base, perfectly capturing the spirit of the house under the designer’s charge.

Visit balenciaga.com

Designer beauty

Rainbow brights Primary colors are the new ombré, if Nicole Richie’s paintbox bob and Sienna Miller’s cotton candy highlights are anything to go by. Get the look with L’Oréal Professionnel’s Hairchalk, applied at salons and rinsed out at home in about a week. Ï Day Spa, Aïshti, floor 5, Downtown, tel. 01.995.757 A 218

©Balenciaga, Dior, Estée Lauder, Lancôme, L’Oréal Professionnel, Prada

Wooed by Wu Jason Wu is partnering with Lancôme for pre-fall, introducing a makeup collection that embodies his ready-to-wear client: sexy, modern and confident.

Visit lancome.com

Lash out Fall’s lashes are big, bold, black and spidery.

Prada showed us how to work them.

Dior, Prada

www.napapijri.com

Available at A誰zone stores +961 1 99 11 11

A beauty _ grooming

Macho, macho man

By John Ovans

Masculinity finds different meanings in different places In June, British journalist Mark Simpson wrote an article pronouncing the death of the metrosexual, and in its place, the rise of what he termed the “spornosexual.” The word is an awkward semi-portmanteau derived from the two areas that have apparently inspired this new breed of millennial man: namely, sports and pornography. Muscled, tanned, tattooed and unafraid to show it all off, he has, according to Simpson, moved beyond the relative innocence of fashion and grooming to the cultivation of the body-beautiful. But while the metrosexual was regarded as a revolution in masculinity, the spornosexual feels like the logical culmination of it – although in a global context, its roots go far deeper than you’d think.

At home in Lebanon, we find another country where the term fails to be revelatory. You’ve only got to head to the beach to see that Lebanese men have been ahead of the global curve for quite some time. Gym culture is not extraneous but fully integrated, owing much to the kind of weather that necessitates stripping off. It’s also interesting to account for the country’s history, A 220

which is steeped in the classical world. The purported “birth” of the spornosexual might have been hailed as the emergence of a new ideal, but actually, it’s just been hibernating for a couple of millennia: from Achilles to Adonis and thousands of statues, artworks and literary odes in between, Ancient Greece celebrated the male form as an object of beauty. The supreme form was a hulking muscularity tempered with a mane of golden ringlets – the sort of guy who was hard enough to fight a war during the day and pose for a painting in the evening.

Arguably, the Brits have the Greeks to thank for ushering in the look once again, courtesy of the

2012 Olympics, where strength and physical prowess were suddenly at the forefront of public consciousness again.

That perceptions of beauty is culture-specific is not big news – in Ethiopia, for instance, the men of the Bodi tribe ritually spend six months in isolation drinking a disconcerting blend of milk and cow’s blood in order to compete for the much-coveted title of fattest man in the village. Expressions of masculinity take, quite literally, all shapes and sizes. That should be a comfort for anyone who’s been skipping the gym, anyway.

© Shutterstock

The connotations of the label sit with various degrees of comfort (or discomfort) from country to country. In the U.K., for instance, the rise of male vanity has been met with embarrassment and reluctance, which says less about its merits than it does about the national psyche in which it finds itself. Traditionally, the British have an uneasy relationship with nudity, but then again, when the weather is so regularly miserable you can see why they’d be inclined to keep their clothes on. In Italy, meanwhile, the beefcake is almost mundane in his commonality.

Just look at the models who regularly pound the catwalks and front campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana (although ironically, Dolce & Gabbana’s go-to stallion, David Gandy, is British).

GEL-NOOSA TRI 9 TM

CAN’T STOP. WON’T STOP

Available at Aïzone Stores T: +961 1 991 111 and Retail Sport Shops

Follow us on

@asicslebanon

A beauty _ runway

Cat calls

2.

By MacKenzie Lewis

1.

5.

4.

3.

8.

7.

A modern-day Holly Golightly took center stage at the fall 2014 Kaelen show, appropriately set in New York City. Cigarette Pants and monochromatic babydoll tops were made for Fifth Avenue window shopping and late-night entertaining in a Manhattan townhouse.

The Bobbi Brown makeup team captured Golightly’s essence with a modified cat eye and not much else. “This look is done with a gel eyeliner,” says Eliano Bou Assi, Bobbi Brown’s head of education and artistry for the A 222

region, emphasizing its effortlessness. “Draw a line from the center of the eyelid to the outer corner, extending and lifting past the edge of the lash line. Connect the line back down to the lid, fill it in, add one coat of brown mascara and you’re done.”

The “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” coquette was never interested in whiling away time in front of a mirror, and her contemporary counterpart can sympathize. A thin layer of foundation lets the skin’s natural glow shine through while minimizing imperfections,

and a coat of lip balm adds a subtle sheen to the lips. The whole look can be replicated in a taxi, at stoplights between meetings and post-office cocktails.

Though it works for any occasion and any time of day, Bou Assi does suggest one adjustment before taking this look to the street: start the line from the inner corner of the eye, rather than halfway across the lid. “Otherwise,” he says, “it can look like a mistake.” Either that or like a gentleman suitor rang before you’d finished, which might be more believable.

©Bobbi Brown, Chanel, Lancôme, YSL Beauty

6.

1. Lancôme Blush Subtil in No. 03, Sorbet de Corail 2. Chanel Vitalumière loose powder foundation with SPF 15 3. Chanel Les Beiges, All-in-one Healthy Glow Fluid in No. 20 4. Dior Dior Addict Fluid in No. 338, Mirage 5. Chanel Le Volume de Chanel Mascara in No. 30, Prune 6. Yves Saint Laurent Eyebrow Pencil in No. 03 7. Bobbi Brown Utra Fine Eye Liner Brush 8. Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in No. 01, Black Ink

A beauty _ inspiration

From playful to proper Nails adorned with spots and patterns Alice + Olivia

Spot on From a distance, Alice + Olivia’s fairytale heroines appeared to be sporting moody black nails. Upon closer inspection, they exposed a girlish secret: polka dot patterns forming a half-moon at the cuticle and tracing the tip. Because the look is neither overtly sweet or excessively Goth, it adds a playful kick to an otherwise minimalist, monochromatic ensemble. Imagine the Wicked Witch sneaking style tips from Marilyn Monroe or a retro Minnie Mouse.

She may be fierce, but her nails suggest she’s soft beneath the surface.

Prabal Gurung

Oscar de la Renta

Saint Laurent

A 224

Kate Bosworth

© Alice + Olivia, Shutterstock, Saint Laurent, Prabal Gurung, Oscar de la Renta

This may be the season of the understated manicure, but nail art is in it for the long haul. Building on an onyx base, two distinctly different looks put polka dots and tweed front and center.

Full tweed ahead Prabal Gurung is taking prim to the tips of your fingers. At the designer’s fall show for contemporary label ICB, nails matched the rich fabrics of the collection. Over jet polish, horizontal and vertical stripes in shades of green, blue and pearlescent white mimicked the texture of tweed. Though the centuries-old fabric is often associated with well-dressed, upper-crust convention – think Anna Wintour or Downton Abbey – it shouldn’t be taken too seriously. A mix of classic and low-key pieces, like a chunky sweater, pencil skirt and ankle booties, are the best match for nails that tap into tradition.

Camper_T79_Libano_SP_AMag_August_TeaserM.indd 1

07/07/14 14:25

A beauty _ health

Fast track

By Pip Usher

Rethinking eating habits with a juice cleanse

Four hours into the juice cleanse and there’s anarchy in the ranks. My colleague is palefaced and panting. Determined to undertake a three-day juice cleanse, she’s soldiered ahead with a fast that conflicts with her long-standing health issues. It is not paying off. She’s nauseous, plagued by a pounding headache. By nightfall, she’s posted on Facebook about the 15 pieces of sushi being speed-delivered to her door.

with ingredients sourced (almost) entirely from Lebanon. Juicing wasn’t a new concept to the Lebanese; in detox spas across Europe, clients from the Arab world were descending in droves. But the service hadn’t been established in Lebanon yet, despite the fact that organic produce was being farmed just an hour from the capital. After undertaking a juice cleanse in California, Alireza was convinced they were on to something. As she explains of her compatriots, “We’re image conscious; we’re body conscious; we’re fashion conscious” – so it made sense to bring an international health trend home.

We embarked on the fast together as an experiment after reading about Qi Juices, Lebanon’s first cold-pressed juicing company.

She is a devoted foodie whose evenings revolve around home-cooked meals and several generous glasses of wine; I’m addicted to yoga, eating sad, slap-bang meals late at night. Would we feel empowered, as the founders promised, or merely emaciated?

With each juice boasting antioxidants and minerals galore (take the Start Fresh juice, containing cucumbers, romaine lettuce, spinach, apples, celery, parsley and lemon), the three-day cleanse rests your digestive system and eliminates bloat-inducing toxins from the body. Critics have claimed that it’s an unhealthy crash diet but Alireza points out that “there is no medical resource in the world that doesn’t say the key to preventing disease is more fruits and vegetables.” We’re convinced.

Two high-achievers interested in wholesome fixes, Hana Alireza and Leila Fakih Nashabe are the fairy health-mothers behind Qi Juices. After spotting a gap in the market – and undertaking some serious taste experimentation – they established a business in 2013 that offered organic juices

The next three days pass in a liquid haze. At first, I’m a lean, mean, juicing machine. It turns out these little bottles are enough to keep hunger pangs at bay, and I enjoy the novelty of slurping up liquefied vegetables.

But by the second afternoon, my energy levels are low and my jaw is craving a good

A 226

chew. As I moisturize later, I gaze at the tube longingly and whisper, “I could eat hand cream right now.” By Saturday, I’ve realized, too late, that undertaking a fast during the weekend is a dreadful idea. I’m dependent on fridge-bound juices and all plans are scuppered – though the chances of social engagements are slim. I’m like Regina George, queen bee of Mean Girls, whining, “I want to lose three pounds” to anyone who will listen. By 9p.m. on the final night, I’m clock-watching with a crazed expression; at midnight, I’m cooking Mexican food.

I’ve joined the ranks of fasting legends like Mahatma Gandhi – I’m just not sure he would have celebrated with a quesadilla.

Cleanse complete, I expect to feel euphoric.

Instead, I’m faced with a small, quiet satisfaction. My stomach is flatter, my thighs are smaller – so far, so good, but it’s what I’d expect. I’m more intrigued by the way the fast has grabbed my eating patterns by the shoulders and shaken them around. Now, the morning coffees have been replaced with earthy herbal teas. Unsalted almonds sit within reach on my desk. And even more intriguingly, the desire for pre-fast foibles is gone. After 72 hours drinking swamp-colored juice, I’ve been reminded that my body is a temple that I don’t feel like desecrating. Will it last? I’m not sure. But as Alireza gently reminds me, “If you drink that juice, maybe you’ll cut out the cheeseburger.”

© Qi Juices

“I can’t see,” my colleague wails, a keening note of despair reverberating from the office’s glass walls before her head clunks down to her desk. “I’ve never, ever felt this bad – I mean, at least not since Monday morning.”

WWW.AISHTIBLOG.COM

A last _ word

Fashion forecast A new scent for every star sign

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Leos crave the limelight, and Yves Saint Laurent’s Black Opium ensures they’re in it with a head-turning blend of coffee, vanilla and spicy accords.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

A complex unisex scent with notes of lavender and nutmeg, Diptyque Eau de Lavande ticks off every one of meticulous Virgo’s fragrance boxes.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Aries (March 21-April 19)

Furiosa Fendi’s floral scent was designed to capture wild femininity in a bottle (its name translates to “feisty”), making it a foolproof choice for passionate, magnetic Scorpio.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream is an unusual blend of floral and fruity accords, a fantasy for imaginative Pisces.

Onde Sensuelle by L`Artisan Parfumeur is crisp, spicy and tailormade to Aries’ bold, confident character.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Sagittarius’ optimistic spirit is reflected in Etro Jacquard, a luminous but delicate floral scent with an equally sunny bottle.

Patient, reliable Taurus deserves an equally dependable scent, like Guerlain’s Shalimar Souffle, a new interpretation of the 1925 classic, Shalimar.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Tapping into its Italian heritage with shades of rich leather and citrus, Acqua di Parma Colonia Leather embodies the mature, sensible Capricorn man.

Aquarius (January 20-February 18)

Outgoing and independent, Aquarius finds her signature scent in sweet and sparkling Prada Candy Florale.

A 228

A unisex fragrance by Bond No. 9, Shelter Island’s woody aquatic formula is as versatile as easy-going Gemini.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Elie Saab’s La Collection des Essences appeals to capricious Cancer with four fragrances, from floral Essence No. 1 Rose to spicy Essence No. 4 Oud.

©Mélanie Dagher

Chloé’s Love Story, a fresh scent in a bottle inspired by love padlocks on the Pont des Arts bridge, pulls at romantic Libra’s heart strings.

©2014 New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.

This is The science of sofT.

Impossibly soft, yet stable. It does exist and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever felt before.

This is #freshfoam. This is #runnovaTion.

Available at Aïzone Stores T: +961 1 991 111 and Retail Sport Shops

Follow us on

@nEwBAlAnCElEBAnon

cartier.com

Nouvelle Collection Ballon Blanc de Cartier

Leb_Aishti_PUWA1614_FR_300x230.indd 1

21/07/14 11:45