Men's passion #80 october 2016

THE DESIGN EDITION GUEST EDITOR: ABDULLA AL AWADI

ISSUE NUMBER 80 - OCTOBER 2016

JUST A THOUGHT Dear Passionate Readers, Exciting times lay ahead, I can feel it!

After a long, slow and relaxing summer, everyone is re-energized and ready to take on the world although some might argue the forecasts are not quite so optimistic.

Well, unlike the weather, there are certain facts we do not have to simply accept! After all, the world is ours to shape.

If we take a moment to reflect on what man has been able to change in his life conditions, if we remember our worth as human beings, our potential, if we again believe in ourselves and in our dreams then, surely, tomorrow is a beautiful day.

“Wisdom comes with age”, they say, “I wish I had that wisdom when I was younger” they say. Well I say, youth has its unrestrained passion, completely oblivious to wisdom, and that is its power to change the world!

May we never lose our youth, I dedicate this issue to all those who, regardless of wisdom, can still shape their destiny.

Till next issue,

Zeina Mokaddam Managing Director

ON THE COVER:

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Amera Al-Awadhi October 2016 Design takes many forms - for everything that isn’t from nature was, by definition, designed by someone. Yet it’s something many today take for granted. We’re keen to restart a dialogue, so in this edition we take the view of some of the movers and shakers in the regional design world.

Cover image by our guest editor for this edition - Abdulla al Awadi.

LEGAL CONSULTANT Khaled Al-Kandari Al-Kandari Law Firm PUBLISHED BY

MANAGING DIRECTOR Zeina Mokaddam GENERAL MANAGER Chimene Ibrahim BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Nouf Al-Hajri GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR Yousif Yousif Abdulsaid

THE DESIGN EDITION GUEST EDITOR: ABDULLA AL AWADI

MANAGING EDITOR Simon Balsom

CONTENTS 16 Behind The Face

Hassan Al-Mosawi

Brought to you by Piaget

38 Tarek Moukaddem

28

44 Iyad Naja

Abdulla Al Awadi In conversation with the architect, designer, and our guest editor for this edition

34 Sulayman Al Bassam

42 Fareed Abdal

48 Pierrick Gaumé

EDITOR Pamela Azzi CONTRIBUTORS MaryAnn D’Silva Anna Amin (Cityscape) Rita Makhoul (Arabnet) CREATIVE DIRECTOR Nidal Al-Shaker HEAD OF PHOTOGRAPHY Maher Al-Nouri PRODUCTION MANAGER Jad Nahhas PH7 is a specialized publishing house based in Kuwait.

Telephone +(965) 2572 0810 Fax +(965) 2572 0860 Website www.ph7-kw.com To maintain the desired quality of our publication, your contribution and feedback are welcomed.

Please email your suggestions to zeina@ph7-kw.com For advertising, do not hesitate to contact info@ph7-kw.com For subscription, please email your details to info@ph7-kw.com PH7 wishes to state that the opinions expressed in MEN’S PASSION are those of the authors concerned and not necessarily those of the publisher.

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THE LUXE REVIEW

54 Two Watches For A Good Cause

IWC Schaffhausen pays tribute to Antoine de Saint Exupéry

58 Panerai

Latest novelties

62 Patravi Traveltec Black

Black is the new black

64 At the Top of the Game

82 Canali

Fall / Winter 2016

86 Backstage Pass

Dolce & Gabbana Fall / Winter 2016

88 Versace

Fall / Winter 2016

92 Francesco Russo

A Craftsman With A Taste For Tradition

Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar NBA Special Edition

94 Grooming One-on-One

65 Back into the Deep

96 ck one - The Fragrance

The critically acclaimed Oris Aquis Depth Gauge returns,now with a blackened case and a yellow rubber strap

66 Rado Unveils New Ceramica

Designed by Konstantin Grcic

68 Porsche 718 – The Legend Continues

Redeveloped 718 Cayman put through its paces

71 Black Forest Blitz

First Drive – Porsche’s new 718 Cayman

72 Object of Desire

The McLaren 675LT Spider

76 The Chopard Scandiera

Supercars Tour

Organized by Supercars Club Arabia

78 40 Years of Audi Five-

Cylinder Engines

Continuing our look back at some of the groundbreaking introductions to the world of motoring, this month we’re recalling Audi’s revolutionary five-cylinder engines.

80 Boss

Fall / Winter Campaign

With Aesop co-founder Suzanne Santos

Bold. Gilded. Unapologetic

98 Jo Malone London’s

Basil and Neroli

100 Talal Al-Muhanna

x MEN’S PASSION

104 Women of Kuwait: Turning Tides

Portraying Leading Female Figures

116 The Olympics of Technological Innovations

110 Brexit – what it means for

overseas

investors 114 Cyprus

The ideal Mediterranean destination?

117 Amathus Beach Hotel Limassol

118 ZEITGEIST 120 EVENTS 128 LISITNG

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Piaget Polo S With Hassan Al-Mosawi Having lived in London for almost 16 years, Hassan is not your typical Kuwaiti. Although he graduated with a degree in International Finance and Accounting and an MBA in Management, the future seemed to have a different plan. He famously met his wife over Facebook - flying 16 hours to meet her. Between the moment they met through to them celebrating their wedding together, a mere 50 days passed.

Now with his wife and two children, they have become much-followed on social media taking Instagram by storm as the family we have come to love. Age is no limiting factor - his young daughters have gained a significant following on their own pages.

Naturally media-gifted and communications-savvy, he started a podcast where he spoke about relationships, focusing on psychology and spirituality - the first episode received 25,000 listens within four weeks. Following on from this success he’s taken to the stage and toured many universities and conferences talking about the psychology of success in front of hundreds of students and professionals.

Although many know him only as the humorous husband and loving father, there is a less public side of Hassan that sees him highly regarded in the world of business. He founded social media company Richter Creative Office, and was determined for this to be the first company to handle the full customer experience - from customer acquisition all the way to building loyalty through experience. Believing that true success is not measured purely through attaining as many customers as possible, but instead through building a brand culture that both retains customers and enriches their lives - creating a bridge between the operations of the businesses and the brand image. With an impressive track record of an increase of his clients revenues of an average of 200%, it’s no surprise that he made such an impact and has now moved to a bigger business arena and plans to work on a larger scale.

He has recently sold his company and now acts as Head of Communications to the Vice Chairman’s office in Zain Group in Kuwait.

Directed by: Yousif Abdulsayed Photographed by: Jalil Marvin Dressed by: Hugo Boss

Brought to you by Piaget

Brought to you by Piaget

Brought to you by Piaget

Brought to you by Piaget

Brought to you by Piaget

Piaget Polo S

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Featuring an ingenious shape-within-shape that is Piaget’s distinctive hallmark, the Piaget Polo S displays the unique association of a cushion-shaped dial within a round 42mm case. Designed by Piaget, its automatic movement discreetly reveals its beauty through a sapphire case-back. A bracelet of meticulously hand-assembled links alternatingly polished and with a satin finish, completes the experience. The result? A watch that – by day or by night, at work or at play – speaks to and for a new generation.

Five Watches, One Philosophy The collection is composed of the self-winding Piaget Polo S watch, equipped with the 1110P movement, and the Piaget Polo S Chronograph watch, equipped with the 1160P movement. Both of these movements have been developed specially for the Piaget Polo S. The self-winding Piaget Polo S watch is available with a blue, silvered or slate-grey dial, while the Piaget Polo S Chronograph watch is available with a silvered or blue dial.

Dynamic and contemporary, this new self-winding and self-winding chronograph watch has a casual elegance that is ideal for every occasion. Available with a polished and satin-brushed steel bracelet, merging perfectly with its curved case, this masculine watch has understated lines and is remarkably comfortable to wear. Housed in a case-middle combining round and cushion-shaped forms in the purest Piaget aesthetic tradition, the horizontal guilloché dial, divided up by luminescent applied hour-markers, displays hours, minutes and seconds, together with chronograph and date functions.

The 42 mm-diameter steel case, water-resistant to 10 ATM, displays an elegant interplay of alternating polished and satinbrushed finishes. Its sapphire crystal case back reveals the finishings of the new Piaget 1110P Manufacture self-winding movement or the new Piaget 1160P Manufacture self-winding chronograph movement and its anthracite-grey oscillating weight, engraved with the Piaget coat-of-arms. As the ultimate aesthetic detail, the chronograph’s trotteuse hand is decorated with an openworked letter “P”, the symbol of the famous Swiss watchmaker.

Brought to you by Piaget

GUEST EDITOR

Abdulla Al Awadi In conversation with the architect, designer, and our guest editor for this edition

I

t’s rare that we invite guest editors aboard. In our nine years of history, this edition marks only our third invitation. It is a privilege we reserve only for those we feel share a passion and a vision for Kuwait, or for their area of specialty, which is equal to that of our own.

While musing our approach to this year’s Design Edition, one name kept cropping up in conversations time and time again. Abdulla Al Awadi.

An architect teaching at Kuwait University, he lives and breathes design in its many forms. As an artist he’s had solo shows at the country’s major galleries, and he’s participated with group shows too. He’s involved himself in the world of theatre alongside Kuwait’s leading contemporary playwright, and been invited to curate exhibitions for the same designers and artists he once aspired to call his peers. In 2014 he played a key role at the Venice Biennale through his participation at the Kuwait Pavilion, and this year as a guest artist at an international pavilion. Also representing Kuwait and himself at Design Days Dubai, he is currently working with Samovar Carpets, the country’s leading carpet salon, in creating salon in creating modern expressions of traditional rugs. He’s one of Kuwait’s hottest tickets in the world of design.

We were first keen to learn his view on design and its role in Kuwait today, and then fascinated to learn of who he feels are his inspiration in the region. Who are those leading us towards an aesthetic and livable future?

Of all his many skills, eloquence is the most apparent. He speaks with passion of his nation, of its people and of design.

You’re many things to many people. To some you’re an artist, to others a teacher. To more still a designer and curator. How do you see yourself?

“I’m a designer. It’s a name that encompasses everything I do.”

Abdulla has always had a passion for design, though not only for architecture. As is the way with many of life’s roads, this was something he effectively stumbled in to.

“My parents are physicians. It was expected that I would go to medical school too. I didn’t want to become a physician – I wanted to become an artist.”

Ironically, even after so many years have passed and so much success has been gained, he doesn’t see himself as an artist.

“I still don’t think I have earned this title. And it’s not something I can call myself – it’s for other people to decide when I have earned it. I see myself as a designer, and I see myself as a good designer in some areas. To be an artist is something I continue to strive for”.

As a designer are you designing for a reason? Are you designing because when you look around the work of others isn’t good enough, or are you designing to enrich the lives of others?

“I’m designing to open a conversation. After teaching for all these years, it has become clear to me that we are not brought up to voice an opinion – and I see this in every culture. We don’t raise our children to have share opinions in proper conversations. We rarely get beyond “this is ugly” and “this is nice”. Where’s the engagement?

All of my work is created with the expectation that, once “this is ugly” / “this is nice” has been expressed, that people will start to talk about the topic itself. Most of my artwork, whether it was the print work, the kaftans or the jewelry it goes beyond this simple, lazy expression of thought. My work deliberately doesn’t give a definite answer – it always makes you start to question what it’s about, what is going on.

I believe that the more we start to understand each other, the more we will accept each other. Most of the problems we see around us are created by not understanding – the moment I understand is the moment I accept. I may not agree, but I can accept. This is the root of civilization. This is something I’m desperate to impart upon my students.

GUEST EDITOR

Photography: Nawaf Al Ali

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GUEST EDITOR

Photography: Nawaf Al Ali When you look at your students, how confident are you in their ability to carry for the design mantle of Kuwait into the mid-century?

caught unaware. We slipped behind, and the further we slipped the more difficult it got to catch up. But things are changing again now. The balance is shifting.

They are the light at the end of the tunnel. The future is in their hands. It’s not so many years ago that architecture was an unknown concept in Kuwait. Until the first Masterplan, the city was growing organically. This generation of young architects have every laid before them now when it comes to opportunities to change. They are a golden generation. In the past, decisions were made out of ignorance. Today my students, and indeed current architects who are prepared to see, are able to make decisions out of knowledge.

Where do you see the current state of regional design stands? When you look around at what’s being created in the region, where do we fit in the global scale? Are we leaders or followers? Do we have a style?

What do you hope to see these students do with Kuwait?

What’s your Utopian view of the future?

Let’s not forget that Kuwait built on the avant-garde. It was built by families from across the region who, hundreds of years ago, settled here. They broke free from their own rules and regulations, and came here to establish new rules and regulations. They flourished. We’ve had visionary leaders of Kuwait. We are a nation built on commerce and education.

These are our founding principles, and it is these principles that will serve us well over the years to come. We’re the avantgarde, we’re adventurers - it is in our DNA.

I think we’re neither followers nor leaders. We always put our twist on everything we do. In the design world we’re still relearning to walk, we’re still growing up and exploring. We’re not afraid to make something ours – we’re prepared to go through the hard work and effort in creating something that we can call our own.

In past generations our progress was stopped. Only now, with this new generation, is new growth beginning to blossom. But I’m sure we’re coming back stronger than ever before.

I’d suggest to you that, today, we’ve lost that spirit of adventure.

Look at where we are in the Venice Biennale, look at where we are in the international world of design. Look at Nuqat and other national initiatives. Look at how far we’ve come in a very short period of time. And we’re doing this ourselves, in our country.

We have not taken the same route as some of the cities in the region and simply imported a new culture and new skills. We’re doing it here with what we have around us. It’s slower, but in the end has deeper meaning. This is happening not only in design but also in theatre, in art.

I know what you’re seeing. We became scared. Scared of the unknown. Too hesitant. And fear is one’s biggest enemy. The region began to develop in unexpected directions and we were

We still have that streak of adventure within us, we still have that yearning for trying something new. I will say it again… it is in our DNA.

GUEST EDITOR

Photography: Nawaf Al Ali

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GUEST EDITOR

Iyad Naja

Fareed Abdal

Abdulla on…

“The thread that brings all of the talents together in this edition is that they are all looking at every day moments with a fresh mind. And they’ve all made us look at the same things again – they’ve done it themselves, and they’re encouraging us that we do the same for ourselves.” Abdullah Al Awadi Tarek Moukaddem

Fareed Abdal Fareed is an inspiration, he’s a breath of fresh air. I’m fortunate to not only be his friend, but also to be his colleague. Our work extends from the highly academic, to extremely imaginative.

Fareed is a deep well of knowledge.

Iyad Naja In Iyad “the friend”, I see this delicate being, and yet when I see his work I see the ruggedness of concrete and steel – although finished with such delicacy too. I love the vision of design he displays through his work.

Pierrick Gaumé

Tarek Moukaddem I knew of Tarek’s reputation long before I met him. He was much spoken about in my circle of friends. I like his way of thinking, I like the way he approaches his work in such a fearless manner.

Pierrick Gaumé I was introduced to Pierrick by a friend. I love it when someone shows us a new way of looking at life. When you see his Automorphoses series in this edition you’ll know what I mean.

He’s photographing things we see every day, but don’t notice.

Sulayman Al Bassam

Sulayman Al Bassam There’s no one better at breathe new life into old stories. He’ll do this through changing languages, but more importantly by sensibly placing the story in a contemporary local setting and seeing how these texts from hundreds of years ago are still so relevant today.

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THE AESTHETE

Sulayman Al Bassam

T

his special edition of Men’s Passion looks at design in Kuwait and the region as we attempt to deliver a view on it’s current status within society and the role it will play in the future of the society. Whilst our Guest Editor has selected a number of leading figures from the region’s design world to illustrate this, with Sulayman Al Bassam we’re stepping outside the circle of those regarded as ‘obvious’ choices.

Sulayman, whose life is rooted in theatre, is here because he’s one of Kuwait’s most distinguished aesthetes. A writer and director, he’s the possessor of one of the most highly tuned and observant minds in the spheres of the arts, society and design.

With us he discussed design, contemporary trends, and looks forward to the rooting of a next generation of writers and architects.

Production by: Faisal Al Ameeri & Amal Omran

THE AESTHETE

Production by: Fayiz Kazak & Amal Omran What do you see as the primary role of design in Kuwait in the 21st century? Do you feel society is prepared and willing to let this role be allowed to fulfill itself?

later, with the input of a creative team and actors. I’m working now on a film script and, in film, the relationship is much more weighted towards the visuals over dialogue or text.

I think Kuwaiti and other Gulf societies are in a kind of shock at what has been unleashed by the unmonitored and chaotic sprawl of their cities over the last thirty years. The cities of the Gulf are, by and large, disharmonious, blindly imitative of Western models and obsessed with eradication of the past and made ugly by cheap materials and finishing. Any design movement that can begin to correct this mutilation of civic and public space is, to my mind, most welcome!

We feel that your work measures a fine balance between words and presentation. An over-designed production and the value of your words may be swamped, yet a visual element is usually required to accentuate a performance.

How do you work through this challenge?

Design, be it architecture, graphic or theatre and performance, has its trends. What are the current trends you see developing?

For the most part, large infrastructure projects continue to lead by cheap reproductions of postmodern Western steel and glass design aesthetics. On the fringes, however, it’s encouraging to see younger generations developing more awareness of vernacular and local design traditions and the real environment of our countries.

How do you approach new productions? Although the written (and ultimately spoken) word lies at the heart of theatre, it is also a highly visual art. As you write, do you also visualize the final production?

Writing for theatre and making the performance are quite distinct worlds for me. When I write I hear voices, music and poetry. The translation of these things into space comes much

I work closely with the scenography, lighting, costume and music collaborators throughout pre-production, all the way up to the opening night. In theatre, light and space influence costume and music choices and vice versa. It’s about bringing the whole team into a combined composition process. Ultimately, the performance can only be as good as all its elements combined. I’ve been lucky enough to work with great teams of other artists!

How important to you, and to the success of your work, that you also direct plays that you have written?

I enjoy directing my own work! I also enjoy directing the work of other writers, for example, Sa’adallah Wannous for the Comedie Francaise or Heiner Mueller and Torben Betts in Melting the Ice. The agendas and contexts of much of my work in the two thousands that addressed politics, religion and identity in the Arab region made it necessary for me to develop these pieces in a holistic kind of way, working as producer, writer, director. I’m now in a new phase of work where I find my choices as writer, on the one hand, and director, on the other, are becoming more segregated.

34 35

THE AESTHETE

The Speakers Progress

The Speakers Progress

SABAB Theatre The Speakers Progress_Fayez Kazak, Nowar Yousef Do you see a new generation of writers and directors coming through with evolutionary thoughts? Whose work currently excites you?

I regularly have the pleasure of working with regional grant giving organizations in the field of arts and performance, like AFAC and Mawred. I can see a lot of explorative energy and creativity coming out of artists in Palestine, Lebanon and Tunisia as well as from the Arab diasporas in Europe. The situation in the Gulf countries and other parts of the Arab world remains in need of lots of development.

For hundreds of years, the region had a clear design style.

It reflected the world in which we lived. Do you see a Middle Eastern design identity emerging? Or is the region too consumed with its attempt to be part of a global concept of design?

Architects like Ghazi Sultan in Kuwait, Hassan Fathi in Egypt and Rifat Chadirji in Iraq made important steps in the use of modernism and tradition. The region needs a new crop of these types of visionaries able to create magic out of the local and make valuable contribution to the global narratives of architecture and design.

THE PROVOCATEUR

Tarek Moukaddem

I

f you know Lebanese photographer Tarek Moukaddem, you’ll know he doesn’t go out of his way to be provocative, he’s just being himself. Overflowing with an abundance of talent, his creativity is something it appears impossible to contain, writes Simon Balsom. Yet when channeled through his hands and delivered through a lens, it’s resulted in his becoming one of the region’s most highly sought-after names in the world of commercial and art photography.

There are two sides to photographer Tarek Moukaddem. The commercial and the art. Whilst the art will encroach on his commercial work – to the undoubted thrill of his paying clients – his art photography has no commercial edge. Although separate, they are intrinsically linked: “My commercial work gives me the freedom to indulge in my art work”, he concedes.

More of this later.

From his earliest days in photography while at college, he was singled out as being someone of prodigious talent and who could deliver great work, but also had the ability to provoke.

Aware of this himself, he is skillfully adept at knowing the limits.

He says, “I have to be careful and consider the readership of the publication or brand I’m working for. I wouldn’t want to do anything too overt for their sake. But for me,” Tarek admits candidly “I don’t care, I honestly don’t care”.

Here, in typical direct tone, he discusses his thoughts on himself, his work, acceptance and the development of design within the region.

Society needs to have people who push boundaries.

Does the thought ever cross your mind as you’re shooting images some might consider ‘close to the edge’ that you’re one of these people? Do you want to provoke?

I’m a bit of an activist. A lot of times I do want to provoke.

Sometimes I do want to deliver messages. If not, why would I be doing what I’m doing – I may as well only be a commercial photographer and keep my thoughts to myself.

In this region you’ve shot work, been published and exhibited pretty much everywhere in the Gulf and beyond to Cairo and Istanbul. How is the region changing in terms of what is and isn’t allowed?

I’ve seen the region change, but really your question is too broad. Really it’s case-by-case and country-by-country. For example, I think Lebanon was a lot more liberal ten years ago than it is now. Ten years ago we did not have extremists – the rise of these was facilitated by the poverty created by six wars in the country as well as other problems in the region, all of which have changed the social structure of this country.

THE PROVOCATEUR

Photography by: Tarek Moukaddem

Yet when I look at Kuwait I see it is moving to a more liberal standpoint than before. I see things happening there that, were they to have happened some years earlier, would have been shut down.

And yet many photographers shoot only commercial work, and do it ver y successfully. I feel with you that clients are attracted to you by the strength of your complete body of work. You’re known as someone who invests his whole self into his work – whatever you’re doing. People like this. They come to you not because they want a photographer, but because they want Tarek.

For some people this may be the case. But my commercial work is very broad. I’ve done lifestyle campaigns for Islamic banks, and I’ve done shoots for European publications that many would find unacceptable here. It’s very difficult to balance between both. For that reason I keep my work discrete – I’m sensitive to the fact that I do sometimes tackle subjects that could be difficult for others to face. I couldn’t only do commercial work – that just couldn’t be me.

Working commercially is selling out?

No. I enjoy my commercial work a lot. Many of my clients have become close friends. But shooting with big designers allows me to work with new designers for free. Shooting for big organizations lets me work with NGOs for free and on activist campaigns for free. Without my commercial work I couldn’t do these things.

I’ve collaborated with other photographers and we’re creating an agency for all photographers. It’s headed by people who share my vision, and we’ll be able to help younger photographers. My commercial work makes all these things possible.

What about the personal – and provocative - work you create and that currently simply goes unpublished?

You’re right, it just isn’t possible to get some of the more explicit work published here just now. So we’re setting up an online magazine where this work will be able to be published.

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THE PROVOCATEUR

Do you not feel you’re pushing against walls?

I am. That’s why I’m here. I had offers to study abroad; I’ve had offers to work abroad. Beirut was even smaller when I started working, and the platform that I’m working in today is a platform built by me and by a small group of others.

We’ve created a market that didn’t previously exist. When I started to work here the market was controlled by commercial photographers who’d been doing the same work for perhaps twenty years. Before that they’d been wedding photographers.

They weren’t technically educated. Then my generation – we’re all educated, all intellectuals - came here and pushed the level up completely. We created the market.

You still feel there’s a long way to go though. You haven’t reached the ceiling?

I’ve seen the style of work you’re referring too, and these could easily be published in Europe, or in the United States?

Who cares about Europe and the States?

That’s a big statement, and I wonder for how long you’ll be able to maintain this thought – how much longer can you stay in Lebanon? Surely you’ll outgrow the country, perhaps you already have.

No. I don’t agree with that. I have not outgrown Beirut. Beirut has huge potential. I’m here by choice.

I’m building my own ceiling. I’m setting my own rules. In Beirut there’s a lot more space to do what you want to do.

I look at my peers in my generation in Kuwait; I see what they’re doing and it’s actually quite intimidating. They’re all educated so well, and have all travelled so much. They’ve got funds. They all have support. They spend their lives jumping from city to city. I can never compete with that.

Even though I’m more established professionally, I just don’t have the resources. This has made the current generation of Kuwaitis very knowledgeable, they’re super critical, and they know what they’re talking about. Kuwait is coming.

Kuwait is already happening in certain areas. The arts still struggle because there’s a general lack of appreciation

THE PROVOCATEUR

for local arts – there has been for generations. But if we look at design – interiors let’s say – or commercial art, the new spaces that are being created by the country’s young designers are very impressive.

In the fields of architecture and interior architecture they’re doing very well. The fine artists still struggle because they don’t have a market – but we have the same problem here.

In terms of identifying a design signature, do you feel Beirut has its own design style? Is something developing?

In some ways, but not in others. We’ve long been a meeting point for many cultures. Beirut always has people coming and going. We’re not a closed hub here, so a style doesn’t have time to develop. Also, we’re Arab - but we’re also Mediterranean.

To an extent it makes us more accepting of change. We have a love of excess and of glamour, a natural sensuality – this is our Mediterranean style and I think it defines us as much as our Arab identity. You can’t apply northern European design standards here though. You can’t make something superminimal. If you do, people will only say they like it because they think they ought to like it, because it’s trendy. Things have to work in their context.

And for us, Tarek is a photographer who works so well precisely because of his context. Conflict inspires creativity.

Tarek Moukaddem is a man borne of confliction into a nation where this attribute runs through its rivers. Yet it is in the acceptance of this, and the balancing of temperaments, that his creativity breeds at the highest rate.

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THE ACADEMIC

Fareed Abdal

O

f all our subjects for this edition, Fareed stands out as perhaps the man who gives greatest theoretical and theological research to his body of work. Whilst all of our subjects in this edition of progressive in many senses, those within the region often find themselves going up against traditionalists. When you’re doing this in the form of architecture it can be controversial enough, but when you’re revisiting the manifestation of spiritual texts you’re presenting a much more controversial target to sectors of society. Such is the extent of his research and depth of thought, Fareed’s answer to his critics is invariably delivered as the last word.

THE ACADEMIC

“Through today’s often-harsh interpretation of our faith, makes people think that design and designers set themselves against the will and the creations of Allah. So, over time my realization developed that I have to show - through my expression of art that I am a friend of the sacred, and that the sacred is flexible enough to accommodate our interpretation.”

As an architect, and now lecturer in architecture at Kuwait University, Fareed has the broadest of views of design.

He’s also artist, calligrapher and designer and a great conversationalist. Always looking for a new approach, he sees this as a way of engaging society, and of softening the effect of extreme or misguided beliefs.

“I feel good in terms of tackling my calligraphic training in a new way – as an architect. Many times people who are in the creative field receive social pressure. They get accused of co-creating with God. What is perceived as ‘sacred’ has begun to overmonopolize and it has meant design has become very stiff.”

Not everyone feels the same as you do. Other designers are working on what we could perhaps refer to as a more secular level, or a more international level.

Of course. Architects and designers vary in their position – and we must respect each other for this. They don’t care too much for the heritage. But there’s enough space for designers from across the spectrum. Their designs are just as valid as mine or anyone else’s.

Design is a human experience – and we’re all entitled to our level of evolution and our own level of struggle and maturity.

In our experience, you’re one of the most open-minded people we know. But the contradiction is that your art is so narrowly focused. Do you agree? What is it within you that pushes you down this road?

Is the situation changing?

I do agree – within myself and for myself I spend time doing some meditative calligraphy. It’s a form of spiritual exercise.

It is. Definitely, but slowly. It’s almost like a renaissance time. We have scientists, engineers, mathematicians and philosophers re-reasoning our approach. In the past we were much more flexible than now.

A time for me to reflect and to meditate. I’m experimenting to with the figurative. I don’t think I’m very good at it, but when I do it, it’s also a time to reflect on my own situation, and this influences the way I work.

The region once led the world is design, and thought too. Are we moving into an era when this can once again be the case?

If I lived in the States I’m sure I would have a different approach. But the fact is that I’m living here, at the northeast end of the Arabian Gulf and here’s somewhere that we struggle with the sacred.

We are getting our confidence back in the region. But the struggle is wider than only here in our region. Look at Indonesia. Look at what happened to some in Egypt when they tried to open the subject of rethinking our approach.

Right now we’re not so different to Europe in the Middle Ages in terms of repression, influence and a variation of tolerance.

So, you’re using your art, your calligraphy, and making it relevant to today? Respecting its past, but heralding its future?

Absolutely. There must be movement forward. If we don’t move things forward they die.

I look around and see these conflicts – they’re all about who is the khalif, who is the ruler, who is the heretic. Through my work I’m merely exposing the beauty of the holy texts. I’m delivering it as a human message.

I play with the proportions from an engineering perspective.

I know even this has upset some traditionalists. But there are some basic rules that need to be revisited and reused. These were set centuries ago. As long as I understand the rules, I’m free to bend and even break them.

I love the dialogue that comes out of this.

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THE CALLIGRAPHER

Iyad Naja

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eirut-based Iyad Naja is an artist and designer whose bespoke designs make heritage relevant to today. His client roster reads like a A-List Rolodex, but he’s renowned for his extreme reluctance to share names – and we’re not the ones to press him. Although charmingly self-effacing and quietly introspective, needless to say he’s known by – and to – all the right people.

THE CALLIGRAPHER

With a foot in both the traditional and the contemporary, he’s a man with a unique take on design. Meanwhile his delivery and execution are a fine combination of exquisite detail with (sometimes) brutal materials. A conversation with Iyad, where design is the topic, is a rare treat and one to be savored.

What’s the basis of you work? How and why do you create?

I try to reach the soul. If the balance is right and if the components are right – and by this I mean the proportions and also the materials – the repurposing and functioning of the elements of the object come together to create something desirable.

Your work is rooted in the art and use of Arabic calligraphy.

Not a universal language, surely the lack of a viewer’s understanding detracts from an appreciation of your work.

Our ancestors always worked with the hidden and the obvious.

The esoteric and the exoteric. There was always what you see – and then the hidden meaning behind the first view. This is, in effect, the ‘added value’. I try to follow the same foundations, but I know I live in 2016. When people buy my work it’s rare that they don’t understand its meaning – and I’ve just said, all of my work has a meaning to all those who inquire. I think it’s sad that some artists use Arabic calligraphy purely as decoration by pulling random words together with no reasoning behind it.

They’re not speaking – they’re just making sounds.

There’s a fine heritage of design in the region. However the key creations happened in a period that we can now count back to being centuries ago. Why do you think that level of creativity simply stopped?

Everything goes in cycles. History is littered with civilizations whose influences have risen then fallen. The difference with Arabia is that we still retain a strong heritage. Within us, as a society, we’ve retained that data. And today, again, we have the means to share our heritage through the medium of design.

It only takes the right amount of thought, the right amount of communication and the right level of production to produce amazing work again. We’re returning to this level now. For sure, I’m creating the things that we [Arabs] used to create.

Others regions of the world possess their own unique design ethos. Scandinavian design, for example, is instantly recognizable. Do you think an Arabian or Middle Eastern design ethos is developing? Do you feel part of a movement?

It’s an interesting thought. I’ve never perceived myself as part of a movement – although perhaps I could be. Perhaps I could be inspired by someone, and I could be setting a trend for someone else. I feel we’re too close to this to judge it for ourselves. If we look back ten years from now we might see things a little more clearly. We might point our finger at trends which today are almost imperceptible.

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THE CALLIGRAPHER

In the context of a developing regional ethos, how do you view your identity as a designer?

I definitely don’t feel I belong to a group. I do my own thing, and walk my own walk. I haven’t participated in group exhibitions nor shown within the framework of any of the many Design Weeks we’ve seen proliferate here. I have nothing against any of these, but I simply don’t feel the need. I have my clientele – they know where to find me. My work is the expression of continuing personal passions. I haven’t ever needed to look outside myself for inspiration. My work is the projection of my own passions – and I feel I’m only part of the way down a never-ending road.

I’m simply just doing my own thing, very personal, no labels.

You’re very individual. Individual to the extent that, despite your success, you’re still accessible to your clients. How do you manage your time?

There’s a time to design, there’s a time produce, and there’s a time to sell myself. I used to fear that I would be unable to manage my time – but as you say I still am very much a sole entity. I do delegate – but this delegation comes with a close level of supervision. Time management is something that is constantly on my mind – and will become more so as I move into different fields of design.

How so?

For example, I’m having clients come to me who’d like to see the sentiment expressed in a small piece of my work then expressed across a whole room. To achieve something like this I’ll need to find an interiors partner who will accept my design throughout their work – this is when design becomes also about external management, and it’s something I have to do without sacrificing any of my design integrity. Business. A very 21st century aspect of design!

How important and how understood is the concept of ‘design’ in 2016? How is good design valued?

We live in a world with too many choices and with too little time. We want everything fast, and the sense of authenticity is eroded. Ideas are too readily recycled. This isn’t a world I want to live in. I choose to work with clients who understand that good design takes time. They also understand that good design is enduring – good design is worth taking time over because, when it’s very good, it’s something you want to keep close to you forever.

THE CALLIGRAPHER

What’s the foundation of good design?

Research. When I’m not designing, I’m reading, I’m looking, I’m learning. There are key fundamentals that must be obeyed.

Only once a designer has mastered these fundamentals can he bend – or even break – them. But before manipulating design, every good designer will have mastered the basics. There’s a natural balance that must be demonstrated in design. First you observe, then you create.

What’s the biggest driver of the design development?

It’s precisely this – observation and consciousness. It could be observing society – this is the way design reflects its time.

It could be observing consumerism – this is the way design sells successfully. Another key driver is travel, again linked with consciousness. When people travel they see and experience a new way. The successful societies of tomorrow will be those which see and adopt or adapt those new ways into their way of life. They’ll be the societies that do this whilst maintaining the integrity and virtues of their own heritage – not those who destroy their heritage for the sake of the new.

The future of design is in a relevant and considered fusion of the historical and the contemporary.

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THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Pierrick Gaumé

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ierrick Gaumé is a French-born industrial designer and graphic artist.

After studying product and graphic design, Gaumé developed a research approach considering popular culture and design history together with semantics and psychology.

This research axis proved essential for both his thesis about personified product design, “La Personnification”, and the graduation project of “A Vehicle to Live In” that he designed with both Matra Automobiles and an ANVAR (National Agency for the Valorization of Research) grant from 1994 to 1995.

Before and after graduating, Gaumé worked as a furniture designer and freelance graphic artist in Paris, France and with his first art collectors in Raleigh, NC (USA).

Since 1994, Gaumé’s drawings, paintings, collages and photographs became part of private collections in various countries despite little exposure and gallery support. The largest pieces and collections of his artwork can be found in the USA, in Italy and the Middle East.

Designwise, Gaumé’s most comprehensive achievement is the Corporate Identity system he developed as an Art Director, Graphic Designer & Product Designer for Red Sea Ltd during four years. From 2001 to 2005, his in-house team involvement and refoundation of Red Sea’s visual language of logotype extensions, corporate identity, packaging range and advertisements helped establish the brand’s international style and reputation for premium marine and reef aquarium equipment.

In 2006, Gaumé discovered a new photography concept he referred to as Automorphoses. Until 2016, the Automorphoses series of collage-like distortions he captured on shiny cars in Italy, in France, in the UK and in the USA, drew him back to notable exhibits, creative workshops and teaching assignments. To this day, Gaumé’s most spectacular exhibit featured Automorphoses and took place in Paris, France at Peugeot Automobiles’ World Headquarters in March 2013.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER

1. The logotypes and posters Gaume designed for the California-based event planner Chez Mana as it started in 2010. One version of the main logotype is still used on the www.chezmana.com website in 2016.

2. Two adverts Gaume designed to promote other events differently in the USA, also in 2010 for www.360mainstreet. com and for the Chicago-based alternative and electronic music composer Candle Nine (www.candlenine.com)

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THE PHOTOGRAPHER

How different is the world to today’s graduating designers?

As for today’s graduating designers, they’re entering a world that is spinning faster than it used to, with both information and product-planning. Consumer wise, there are always more specific products for pets and for elderly people than you may imagine, more products with mid-century-modern retro looks that people from 1995 would have labeled useless and kitsch, and more character-shaped objects than you would think is reasonable to sell and buy. All in all, it’s also a world that’s more dependent on big high-tech and finance companies than before 1995, in which there’s less time for creative research, and whose managers can more easily run out of patience telling them “it’s my way, or the highway”.

Through your design courses and workshops, what are the most important messages you focus on impressing upon tomorrow’s designers?

During design history courses, I tend to highlight the fact many designers and consumers can’t get enough revival of cute, famous mid-century product icons, and this tendency has been going on since the late 1980s. Isn’t it time to start inventing the 21st Century for real, at last?

It’s weird to see how exciting the Year 2000 was for the public and for professionals in the 1960s… and how reluctant our generation is to adopt 3D printing, to hemp-based materials, and to solar energy systems that grew cheaper and powerful.

Moreover, toxic waste issues still aren’t seriously dealt with by most manufacturing and retail companies, whose products could be easier to upgrade, repair or recycle if skills and budgets weren’t used to cheat on environmental rulings (as the Volkswagen Group’s #dieselgate case recently showed).

Therefore, better design and political strategies are needed to promote the economical viability of a cleaner energy system that wouldn’t necessarily give up on every drop of fossil fuel from one year to another.

You graduated from ENSCI-Les Ateliers in 1995 with an MA in Industrial Design. What have been the biggest changes to the sphere of design in the intervening twenty years?

The biggest changes I can recollect from the past 20 years are the ongoing miniaturisation of electronics and dematerialisation of objects that smartphones made obsolete, corporate group expansion, more luxury and niche products hiding the underpinnings of low-cost ones, massive production outsourcing from Europe and America to Asia, every new product being modellised and possibly sent as 3D-printing through computers, the growing importance of connected objects and social networks, and then the current obsessions with user experience and service design in the past decade.

In my creative workshops, though, I can see and hear today’s youngsters are more concerned than their forefathers about curbing toxic waste and global warming, so the big shift may take at least another decade. On top of that, one of the most important attitudes is to stay curious, informed, realistic and observing of our times’ economical, political and geopolitical context.

What’s your feeling on the current status of design in society? How are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ design dividing society?

Let’s use cars as an example: they are rather complex objects but in the past 15 years, small cars like the Fiat Panda and Peugeot 208 were designed in a way that’s a lot smarter, cuter, more efficient and more user-friendly than their predecessors.

Driving them for hours can be as safe and relaxing as in heavier cars with more comfort equipment, safety features and power than needed on common roads with speed limits.

Today, so many well-engineered car models are available on

THE PHOTOGRAPHER

most markets that the main dividing factor between them is more likely to be the good or bad taste of their exterior shapes. No matter how big, expensive and technologically advanced, though, some of today’s luxury cars can still look badly designed, ridiculous or ugly. For examples of enduring good design, I’d rather mention Apple’s MacBook computers and the impressive product range from Italian furniture manufacturer Lago.

Are we in a ‘golden age’ of product and industrial design?

Or are we too closely involved to judge this for ourselves and at this time?

I think we’re in a transitional phase, but not in a golden age of product and industrial design for now.

As interconnectivity makes the world smaller, are we losing regional identities in design? Indeed, if we are, does this matter?

It does matter for the products of fashion, luggage, perfume and food brands from France and Italy, for example, which are still enjoying worldwide success in spite of their specificities. The same goes for Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Fiat car companies.

They’re part of the FCA Group with Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge but — just like in French and Italian fashion, luggage, perfume and food business — each of their products is still designed according to what consumers like and remember of their old iconic products with peculiar visual, olfactive, tactile and sound feels. It seems this principle does matter for these brands, companies and groups to stay alive.

Design for style or substance? There must be elements of both. How do you find the balance?

Look at the shapes of the late Zaha Hadid’s buildings: their style may be the most amazing we’ve seen in the past decades; yet, how about substance? They aren’t as functional and compact as Bauhaus buildings, but they aren’t intended for what “worker-housing” was in the 1920s and 1930s.

Regarding substance, it may help to remember German philosopher Emmanuel Kant’s vision of truth as “adequatio rei et intellectus”, which implies an idea (intellectus) should have a form that’s appropriate to the thing (res/rei) it relates to.

If some products are planned for selling like season-special fashion items with features that are made-up, ostensive addons of fake sportivity, superficial ruggedness or thin shine, I could say they’re lacking substance like the products whose styles were nicknamed Borax or Populuxe by Americans in the 1950s & 1960s. Nevertheless, it’s important to know about these extremes and keep them in mind as counter-examples when seeking balance between design, substance and style.

We’re fascinated by your series ‘Automorphoses’. What did you set out to achieve through this? We can’t imagine they’re created as purely decorative pieces.

I’m flattered by the fact my Automorphoses caught your eye! So, these photographs weren’t originally thought of as decorative pieces, though they can easily be printed in small or big size.

Originally, I started capturing them in Parma, Italy in 2006 as I observed that car reflections could look like kaleidoscopic distortions of monuments and buildings nearby.

Catching many of these automotive anamorphoses was like an epiphany whose feels got wilder from one car and building to another. Therefore it encouraged me to observe and picture reality through details most people wouldn’t notice and stop for.

Photographs I came up with kept resembling cubist or digital collage art, embodying remixed memories of cityscapes with more vanishing points than ordinary types of perspective like in some of M.C. Escher’s drawings.

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THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Moreover, I had to treat certain Automorphoses as limitedtime street art installations: if I didn’t catch them immediately, their shapes could move or disappear shortly because of light, weather and traffic fluctuations.

As it also became a positive art game with “just do it/here and now” excitement, I felt happy to share it with friends and collectors who supported me along with Peugeot’s car division that offered me a show in its Paris headquarters in 2013.

Until now, I keep capturing Automorphoses in France, in Italy, in various parts of the USA and in London, UK where I could find shiny dark cars near shapely architecture.

Which point did it take me to? After taking risks in traffic and

sometimes dealing with paranoid car owners, persevering with Automorphoses for the past ten years gave me the opportunity to develop and improve a special style of imagery.

Ultimately, this type of photography aims at depicting atmospheres of today’s cities from several surprising angles at a time, in each of my shots that I deliberately prefer to leave unretouched, as close as possible to the reflection magic I saw happening before my eyes.

If cars keep being banned from city centers like they increasingly are in Western Europe, I may have seized moments and settings that will no longer be picturable in the coming years and decades — who knows? Time will tell if and when it can be seen and used as part of human history.

THE LUXE REVIEW

THE LUXE REVIEW Our exclusive guide to the finest from the spheres of horology, automobiles, style, travel, design and much more.

In the Luxe Review we look at the best, and meet the people that are making it happen.

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THE LUXE WATCHES

Two Watches For A Good Cause IWC Schaffhausen pays tribute to Antoine de Saint Exupéry

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ith the new Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition “Antoine de Saint Exupéry” and the Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition “Antoine de Saint Exupéry”, IWC Schaffhausen pays tribute to the extraordinary life’s work of a great humanist and aviation pioneer. With the characteristic tobacco brown dial and a calfskin strap, both of which call to mind Saint-Exupéry’s flying suit, IWC’s designers have ensured that these two watches, too, establish an outstanding, instantly recognizable line.

THE LUXE WATCHES

IW503801 There can be no doubt that watches played an important role in the life of aviation pioneer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

During his spell as an airmail courier in Patagonia, for example, which he describes in his novel “Night Flight”, published in 1931. “Every second takes something with it. [...] Then one of them says: ‘One forty. That’s the absolute limit for the fuel. They can’t possibly still be up in the air.’” It was all about the desperate struggle of an airmail pilot against limited flying time, but also against natural forces, technical problems and woeful communications.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry would have been proud to know that 85 years later, Swiss watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen was unveiling models that bear his name.

Since the beginning of the partnership between IWC Schaffhausen and the Fondation Antoine de SaintExupéry over 10 years ago in 2005, the tobacco brown

dial and calfskin strap have established themselves as the hallmarks of the “Antoine de Saint Exupéry” editions.

In the meantime, the unmistakable colour coding has come to stand for precision timekeeping and inventive genius in the name of the great humanist. The Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition “Antoine de Saint Exupéry” (Ref. IW503801) and the Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition “Antoine de Saint Exupéry” (Ref. IW371808) likewise feature the same dials and the leather straps with the cream-coloured ornamental seams. At the same time, the name of the watch stands for good causes, because IWC Schaffhausen is a partner to the Fondation Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Working with its partners, it helps young people worldwide who are growing up in difficult and often hostile circumstances.

Part of the proceeds from sales goes to the foundation and its partner organizations.

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THE LUXE WATCHES

A Calendar For Eternity The Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition “Antoine de Saint Exupér y” is packed with ingenious technical features.

The perpetual calendar shows not only the lunar cycles but also the seconds, minutes, hours, date, day, month and year in four digits. Mechanically programmed, all the displays are automatically advanced and will take into account different month lengths and even all the leap days in the Gregorian calendar until 2100, without the need for a single correction. Every hundred years (2100, 2200, etc.), the leap year that would normally occur is omitted (29 February 2100, for instance), which means that on 1 March, a watchmaker will need to adjust the calendar manually. If the watch has not been used for some time and has stopped, the displays are advanced together using the crown.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once wrote: “Expect nothing from a man if he works only for a living and not for his immortality.”

He would almost certainly have taken enormous pleasure in this watch and its developers, for even the perpetual moonphase display keeps the promise of its name and will need to be adjusted by only one day after 577.5 years.

The polished bezel underscores the singular quality of the watch as much as the sun-pattern finish on the dial does.

The cone-shaped crown is reminiscent of the pioneering age of aviation, when pilots like Saint-Exupéry often had to climb into an ice-cold cockpit and operate the controls with gloves. The rhodium-plated hour and minute hands and the indices are coated with luminescent material, while the red-tipped date, day and month hands recall

cockpit instruments. This is also the first time that the IWC-manufactured 52610-calibre movement from the new IWC 52000-calibre family has been used in a Pilot’s Watch. Twin barrels supply the power needed to provide 7 days’ running time and to drive the additional functions and displays.

When the watch is worn normally, the bidirectional Pellaton winding with its new ceramic pawls generates maximum tension in the spring. The power reserve display, which is combined with the date display at “3 o’clock” on the dial, slowly moves anticlockwise from 1 to 7 (days), indicating that the movement is fully wound.

A glance through the transparent sapphire-glass back reveals the movement’s intricate design. We clearly see the new features in the calibre family, such as the twin barrels, the enhanced Pellaton winding with its practically wear-free components made of black and white ceramic, the blued screws and the various decorative polished finishes on the bridges. The rotor is made of solid 18-carat red gold and bears the engraved inscription EDITION SAINT EXUPÉRY. The additional ONE OUT OF 750 is an indication that the special edition is limited to just 750 watches. Prominent at the centre of the rotor is a medallion with an initial A., as in Antoine (de Saint-Exupéry). The 46-millimetre stainless-steel case is water-resistant to 6 bar and the glass secured against displacement by drops in air pressure. The Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition “Antoine de Saint Exupéry” features the brown Santoni calfskin strap with the eye-catching seams and thus recalls Saint-Exupéry’s flying suit.

The Double Chronograph: Now Also With The Small A Engraved into the back of the Pilot’s Watch Double

THE LUXE WATCHES

IW371808 Chronograph Edition “Antoine de Saint Exupéry” (Ref. IW371808) is a Lockheed P-38 Lightning. This was the aircraft in which writer and flying pioneer Antoine de SaintExupéry took off on 31 July 1944 to make what turned out to be his last reconnaissance flight, over the south of France. If you look inside the cockpit of a P-38, you will be surprised at how quickly you find your way around the numerous instruments.

The circular displays are generously sized and clearly arranged. The light-coloured hands and indices are coated with luminescent material and, against the dark background, offer outstanding legibility both during the day and at night. The switches and buttons are all ergonomically shaped. Virtually all the same characteristics apply to the Double Chronograph that IWC Schaffhausen will unveil as a special edition of 1,000 watches in 2016.

The total of seven hands together with the date and day have been so skilfully integrated into the brown dial that the control panel look is emphasized without creating a loss of orientation. The hands are shaped like propeller blades and coated all over with a luminescent material, with two minor exceptions: the chronograph seconds hand and the split-seconds hand both have a red tip. The word “rattrapante” comes from the French and denotes the split-seconds hand in a double chronograph. Unlike a standard chronograph, the split-seconds chronograph has two hands that start simultaneously. The rattrapante or split-seconds hand, which is superimposed on the stopwatch hand, can be stopped independently using a third push-button at “10 o’clock”, while the stopwatch hand continues to run. This permits the user to record two separate times, with down-to-the-second accuracy, within any given minute. If the split-seconds button is pushed again, the split hand instantaneously catches up

and is synchronized with the other hand. It is then possible to record a new lap time or intermediate time. This function originated in flying, where specific curve radii had to be timed during flight.

The upper and lower counters show aggregate times up to 12 hours, while the subdial at “9 o’clock”, as usual, contains the permanent seconds hand, which shows that the watch is functioning normally. In the subdial at “6 o’clock” is an A. for Antoine. The sun-pattern finish imbues the brown dial with a metallic shimmer. The 79420-calibre chronograph movement guarantees the watch’s mechanical perfection.

The 44-millimetre stainless-steel case is painstakingly finished by hand: the result is a dynamic interplay of polished and satin-finished surfaces. With its soft-iron inner case for protection against magnetic fields and a sapphire glass secured against drops in pressure, the Double Chronograph has all the features needed by a watch designed for flying. A brown Santoni calfskin strap secures the watch firmly to the wearer’s wrist.

FONDATION ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY The Fondation Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was established by the heirs of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry as well as admirers from the worlds of aviation and literature under the patronage of the Fondation de France. Its aim is to ensure that the humanist philosophy of the great French writer lives on. The foundation works closely with like-minded organizations to help disadvantaged young people all over the world. In practice, this means financing and promoting a wide range of schooling and educational measures directly on location. In this way, young people developa new sense of direction and selfassurance. They discover how they can become part of the community, how to find fulfilment through work and how the ability to read and write can give them access to their culture.

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THE LUXE WATCHES

Panerai Latest novelties

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he launch of a new Panerai novelty is always a special occasion. So when there’s four come along at once, it’s a real cause for celebration amongst the region’s watch collectors.

PAM 672 Radiomir Firenze (PAM 672) is a watch devoted to the city in which Panerai was founded, Florence, and categorized under high-end watches. It is made exclusively for the clients of the historic boutique in Florence.

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PAM 673

Luminor 1950 (PAM 673) is a special edition of 1,000 units, with the inscription “MARINA MILITARE” on the dial, conferring a decidedly vintage character on this new Panerai creation.

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THE LUXE WATCHES

PAM 662

Radiomir 1940 (PAM 662) and Luminor 1950 (PAM 663) are two new vintage special editions made in 1,000 examples each, where the brown dial tells a fascinating story about Panerai’s exceptional luminosity appealing to lovers of the history of watchmaking.

PAM 662

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PAM 663

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THE LUXE WATCHES

Patravi Traveltec Black Black is the new black

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hree time zones combined in one watch made in an exquisite and distinctive material: the Patravi TravelTec by Carl F. Bucherer in deep matt black, new for Baselworld 2016. The robust DLC coating transforms the GMT chronograph into a grand statement on your wrist, designed not to blend in but to impress.

THE LUXE WATCHES

Comfortable functionality, excellent readability, and technological sophistication make the Patravi TravelTec the ideal model for frequent travelers. This timepiece, new for Baselworld 2016, is guaranteed to steal the show: the Swiss watchmaker completely immerses the model in imposing black, emphasizing the diamond-like-carbon finish on the stainless steel case and wristband.

A hard shell in deep matt black The DLC finish elaborately applied in a multi-stage process fully embraces the durability and lightness of carbon. The wafer-thin, diamond-like crystalline carbon structure ensures the watch is particularly scratch-resistant and highly shock absorbent. The compelling deep matt black color of this timepiece is created by the unique blend of carbon material.

The striking design is rounded off with a black dial offering

a clear display of contrasting light-colored totalizators, indices, and scales.

A smart core with manufacture caliber The intelligent interplay between the case and movement makes the Patravi TravelTec a superb travel companion able to display three time zones simultaneously. Two time zones are visible on the dial thanks to the sophisticated functions of the own chronometer-certified CFB 1901.1 caliber. The third time zone is displayed via a red 24 hour-hand on a rotating bezel. The patented monopusher enables the wearer to quickly and easily set the third time zone to an eastern or western direction of travel.

A completely black watch for a strong appearance: the new Patravi TravelTec in deep matt black is made to impress.

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THE LUXE WATCHES

At the Top of the Game Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar NBA Special Edition

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he Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar NBA Special Edition is dedicated to the biggest partnership of Tissot’s history. Following the groundbreaking announcement, Tissot produced a special collection that perfectly illustrates the essence of the association. The Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar NBA Special Edition reflects the innovative technology that Tissot will be bringing to the court with its precision and innovative Timekeeping, thanks to its impressive tactile functions that offer a compass, altimeter and weather forecast amongst others, and its design that reminds us of the sporty and bold attitude the great athletes demonstrate.

Bold attitude To show off the watch in style, Tissot created an edition with a gold-coloured case. A discrete version is also available in a cool grey. The black face gives an extra thrill of excitement when you spot the bold red arrow on the hand. Both have a further NBA tribute with the famous logo engraved on the caseback, making these special editions true collector’s items, not only because it is a special edition watch, but also because it represents the first time that the NBA has ever had its very own dedicated Timekeeper. The Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar NBA Special Edition, is definitely one for the books. It’s time for something unique.

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Back into the Deep The critically acclaimed Oris Aquis Depth Gauge returns, now with a blackened case and a yellow rubber strap

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he Oris Aquis Depth Gauge was hailed by the international press as one of the most innovative diving watches of the century when it was launched in 2013. It answered the challenge of how to build a depth gauge into a mechanical watch. It had a pioneering depth gauge function, developed and patented by Oris.

In keeping with the company’s 110-year heritage, Oris’s solution to producing a mechanical watch with a depth gauge was pragmatic, with an inlet in the crystal at 12 o’clock.

Beneath that was a channel milled into the outside edge of the crystal covering the dial. The inlet allowed water into the channel, creating a watermark that corresponded to yellow depth gauge indications marked on the crystal, giving the diver a clear readout to a depth of 100 metres. Gaskets between the crystal and the case meant the watch was still water-resistant to 50 bar (500 metres).

The genius behind the function was in the application of Boyle-Mariotte’s Law, which states that ‘pressure x volume = constant’. In the case of the Aquis Depth Gauge, this means that as a diver wearing the watch descends into the deep, pressure builds, compressing the volume of air in the channel and allowing water to enter the watch through the inlet.

This lateral, Oris-patented solution appeared surprisingly

simple to some observers, but it’s typical of the Oris philosophy – to find a way of creating the best possible watch at the best possible price. The Oris Aquis Depth Gauge is a ‘real watch for a real person’, as the company strapline promises.

Now Oris has added a second version of the famous diver’s watch to its line-up. The new watch has a yellow rubber strap that features two additional ground-breaking Oris innovations –the safety anchor that prevents the strap from breaking loose, even after a heavy impact; and the sliding sledge clasp, which enables the wearer to adjust the size of the strap without undoing the clasp.

The watch’s 46mm steel case has a resilient, sporty black DLC finish, and the unidirectional rotating bezel inlay is made of tungsten, a material as hard as emerald. Oris’s automatic Calibre 733, based on Sellita SW 200-1, beats inside the watch, powering a date window at 6 o’clock and a power reserve of 38 hours.

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Rado Unveils New Ceramica Designed by Konstantin Grcic

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minimalist design icon has been reborn: the Rado Ceramica, a timepiece known for its striking linear shape and visionary use of high-tech ceramic, has been redesigned by renowned industrial designer Konstantin Grcic. In this new design, one of Rado’s most recognizable hightech ceramic timepieces has been given a contemporary interpretation while retaining the strong geometric shape that made the original such a classic.

Like the original upon which it is based, the new Ceramica is a high-tech ceramic timepiece for both men and women who appreciate purist, modern aesthetics. The linear bracelet silhouette of the original has evolved into a more classic watch shape, with the gently curved edges of the monobloc case taking center stage. Advances in technology, together with Grcic’s vision, have given rise to this masterful combination of form and material, which finds expression in the eleven models that make up the new Ceramica collection.

Precision and modernity, reimagined Two gents’ models offer a matt take on the Ceramica, previously best known in its high gloss iteration. Limited to just 701 pieces, Konstantin Grcic’s signature model stands out not only because of its velvety matt finish, but also thanks to the creative use of typography on the dial.

“In my opinion, the matt finish brings out the form of the watch much stronger,” says Grcic. “The design of the dials is bold and legible. I took inspiration from pilot watches – I like them for their straightforward, clear graphics.” Fans

of subdials can opt for the matt model featuring a small second counter, with grey printed indexes adding to the monochrome minimalist appeal.

Female aficionados of the avant-garde look have several models to choose from, including two diamond-studded pieces in a choice of either glossy black or white hightech ceramic. Boasting silver coloured detailing and four diamonds on the dial, the ladies’ Ceramica offers the same high-impact presence on the wrist, but in a smaller form factor.

As the name suggests, the Ceramica is crafted from high-tech ceramic, a material favoured among many high-end watchmakers for its exceptional properties.

“Materials are definitely key,” says Grcic. “The intelligent and economical use of material forms an important part of my understanding of good design. Ceramic is one of the most high-tech materials I know. The material is lighter than stainless steel, it has a much more pleasant temperature when you wear it, and it is scratch resistant.”

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Porsche 718 – The Legend Continues Redeveloped 718 Cayman put through its paces

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tronger and sportier, with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The enhanced attributes of Porsche’s 718 Cayman were laid bare for us at a drive event which began at the brand’s home in Stuttgart, Germany. The new model’s handling and comfort credentials were put to the test with a combination of routes through various towns and villages as well as the winding, mountainous roads of the Black Forest.

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Following a comprehensive redevelopment, the mid-engined sport coupé now boasts more power, increased torque, higher top speed and a stylish redesign. Meanwhile, the completely retuned chassis allows for superior precision, further improved lateral stability and heightened driving whether behind the wheel of the 718 Cayman or the 718 Cayman S. In regards to driving dynamics, the new models follow the traditional four-cylinder, mid-engine approach implemented in Porsche’s glorious 718 race cars of the 1950s and 1960s.

With unrivalled agility and performance, these cars produced numerous motorsport race wins, including the Targa Florio and at Le Mans. Evolving this concept further and carrying forward the legendary 718 name, the Cayman range, for the first time, now has a newly developed four-cylinder flat engine with turbocharging. The engines, which boast significantly increased power and efficiency, excel with more spontaneous response and free-revving properties up into the highest ranges, producing the signature Porsche sound and overall driving experience.

The base model 718 Cayman is now driven by a newly developed, 2-litre, 300 hp (220 kW) engine with innovative turbocharging, as well as a substantial torque increase of 35 per cent to 380 Newton metres. Featuring a turbocharger with Variable Turbine Geometry (VTG), the 718 Cayman S boasts 2.5 litres of engine displacement and 350 hp (257 kW), with maximum torque at 420 Newton metres, all resulting in more power right from the start and additional output for cornering fun, at engine speeds between 1,900 and 4,500 rpm.

With the new turbo engines, the coupés accelerate in record time and thanks to the new Dynamic Boost function, react as spontaneously as naturally aspirated engines.

When equipped with the optional, seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) and Sport Chrono Package, the 718 Cayman sprints from zero to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds, whilst the S-version achieves the same in 4.2 seconds. The top speed for the base model is 275 km/h; its sibling tops out at 285 km/h. An additional advantage of turbocharging is reduced displacements. The four-cylinder engine with PDK gearbox in the 718 Cayman now uses 6.9 l/100 km in the NEDC, whilst the 718 Cayman S with the same set-up consumes just 7.3 l/100 km.

The comprehensive design rework of the new 718 Cayman has been well documented, with the new range distinct at first glance. Only the luggage compartment lid, roof and windscreen have been left unchanged. The front of the coupé has a more sculptured form giving a wider and muscular appearance. This effect is reinforced by narrow front lights above the lateral air intakes, which contain the parking lights and indicators. The new rear has a much wider look, due to the accent strip in high-gloss black with an integrated Porsche lettering between the tail lights, which have been completely redesigned and are distinguished by the threedimensional technology visible through the clear glass.

From the side view, the new model line can be made out by its newly developed wings and side sills, doors without addon handle shells and two louvres in each of the air intakes in front of the rear axle.

Internally, the cockpit is redefined with upgraded elements to increase sophistication and performance. Porsche Communication Management (PCM) includes mobile phone and audio interfaces, as well as a 150-watt Sound Package Plus.

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Featured for the first time in the Cayman range is the new sport steering wheel (taken from the 918 Spyder), which when combined with the optional Sport Chrono Package, features a driving programme switch. Consisting of a rotary ring with four positions, it enables drivers to select a driving mode, such as: “Normal”, “Sport”, “Sport Plus” and “Individual”.

The latter setting facilitates individual vehicle configuration of the Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), active engine mounts, PDK shifting strategy and sports exhaust system. In combination with PDK transmission the mode switch presents an additional option, the “Sport Response Button”. When activated the drivetrain is pre-conditioned for maximum acceleration for 20 seconds, a feature that is particularly effective for overtaking manoeuvres.

Due to a substantial increase in the car’s performance capabilities, stronger brake systems have been implemented, with 330-mm brake discs in the front and 299-mm discs at the rear. Porsche engineers have also equipped the range with the multi-collision braking system, which when activated can reduce the severity of a secondary collision by automatically braking the vehicle after initial impact.

The electromechanical steering now featured in the 718 Cayman is ten per cent more direct than its predecessor, making the model even more agile and easier to handle, whether on race tracks or in everyday traffic. This improvement was achieved by adopting the steering equipment of the 911 Turbo, with its more direct gear ratio.

When the optional Sport Chrono Package is chosen, Porsche Stability Management (PSM) offers a PSM Sport programme.

When activated separately, this feature presents an extra level of sporty driving for skilled 718 Cayman drivers, who want to experience the limits of vehicle performance even further. Whilst PSM remains active in the background, this feature leads to a driving experience that takes the new model even more in the direction of motor racing.

Lowering the car’s centre of gravity improves performance, as such optional PASM with a 10-millimetre lower ride height is available for both coupés. Meanwhile, ambitious drivers of the S variant who require much stiffer tuning in Sport mode, for the first time have the option of PASM sport chassis, which offers a 20-millimetre lower ride height. The retuned active chassis in both models provides an even broader spread between long-distance touring comfort and dynamic sporty stiffness.

Additional new and improved assistance systems give the opportunity for further customisation of the 718 Cayman in accordance to personal preferences. This includes the optional Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) featuring a coasting function for enhanced efficiency.

Manufactured in Zuffenhausen, where the production of the historic 718 models also took place, the new 718 Cayman and 718 Cayman S models represent the sportiest midengine sports car coupé Porsche has ever built.

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Black Forest Blitz

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First Drive – Porsche’s new 718 Cayman

ention Porsche and most people will think of the 911. Long since an icon of the motoring world, today there are 16 versions of Porsche’s Neunelf. With the 718 there are, thankfully, only 4 – the Boxster and the Cayman, both in standard and S variants, writes MEN’S PASSION’s Simon Balsom. And after two days taking the two-seat coupé through Germany’s Black Forest, we’re here to tell you that these four models - in their newly released turbo-charged 2017 iterations probably represent the most fun per dollar you’ll get from Stuttgart’s finest.

2017’s mid-engine rear-wheel drive Boxster and Cayman are rebadged 718 to honour the marque’s late 50s / early 60s 718 racer. Today’s models follow the original down the four-cylinder Boxer route. We’re big fans of the mid-engine layout too – drive the S and your tailbone is never more than 30cm from 350hp, 300hp in the standard model. You’ll feel the gratifying thump in the small of your back.

If you’re thinking of driving the car using any method other than relying on its 7-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission in auto mode – don’t bother. You’re only fooling yourself – you can’t do any better. It’s lightning fast and as smooth as a pair of welloiled Bavarian Lederhosen.

Using it, the two-liter Cayman will whip you from a standstill to 100km/h in 4.9 seconds. Step into its 2.5 liter brother and, with Sport Chrono Package onboard, you’ll be there in 4.2 seconds and knocking on the door of 200 just ten seconds later on the way to a top speed of 285km/h. The more powerful engine in the 718 Cayman S has forced induction by a turbocharger with variable turbine geometry (VTG) that until now had been reserved for the 911 Turbo. And Porsche’s ‘Dynamic Boost’ has made ‘turbo lag’ a thing of the past.

After two days in the Balck Forest, what did we learn? The Cayman wills you to drive it. While it’s theoretically possible to spend an entire day pottering around town in one of these, in reality you get the sense that it’s always plotting an escape.

It’s a driver’s car; one that whispers to you “Porsche Stability Management is your best friend” – something we inadvertently put to the test and were thankful it was there to hold our hand.

What else is new? Comprehensive advances have also taken place in the design of the new model line – apart from the luggage compartment lid, roof and windscreen everything else is new.

Handling properties have also been improved in the twoseaters. The electromechanical steering makes control of the 718 Cayman even more agile and easier, both on circuit tracks and in everyday traffic. To achieve this, engineers adopted the steering gear of the 911 Turbo with its more direct gear ratio.

The completely retuned chassis delivers even more dynamic cornering than before, and with enhanced comfort. When you see the corner coming, it’ll be reassuring to know that reinforced brakes and a multi-collision braking system are fitted as standard.

With the optional Sport Chrono Package the 718 Cayman is sharpest of all. As in the 911, it now includes the Individual programme in addition to the three settings of Normal, Sport and Sport Plus. From a specific menu in the instrument cluster, the driver can individually combine and save settings for PASM, sport exhaust system, auto start/ stop function and rear spoiler.

That’s more computing power under your thumb than was available throughout the whole of West Germany when Porsche introduced the 911 in 1963.

An optional PASM chassis with a 10-millimetre lower ride height, and for the very first time in the 718 Cayman S a PASM sport suspension with 20-millimetre lower ride height are an option.

The 718 Cayman retails in Kuwait for KD17,300, with the Cayman S going for KD19,500. For more information visit their showroom in Al Rai and follow @PorscheCentreKuwait on social media.

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Object of Desire The McLaren 675LT Spider

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s with its namesake which debuted in the 1997 GT season, the 675LT Spider – alongside the 675LT Coupé – is the most track-focused model in the McLaren Super Series, with a power to weight ratio that eclipses established rivals. Embodying the ethos of the McLaren F1 GTR ‘Longtail’ it focuses on five key characteristics synonymous with the LT badge: lightweight, optimised aerodynamics, increased power, track-focused dynamics and driver engagement.

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The 675LT Spider was revealed at the end of 2015 as the latest chapter in the history of the iconic ‘Longtail’ name, and was the fifth new model debuted during a truly defining year for McLaren Automotive. Strictly limited to only 500 examples worldwide which sold out in just two weeks, it is only the second model to wear the LT badge.

This latest model arrived less than a year since the first model in nearly 20 years resurrected the name, and was in response to significant customer demand. The 675LT Coupé focused on light weight, enhanced aerodynamics, increased power and track-focused dynamics, and this limited-run model quickly sold out before the first deliveries commenced. Sharing these key characteristics, McLaren Automotive has added the most focused, fastest and exhilarating open top model to ever wear a McLaren badge, further strenghtening the ‘LT’ brand.

The 675LT Spider, only the second McLaren in nearly two decades to wear the LT – or ‘Longtail’ – name, stays true to the spirit of its iconic predecessor with aerodynamically optimised, dramatically enhanced styling that results in 40

percent more downforce than the 650S Spider which it sits alongside in the McLaren Super Series.

‘The Longtail is a famous name in the history of McLaren, first used on the fastest version of the iconic McLaren F1,’ explains Mike Flewitt, McLaren Automotive Chief Executive Officer. ‘The McLaren F1 GTR ‘Longtail’ was the final highly successful iteration of the F1, and it is an appropriate name for the most exhilarating and driver-focused version of the Super Series. The 675LT is the purest distillation of what McLaren stands for – pure driving pleasure.’

The main focus for the 675LT Spider is clear: to deliver maximum performance, engagement and excitement. To achieve this, weight has been reduced by 100kg through the increased usage of carbon fibre – the signature material of McLaren – and by lighter components throughout, including newly developed suspension geometry derived from the McLaren P1™, resulting in an increased track of 20mm. Under the skin sits the heavily-revised 3.8-litre twin turbo V8 powertrain from the Coupé sibling, ensuring

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performance figures are worthy of the LT badge. The power output and torque figures remain unchanged, with 675PS (666bhp) delivered at 7,100rpm and 700Nm (516lb ft) available between 5,000-6,500rpm. The changes to the powertrain saw more than 50 percent of the components replaced to ensure optimised levels of power, torque and drivability. These include new, more efficient turbos, detail design changes to the cylinder heads and exhaust manifolds, new camshaft and lightweight connecting rods, and a faster-flowing fuel pump and delivery system.

Acceleration from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) takes just 2.9 seconds, and 200 km/h (124 mph) is achieved in 8.1 seconds – giving away only 0.2 seconds to the more aerodynamically optimised and lighter Coupé. Controlled torque delivery in first gear manages torque to 600Nm (443lb ft) to ensure maximum acceleration, and minimising wheel slip. Top speed is 326 km/h (203 mph). Despite these blistering performance figures, the 675LT Spider returns 24.2mpg on the EU combined cycle, while CO2 emissions remain at 275g/km – the same as the Coupé. A three-piece retractable folding hardtop can be opened at speeds up to 40 km/h (25 mph) to allow for a new level of open-air exhilaration.

Photographed exclusively for Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive Company

Staying true to the ‘Longtail’ ethos, established by the McLaren F1 in the late 1990s, the 675LT Spider has been developed with a focus on light weight and optimised aerodynamic performance. The special nature of the model is supported by the extensive use of carbon fibre for the bodywork. As with the 675LT Coupé, the front bumper with larger splitter and end plates, front under body, side

skirts, side intakes, lower side intakes, rear bodyside lower, rear fenders, rear deck, rear bumper, diffuser and ‘Longtail’ Airbrake are all carbon fibre. Lightweight components are also found throughout the powertrain and chassis, all contributing to a dry weight of just 1,270kg. This weight is a full 100kg lighter than the already lightweight 650S Spider, and gives a power-to-weight figure of 532PS per tonne.

Due to the inherent strength of the carbon fibre MonoCell chassis, no further strengthening – and associated weight increase – has been added through the removal of the roof, and the 675LT Spider is only 40kg heavier than the Coupé, all due to the retractable roof system.

The dramatic styling and purposeful stance of the 675LT is retained with the Spider variant, with the extended front splitter flanked by front wing end plates, each working the airflow harder and increasing downforce. Sculpted carbon fibre door sills run along the lower edge of the bodywork, flowing in to a smaller air intake ahead of the rear wheels.

This sits below the more pronounced side intake, with both feeding clean, cool air into the side radiators which are more prominent to offer increased cooling. The retractable hard top stows below a colour-coded tonneau cover, and the engine remains visible through a lightweight vented polycarbonate engine cover. At the rear, the lightweight titanium crossover twin exhausts exit below the active ‘Longtail’ Airbrake which is 50 percent larger than other Super Series models. This is integrated in to the design of the flowing rear wings and despite the larger size, carbon fibre construction ensures weight is actually reduced. Exposed bodywork across the rear deck and below the rear wing aids engine cooling, while louvres in the flared rear bumper optimise pressure levels.

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The 675LT Spider shares the suspension set up and geometry of the Coupé, with the front end sitting on stiffer springs and a wider track – increased by 20mm. Spring rates are the most track-focused of the Super Series models, with stiffness increased 27 percent at the front and 63 percent at the rear, providing a more rearward balance and allowing for a 40 percent increase in downforce over the 650S Spider.

As standard, the 675LT Spider is fitted with 10-spoke Ultra-Lightweight forged alloy wheels – 19-inch at the front, 20-inch at the rear – and P Zero™ Trofeo R tyres, developed for the 675LT models in collaboration with technical partner Pirelli. These are the lightest wheel and tyre set ever offered by McLaren. Two Super-Lightweight wheel options are optionally available; a new 20-spoke design, offered in liquid metal or diamond cut finishes, and the five-spoke Super-Lightweight design which debuted on the 675LT Coupé.

The lightweight theme continues throughout the interior with Alcantara® and bare carbon fibre used extensively.

A pair of lightweight carbon fibre-shelled racing seats, modelled on those fitted to the McLaren P1™, save a combined 15kg, and feature ‘675LT’ embossed leather to provide enhanced levels of support and grip. As seen in the McLaren P1™ and 675LT, heating and ventilation controls are located within the portrait-orientated, centrally-mounted touchscreen, which also operates the four-speaker Meridian audio system, while air conditioning has been removed. The 16kg system can be specified as a no-cost-option.

The Longtail – At a glance • Light weight, optimised aerodynamics, increased power, track-focused dynamics and driver engagement – all characteristics of a McLaren ‘Longtail’ • 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.9 seconds; 0-200 km/h (124 mph) in 8.1 seconds; top speed of 326 km/h (203 mph) • 675PS and 700Nm provide breathtaking performance, while a retractable roof adds further exhilaration • 100kg weight saving delivers a dry weight of 1,270kg, delivering a power-to-weight figure of 532PS per tonne • Second model to wear the 675LT badge in direct response to significant customer demand • The most focused, fastest and exhilarating open top McLaren model ever built, strictly limited to 500 examples, all of which sold within two weeks

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The Chopard Scandiera Supercars Tour Organized by Supercars Club Arabia

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his summer, Chopard partnered with Supercars Club Arabia (SCA) for their special Europe Tour entitled “Scandiera� spread across unique destinations. From Stockholm to Monaco, a selected number of exotic supercars covered 3,000km over 11 days and across 7 countries.

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“The Scandiera” Tour by Supercars Club Arabia For the past few years, the SCA, based in Bahrain, has been hosting numerous successful supercar events in the GCC, Middle East and Europe providing an exclusive atmosphere for its members and fans. With a global networking community comprising members from Royal Families and top VIPs from different business communities, the Club selects exclusively the list of cars entitled to participate in each of its tours. Depending on the selected destinations, each tour offers a unique and adventurous experience to the participants. This year’s Europe tour entitled “Scandiera” will debute in Stockholm, passing through exquisite destinations such as Helsingborg, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Paris, Annecy and ending in Monaco. Prior to this tour, the SCA has already managed and organized a combination of Middle Eastern and European tours such as: Desert Run, Euroabia and Omanya.

Chopard Main Sponsor of the “Scandiera” Tour For the first time, Chopard has partnered with the SCA for the “Scandiera” European Tour and will be present during the opening and closing ceremonies of the tour.

As part of the tour’s attractions, this year’s participants will also be entitled to a special guided visit at the Chopard Manufacture in Fleurier during which they will able to discover the watchmaking process as well as the manufacture expertise of the Geneva-based Company.

Chopard Super fast Watches: tribute to the automobile world For many years, the House of Chopard has been a loyal par tner of legendar y car races including the Mille Miglia and the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique in addition to its latest collaboration with Porsche Motorspor t.

Upon its launch in 2014, the Super fast Collection has completed the Classic Racing Collection, taking the world of precise watchmaking to thrill and power seeking spor ts car drivers. The Super fast watches are in fact the first watches in this iconic collection to be equipped with Chopard movements, entirely designed, developped and assembled in-house, in Fleurier Ebauches workshops.

The Super fast models are the superlative spor ts watches, being exclusive timepieces built for competition and per formance. Their imposing case gives them a power ful presence on the wrist thanks to a boldly asser tive personality. Their contemporar y design, their technical characteristics including Chopard movements with engine design and their luxurious finishing place them at the ver y peak of the Classic Racing Collection. In fact, Chopard shares common values with the motorspor t world, represented by a constant quest for per formance and excellence and resulting from a true passion for motor racing.

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40 Years of Audi Five-Cylinder Engines Continuing our look back at some of the groundbreaking introductions to the world of motoring, this month we’re recalling Audi’s revolutionary five-cylinder engines.

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0 years ago, Audi presented the first five-cylinder gasoline engine in the second-generation Audi 100. Enhancements and new developments followed, with turbocharging, emissions control and four-valve technology, rally engines and five-cylinder diesel units. Today, the 2.5 TFSI in the Audi RS 3 Sportback and in the Audi TT RS carries on the great tradition of five-cylinder powerplants.

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The five-cylinder engines from Audi have achieved cult status – partly due to their successful deployment in motorsport and also on account of their reliability and economy. They have played a vital role in defining Vorsprung durch Technik and to this day provide an emotional driving experience with their characteristic sound.

The first five-cylinder gasoline engine powered the Audi 100 (C2) in 1976. The model, known internally as Type 43, was to be positioned higher than its predecessor in the market.

The four-cylinder engines at the time were not suitable for this plan according to the developers. At the beginning of the 1970s, Audi engineers consequently discussed the possibility of introducing five and six-cylinder inline engines.

The latter were ruled out due to the installation space required and unfavorable weight distribution. So those responsible opted for the five-cylinder inline engine, based on the new EA 827 engine concept. This four-cylinder inline engine was used throughout the VW Group in the 1970s – in the Audi 80 and Audi 100, for instance. The derived 2.1-liter fivecylinder engine produced 136 hp. A modern injection system increased efficiency and power development. Delivery of the Audi 100 5E began in March 1977.

As early as 1978, Audi presented the first diesel version: a naturally aspirated diesel with a displacement of two liters and producing 70 hp. One year later, the first turbocharged five-cylinder gasoline engine made its debut – another pioneering feat from Audi. With an output of 170 hp and 265 newton meters of torque, it powered the new top model, the Audi 200 5T. The five-cylinder gasoline engine in the 1980 Audi “Urquattro” had even more to offer.

With turbocharging, an intercooler and permanent fourwheel drive, it constituted a powerful technical package for the racetrack and the road. Initially, it delivered 200 hp. In 1983, the Finn Hannu Mikkola won the drivers’ title in the World Rally Championship in this car. In the same year, Audi introduced the wide-track Sport quattro, which was 24 centimeters shorter. It was powered by a newly developed four-valve five-cylinder unit made of aluminum with an output of 306 hp. It made the Sport quattro the most powerful car built to date by a German company for use on public roads.

The model formed the basis for a new Group B rally car, with the four-valve powerplant delivering 450 hp from the very start. It was used for the first time in the penultimate race of 1984, the Ivory Coast rally. The other eleven rounds of the season were contested by the Swede Stig Blomqvist in the Group B Audi quattro A2 producing 360 hp. In the end, he won the drivers’ title and Audi took the manufacturers’ title.

Even after Audi withdrew from rallying in 1986 there were other racing highlights: in 1987, Walter Röhrl won the Pikes Peak Hill Climb (USA) in the Audi Sport quattro S1 (E2). The racing car developed 598 hp. And the IMSA GTO excelled on

the US touring car scene in 1989, delivering 720 hp – from little more than two liters of displacement.

Audi presented another milestone in automotive history at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt am Main in 1989: the Audi 100 TDI. It was the first production car with a fivecylinder direct-injection turbocharged diesel engine and fully electronic control. The powerplant generated 120 hp from a displacement of 2.5 liters. Audi continued to refine its range of five-cylinder gasoline engines. In 1994, the Audi RS 2 with an output of 315 hp came on to the market. As an Avant with the power of a sports car, it established a new automotive class.

1994 saw the five-cylinder units bow out of the B segment, when the Audi A4 (B5) was introduced. They were gradually replaced in the mid-1990s by the new V6 engines. The last five-cylinder engines, the 2.5 TDI in the Audi A6 and the 2.3 Turbo in the Audi S6, were phased out in 1997.

Then in 2009 there was a big comeback – with turbocharging and gasoline direct injection in the Audi TT RS. The transverse-mounted engine developed by quattro GmbH produced 340 hp from a displacement of 2.5 liters. It also offered outstanding performance in the RS 3 Sportback and in the RS Q3. The TT RS plus, which Audi presented in 2012, mustered up an impressive 360 hp. Today, the 2.5 TFSI in the Audi TT RS produces 400 hp. An international jury of motoring journalists has voted the five-cylinder powerplant “Engine of the Year” seven times in a row since 2010.

Those who would like to see the first Audi with a five-cylinder engine can currently do so at the Audi Forum in Neckarsulm.

The classic car exhibition entitled “From zero to 100” features numerous exhibits, which Audi uses to look back at the eventful history of its successful model. One of the first five-cylinder TDI units from a 1989 Audi 100 is also on display. The exhibition runs until November 6, 2016.

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Boss Fall / Winter Campaign

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rtistic director Jason Wu takes the Boss brand a step further for the Fall / Winter 2016 campaign, presenting a more relaxed aesthetic than ever before.

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Shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, the new campaign continues the stor y that began with the Fall / Winter 2016 runway show at New York Fashion Week. Embracing organic imper fection, the raw industrial space signals a move away from strict precision and sharpness.

Grounding the location in the world of the collection, columns in the colors of the season nod to a Bauhausinspired palette and architectural structures, both constant sources of inspiration for Wu’s designs.

With a new sense of ease, ready-to-wear presents a marked evolution for Fall / Winter 2016. The tailoring DNA of BOSS is relaxed, allowing for softness and movement within the clothing, while technical precision and a dedication to craft remain key.

Womenswear showcases ever-more feminine designs – a vibrant double cashmere coat and a raw-cut bouclé dress are all finished with perfectlycut cascade details.

Menswear is also evolving: more youthful, slimmer tailoring; a sporty bomber paired with a shirt and tie; a sharp tailored overcoat loosened up with buffalo check.

New accessories are created in this aesthetic. The icon of the collection, the BOSS Bespoke bag, returns in two interpretations. Its original architectural silhouette is adorned with a graphic layered patchwork, while the new BOSS Bespoke hobo features a curved shape and a handwoven leather strap. Men’s accessories include a modern backpack with a sleek, clean design, a compact document case and unstructured holdalls in rich leather.

The campaign stars highlight this softer side of BOSS. Rianne van Rompaey, who opened the Fall / Winter 2016 show, brings a delicate beauty to the images, perfectly reflecting the new femininity that stands at the center of the Fall / Winter 2016 Womenswear collection. Now in his third consecutive BOSS campaign, Clément Chabernaud epitomizes masculinity and modern sophistication – qualities completely in line with the vision of BOSS Menswear.

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Canali Fall / Winter 2016

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here is so much of the world that we don’t actually perceive and I wanted to explore this concept for the new season. As in architecture, every detail, both inside and out, was carefully calculated to craft the perfect balance between practicality and style.” (Andrea Pompilio)

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For FW16, Canali presents a collection that is an exercise in equilibrium, one in which contrasts take center stage.

Luxurious and studied elements come together for a seemingly minimalist look as shapes, materials and colors are combined in unique and purposeful ways.

Tartan and checks in varying dimensions appear in suits, pants and outerwear. Silhouettes tend to follow the body’s natural contours while sleeves, pant legs, collars and lapels slim down for a contemporary take on traditional tailoring. Voluminous coats conceal an unexpectedly lightweight air, thanks to an extremely soft wool and alpaca blend whose longhaired finish adds a layer of unique texture to a menswear classic.

Wool features prominently throughout the rest of the collection in the form of heavy gabardines for suits, jackets, pants, coats and sportswear. An extremely compact and extremely smooth cotton velvet makes appearances in select coats and aviator jackets. Pony hair is also a noteworthy new addition, in various colors and mixed with leather to create textural distinctions.

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The palette takes on a shadowy and industrial air, dominated by blacks, blues, browns and grays and illuminated by bursts of vibrant shades like brick, peach, burgundy and mustard yellow. Ultra-slim scarves are knotted as ties while long leather and wool gloves are a natural continuation of sleeves. Rugged loafers and work boots with buckles and oversized travel bags and smooth padded backpacks with tumbled leather straps complete the accessory selection.

Shirt collars are in contrast; suits feature an updated closure with one visible button and two hidden ones; belts are integrated via oversized loops directly into pants and coats, which are rendered even more practical by double pockets on each side that blend style and utility.

The Canali FW16 fashion show displays a runway divided by a series of vertical blades that are placed in varying states of rotation, creating a progressively changing perspective and infinite points of view that represent the visible/invisible essence distinctive of this collection.

The Canali boutique in Kuwait is located on the ground floor at Salhiya Complex.

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Backstage Pass Dolce & Gabbana Fall / Winter 2016

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Versace Fall / Winter 2016

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t’s written in the stars - this is the universe of Versace.

Astronomy, astrology, man in space: a wardrobe from the heavens for the Versace man today. Fibre optic tracksuits are like the future now, while light-up sweatshirts have piping as if from astronaut suits.

Sleek tailoring and space-age metallic trenches are worn over white rollnecks, while Prince of Wales suits are embellished with eyelets and grommets.

Unlined coats in double-faced raw-edged cashmere are the grey of the moon, the ultimate when worn with cashmere joggers.

An iconic Versace astrological print is reworked and revitalised, while a star map Medusa print has been newly developed and looks perfect on jeans.

Tracksuits are the essential of tomorrow, whether its merino wool zip-ups with a zig-zag at the neck, or drawstring trackpants enriched with embellishments.

MA1 flying jackets have astronaut attitude, while outerwear is embellished as if with space debris, and shearling collar denim jackets are like a space uniform.

Colours and fabrics refer to the galaxies, whether its metallic leather zip-ups in Neptune blue, double-breasted coats the beige of moonstone, and tweeds like the Milky Way. Cropped leather jackets are embroidered with patches like an astronaut’s mementos, while lapel badges on coats and suits are like the emblem of a spaceship. Crystals decorate denim jackets and jeans like a constellation of stars.

Lace-ups have chunky soles but no instep, as if cut away, while trainers are like tech cycling boots. Bags come with their own protective covering.

The new V-Race Driver watch makes its debut, with a special catwalk edition with a mother-of- pearl dial as if for the surface of the moon.

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“The Versace man is a pioneer, his ambition as big as the universe. This is a collection for

men who are totally real, totally bold and totally connected with the future.�

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Francesco Russo A Craftsman with a Taste for Tradition

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trongly inspired by his Milan and Paris experiences as creative director and consultant for leading luxury brands, Francesco Russo launched his eponymous shoe collection choosing an unorthodox angle. Men’s Passion’s Pamela Azzi had the chance to talk with the designer during his visit to the Harvey Nichols store at The Avenues in Kuwait last month.

What is Francesco Russo signature style?

I think it’s classicism as designated by the ancient Greeks and their architecture. Classicism is the respect of proportions, the rules, and the measurements. Greek architecture was and still is one of the strongest examples of proportional respect; everything has the right proportion from the height to the columns to how they sustain the entire structure, so I think the Francesco Russo collection is the respect of the shoe proportion. It is a radical development in the approach of the shoe as a micro-architecture with a strong structure in which all converges towards the ultimate aim which is to sustain the woman’s body.

How did it all start?

When you start preparing the business and creating the brand, you are considered as a young designer regardless of your age and experience, and when I launched my brand it was available only in Paris in my boutique. My collection launch was the end of one era and the beginning of a new one. I waited so long to launch my brand in order to be strong enough in terms of skills and making shoes under my own name. Since I had the mission to make a woman beautiful, I needed to know how to make that happen, to know how to make good shoes.

How do Francesco Russo designs cater to the Arab woman’s style?

When I design a collection, I design what I like and more precisely what I believe in. The people who follow my beliefs and creations are different from one country to another. They are culturally different but the soul is quite the same. They all look for the same thing, they look for products that are not overpriced, a product that doesn’t invade their body but rather embraces it. It’s not an expression of trend but more an expression of style and something timeless that you can wear for the season.

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What fascinates you right now and how is it feeding into your work?

It’s becoming my strongest challenge and I am getting more and more fascinated about trying to make special products with nothing, it’s easy to make spectacular things like embroidery, accessories, stitching, etc. but to make something unique and beautiful just out of lines is the most difficult part. That’s what I’m really interested in right now. Like Giotto said “the most difficult thing to design is a circle,” because to make a perfect circle you have to be really good, so I try to make my circle better and better every day.

What can you tell us about your collaboration with Harvey Nichols?

Shoemaking can’t be learned at school and in books, but rather through experience on techniques and working closely with craftsmen who work with passion for years and years.

So when I started my brand I didn’t want to go through the process of wholesalers and retailers. I’ve been lucky through my history with the other brands or maybe because of my past or the product I was presenting, I immediately received acclaim and the first season was a success in Paris and we had exclusivity worldwide in New York.

Since then whenever new doors are opened, we’d rather find partners than simply find clients to sell the products.

With Harvey Nichols it all started in London - they are our exclusive retailer for the UK. It’s a collaboration that is now expanding, Kuwait was the next phase and our next season we will launched in Istanbul.

Knowing the interior of your boutique in Paris, we saw the same installation here in Harvey Nichols. Was it meant to reflect Francesco Russo’s signature style?

Nothing I do is by chance. I knew from the very beginning

that Paris was the commencement and whatever I was doing there starting from creating my products, to the shopping experience and the way of displaying the product was supposed to be carried around the world. Bertoni 1949 designed a trunk for me to travel with, the trunk became the focal point of the boutique, and even if you are buying in Kuwait you will feel a little bit in Paris, this is why you see on each trunk the name of Francesco Russo like the old times when bags travelled and they used to be labeled with the name of the holder.

Who is your mentor?

One of my biggest inspirations in this adventure is the story of Salvatore Ferragamo. Two things became the vehicle of my brand. The first one is the picture of Salvatore Ferragamo in his atelier showing a lady a pair of shoes, that picture was the beginning of the journey. Paris is still his today - we find ready-to-wear shoes, but then for a client wishing a model in certain color or any material we can do this too. There’s a strong custom-made service. And second, is the picture of Salvatore Ferragamo at the beginning of his career where he was making his shoes and he was carrying his models in a bag going around and showing the shoes. I imagine myself in Ferragamo’s position; going around the world with my collection and my products in the same approach I have in my Paris boutique.

What do you think your calling in life is? What is your end goal?

My aim is to be able through time - with no haste and with no rush - to reach as many women as possible in the world and share what I believe in, yet without crossing the line of quantity and fall into the mass production that will push me to compromise the quality of my designs.

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Grooming One-on-One With Aesop co-founder Suzanne Santos

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ime spent grooming should also be time well spent. Enough with the trends and celeb-endorsed products, it’s time to fall back on what know works and to what we’ve always known is the way to go. Aesop. Nearly 30 years since it was first launched, this Australian-based brand has shown us time and time again it’s got the credibility to put the glow back in even the most rugged and care-worn of faces. Who better to go to for grooming advice than Aesop’s very own Suzanne Santos.

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How should a man wash his face?

A man should cleanse his face as frequently as he showers. If that is once a day, before bed, a clean damp washcloth with a small amount of cleanser should be used. Alternatively, a toner to remove the debris of the day. A face that is washed without a cleanser, or using harsh domestic soap will be dry, uncomfortable and difficult to shave.

What mistakes do men commonly make when washing their face?

Too little product is used and they therefore do not capture the cleansing ingredients to remove dust, dead skin and pollutants.

The entire face, and the neck, should be cleansed thoroughly, again for the benefits of comfortable and thorough shaving.

How often should a man use a facial scrub?

The facial scrub should replace general cleansing at three instances during the week. There is no need to double cleanse on this day. The scrub should be of a natural fibre, with a gentle effect on the skin. The after feel should be one of smoothness ready for the application of a more nourishing treatment product.

What does the parsley seed in Aesop products do for men’s skin?

Parsley Seed being an oil, offers hydration. Most importantly, it provides anti-oxidant protection against free radicals found in the work and home environment, as well the external climate.

Dubai is hot, dusty, sunny and humid – how can a man protect his skin from all that?

Men can protect their skin by being diligent around the few minutes a day it takes to cleanse and moisturise. As

well as incorporating the use of treatment products such as scrubs and masques along with nourishing moisturisers which seal and protect against the ravages of climate and environment. During sleep, when air-conditioning is used to control the effects of the harsh climate, a resulting lack of humidity also undermines the skin. This warrants the use of a night time treatment product, such as Parsley Seed AntiOxidant Facial Toner as light moisturising protection. The day time use of a gel-like moisturiser, with Aloe Vera at its base, such as Parsley Seed Anti-Oxidant Facial Serum is an effective tool to defend the skin.

Explain the thinking behind Aesop’s distinctive packaging.

For 29 years, this distinctive packaging has been used to protect the contents of the formulations, to reduce the necessity of excess packaging, and to use the written word as a clear communication tool for customers to use their products from home.

The men’s grooming market seems to be growing all the time. Why do you think men pay such attention to their grooming regime these days?

Men are sensitive souls and they are very comfortable with cosmetics. Their skin feels better being cared for and men recognise and appreciate this. Men are curious and the fundamental practises of skin care are easily adapted into everyone’s lives. We have served men around the world for more than 20 years, and truly respect and model our communication and product development with men’s very real needs in mind.

Read more about Aesop’s new Parsley Seed Anti-Oxidant Skincare at MENSPASSION-ONLINE.COM/STYLE

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ck one - The Fragrance Bold. Gilded. Unapologetic

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k one gold is a tribute to the youth who can do no wrong. Everything they touch turns to gold. Unconstrained by traditional gender norms, ck one gold fuses the energy of both sexes in one unisex fragrance. A singularly captivating scent that promises a drop of gold for everyone.

A limited edition eau de toilette, the scent is a juicy, fresh, woody smell that captures the golden allure of radiant youth.

The juicy top note of fig creates instant fascination with its energetic freshness. the bright heart of neroli is the sparkling crown that shines like the last rays of the setting sun on a city. the sun-drenched base of vetiver gives depth, leaving a vibrant, sensual warmth on the skin. ck one – The Perfumers Q+A with Pascal Gaurin and Bruno Jovanovic The Inspiration What were the sources of inspiration to create this fragrance?

We actually responded to the ck version of exaggeration and ostentation! ck one has a certain sobriety and restraint which is manifested in the packaging but ck one gold is opulent in a brilliant & edgy way. It’s somewhat unexpected for ck to have a gold interpretation and we found this disruption very interesting. We also like the tension between feeling part of a tribe - belonging and collaborating – and wanting to stand out, explode into life like a rock star of creativity. The desires to belong and stand apart cannot always coexist peacefully so this is an exciting duality.

According to you, does this fragrance have similarities with the existing Calvin Klein and ck fragrances?

Yes, it embodies the same gender free or fluid approach of the ck world. The construction of the fragrance is complex in design yet simple to understand, so the consumer will connect readily and deeply.

How would you describe this fragrance in your own words?

A scintillating harmony of gender free notes. A refreshing boldness for creative achievers and risk takers.

Which family does it belong to?

Urban woody fresh

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If you had to choose three key words to describe the fragrance, what would they be?

Bold. Audacious. Fresh

the fruit and has long been used in perfumery. Bergamot has a distinct, bright citrus scent; lemony and tea-like, it brightens the top of the fragrance with a touch of sparkle.

Could you explain what each ingredient brings to the fragrance (focus on the three key ingredients)?

Fig brings juiciness to the energetic freshness on top, and adds a mouth-watering quality. Neroli is the ‘sparkling crown’ of the fragrance, adding glistening, petal-y body to the heart. Vetiver gives a scintillating, vibrant sensuality to the base.

Sage - The silvery gray leaves of sage provide an aromatic and camphoraceous effect which excites the senses and creates provocative, lasting freshness.

What makes this fragrance unique – what gives it its signature/identity?

The uniqueness stems from the unisex fresh sensuality –very easy to dive into and wear but completely special and spirited at the same time.

Who would compete with this fragrance on the market?

Paco Rabanne Lady Million and 1 Million, Gucci Guilty and 212 VIP Club Edition Is there any specific/unusual raw material in the fragrance?

It is not so much a story of unusual individual ingredients.

Rather, we broke away from conventional codes of perfumery to provide a rare and eclectic combination of refreshing sensuality.

Which are the three key ingredients (top/heart/base)?

Fig, Neroli, Vetiver What makes this fragrance appealing to women and men?

It’s a casual yet vital mixture of masculine and feminine ingredients – a bold mix that works harmoniously together.

It’s a fragrance that talks to everyone; welcomes, hugs, and inspires and doesn’t segregate.

Could you give us an ingredient dictionary on all the notes?

Fig - The edible fig is one of the first plants cultivated by humans. Native to the Middle East and western Asia, the fig tree has been sought out and cultivated since Ancient times, and is now widely grown throughout the temperate world, both for its fruit and as an ornamental plant. Ripe, pulpy and mouth-watering, the fruit has many religious references, beginning with the Book of Genesis when Adam and Eve clad themselves with fig leaves after eating the “forbidden fruit.” Fig has a fruity, green, honey and berrylike character.

Bergamot - Native to Asia and grown in Italy, Bergamot is a bright, juicy orange fruit which grows on a small evergreen tree with long, lush opal shaped leaves that bear a small, white flower. Named after the Italian city of Bergamot where the fruit was first cultivated, this exquisite oil is derived from the peel of

Neroli - Named after Princess Nerola of Italy, neroli is derived from orange tree blossoms and has a unique, luxurious scent.

With its slightly citrusy undertone, neroli delivers sweet, refreshing floralcy to the fragrance.

Violet - Violet originally comes from the Mediterranean regions and Asia Minor. Its delicate purple, white, or variegated flowers appear early in spring, even before the trees grow leaves. Violet is well known for its sweet, powdery and floral scent, bringing a smooth, skin like floralcy to the heart.

Jasmine Sambac - Jasmine Sambac is native to South Asia, mainly to India and China. The delicate Jasmine flower opens only at night so the flowers are harvested when their scent is at its peak just before dawn, from June to October. Jasmine has a powerful green floral scent, with natural and crystalline notes, bringing opulence to the heart of the fragrance.

Guaiac Wood - Also known as the “Tree of Life”, Guaiac Wood is obtained from a wild growing tree from the jungles of Paraguay and Argentina. It has an earthy, sensual character with a slightly smoky undertone, which adds personality, signature and strength to the fragrance.

Patchouli - Patchouli oil underwent a surge in popularity in the 1960s and 1970s in the US and Europe, mainly due to the hippie movement of those decades. Patchouli is also in widespread use in modern industry and an important ingredient in East Asian incense. Patchouli has a rich, earthy, woody aroma.

Sweet and dark, it has an interesting structure, comprised of a clean camphor top note developing in the smoky earth tone, and a fruity apple twist.

Vetiver - Vetiver is a perennial grass, native to India but cultivated around the world from Haiti to Java to Brazil. The stems are tall, the leaves are long, thin, and rigid and the flowers are brownish purple. Vetiver is mainly cultivated for the fragrant essential oil distilled from its roots which has a deep, sweet, woody, smoky, earthy scent, adding depth and sensuality to the fragrance.

If you had to present this fragrance to a consumer in one sentence what would you say? burst of energy, scintillating woods and provocative sensuality – all in one formula. The bold energy climaxes with a golden sensual tone.

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Jo Malone London’s Basil and Neroli

A London lark.

London at its most fashionably young and fun.

Flirt with oh-so floral neroli and a delicious wink of basil.

Quintessentially British, always playful.

Fresh, fun, full of adventure.

Tasting Notes Top: Basil Heart: Neroli Base: White Musk Master Perfumer Anne Flipo “A fresh, sophisticated, sensual floral with green facets— stunning in its simplicity.”

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Talal Al-Muhanna x MEN’S PASSION

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s incurable movie-buffs ourselves, there’s little we enjoy more than finding time for a catch up with Talal Al-Muhanna. As an old friend, he’s our most trusted voice on all things cinematic in Kuwait and the region. Constantly living his life amidst a whirlwind of projects at various stages of maturity, this time we caught up with him as he took a summer breather after a hectic round of film festivals and just before he embarked on wrapping up his latest productions. Passionate about his medium, who better to spend an hour in the company of?

Earlier this year one of your recent co-productions, Kindil el Bahr, was selected for the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes.

How was it received and how was your experience there?

Being in Cannes with a film is a special experience. The 40-minute film we presented in Director’s Fortnight was very well received. Though I probably shouldn’t say this, the director of the program felt it was “the best” of the short films presented there this year. So that was wonderful to hear. Audiences also responded with great enthusiasm. Funnily, one of the ushers in the theater – who was of Algerian origin – commented that he came from the same town where the film was shot, which got a good laugh during the Q & A session afterwards.

Can we talk a little about your recent projects Disportrait (2014) and Egyptian Jeanne d’Arc (2016). Two documentaries, very different themes. What criteria do you employ in the selection of projects? Do you adopt them personally, and do they become reflections of your personal views?

At first glance, these two films appear to have little in common: “Disportrait” was filmed in Russia and features a Spanish choreographer trying to implement his artistic vision with a very traditionalist ballet troupe in St. Petersburg. “Egyptian Jeanne d’Arc” was filmed in Egypt and features an array of female artists talking about what it means to be female and creatively free in post-revolutionary Egypt. However, the story which links all the characters together in “Jeanne d’Arc” is that of a Bedouin girl who fled to Cairo during the 2011 revolution, to pursue her dream of becoming a dancer. In both cases, therefore, the main character has left behind everything he or she knows - family, culture, land - to pursue their passion for dance!

There are two editorial lines I follow as a creative producer: One is that I make mostly director-driven films in and about the MENA region – as a way to share stories by Arab filmmakers.

The other is that I make films that reveal aspects of culture in

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some way – projects highlighting dance, music or theater – something I studied and was involved in when I was younger.

Beyond that, I have to ask myself a series of questions about each project: What’s the creative potential of the story? Is this a director whose vision I am willing to support? Do I like the aesthetic? What will I learn by doing the project?

I don’t really make films to express my personal views per se.

But I do try to ‘get under the skin’ of every project I work on - to understand what, really, the director is trying to say with their film and if we are making the same movie in fact. It’s very common for film teams to believe they share the same creative goals but then to express surprise or disappointment that the film has turned out rather differently than some of them expected. So it’s important to exchange views throughout the entire process of making a film – from the writing stage, through the filming period and as the film is being edited and scored. In the end, my goal is for the director & I to accomplish what we set out to do, together, while not forgetting that the audience has to get something out of the experience too. It’s a collaborative enterprise for me and while we don’t need to agree on everything, there needs to be room for creative dialog all along the way.

Will we get to see Egyptian Jeanne d’Arc in Kuwait?

I hope so! It’s the second film I’ve made with this director, Iman Kamel, and it really was a labor of love for the entire cast and crew in Egypt - where it was shot - and Germany - where it was post-produced. Somehow, I think it could be a very interesting film to present in Kuwait on International Women’s Day next year. It carries a very strong message about the challenges women face within Arab - and particularly Egyptian - society.

Other than finance, what do you feel you can, as a Kuwaiti, offer to the world of moviemaking?

Though some of the innovation and spirit we had as a nation in the 1960s and 1970s seems to have diminished, Kuwaitis remain a relatively open-minded and free-thinking people and are generally not afraid to express themselves intellectually or creatively. In past decades, within the Gulf region, we stood out in so many ways when it came to art, film, literature, theater and music and I believe that the underlying spirit of all that still resides in many Kuwaitis today. In the last few years, for example, many local filmmakers migrated to online platforms to express themselves – frequently producing short sketches for distribution online. At the same time, filmmakers like Meqdad Al-Kout or Maryam Al-Abbad, have explored social issues using humor or drama. This sense of risk-taking seems to be in our DNA – maybe it comes from our history as seafarers! So that’s the kind of thing I hope to bring to moviemaking in the region and to see flourish: a sense of innovation and spirit and also of narrative possibility - as there should be stories about nonKuwaitis being made here as well, to represent the reality of this place, which is very multi-cultural and cosmopolitan. Though the films I work on are more suited to conventional platforms like TV and cinema, I do get inspired from what others around me are accomplishing, which I find fascinating.

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What are you currently working on, and when can we expect to see announcements and the beginning of work?

I am currently juggling a number of projects but will be focusing on two films in the coming year in particular: a fiction film called “Another Day in Baghdad” with Londonbased director Maysoon Pachachi and a documentary called “Jaddoland” with Arab-American filmmaker Nadia Shihab. Coincidentally, both films reference the upheaval that has taken place in Iraq over the last decade: In Pachachi’s film, a Baghdad-based novelist tries to regain her will to write after experiencing traumatic shock and loss in post-invasion Iraq. In Shihab’s film, we observe her IraqiAmerican family’s reunion in her hometown in Texas, shortly after her grandfather ends up fleeing Iraq as a refugee. I am also in discussion with Kuwaiti filmmaker Abdullah Boushahri, to help get his debut feature film “The Water” produced. It’s set in Kuwait in 1910 and will be a great project to work on locally. Like Pachachi’s project a few years earlier, Boushahri’s project was also the recipient of an IWC Schaffhausen Gulf Filmmaker Award.

What are your thoughts on filmmaking in Kuwait. There’s a constant conversation that centers around Kuwait being ‘on the verge’ of establishing a credible movie making center. Perpetually on the verge. Will it happen? Can it?

I’m not sure how far the cinema industry can develop here.

Like many countries with small populations, we have a relatively small local audience – and this affects the economic sustainability of commercial cinema production in the country.

Because of this, film budgets have to be relatively low if there is to be any profitability for the producer. However, if a producer

is unable to make a low budget film with good quality, the public’s impression about – and expectations of - Kuwaiti films is generally lowered. And that’s not good. It creates an undesirable pattern of cheap production that results in a lack of appreciation by audiences and critics alike. Khalid Al Siddiq’s 1972 film “Bas Ya Bahr” is still the most remarkable film ever to have been made here.

For the last 3 years I’ve been on the selection committee of a jury that awards scholarships to young Kuwaiti filmmakers in order that they may attend the French national film school in Paris for an intensive 5-week course in filmmaking. The scholarships have been awarded to both male and female candidates and, by all accounts, the students have had a brilliant time. But they do struggle to find something to do with all that education once they are back.

One of the most promising developments in the last two years has been the establishment of a short film fund at the Ministry of State for Youth Affairs. If that were to eventually be expanded - to offer support for feature films - it would mark a great development in the move towards having a vibrant film industry here.

Do you feel this is part of your responsibility? Or is it better left to others?

For years I promoted the work of Kuwaiti filmmakers by getting their films presented at festivals outside of Kuwait – in France, Switzerland, Greece and the U.K. I am currently organizing for more than a dozen projects by local filmmakers to be presented for broadcast on KTV2. I also regularly send local filmmakers information about professional development opportunities

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overseas – some of which could lead to funding for their films. Nonetheless, we still need a national film commission, a national film policy and a commitment to improving arts education across the board. While I am willing to help, it’s not something that can be achieved without a certain political will on the part of the government.

Throughout last year your life was a constant circuit of film festivals. This is your world now. Which are your favorite festivals, and which are (commercially) the most significant?

Of course, Cannes is the “Godfather” of all film festivals – the one that every other festival aspires to be in some way. I have to say that it’s a hard one to beat – even if the selection of films is not always the best. Berlin is also a very important event on my international film calendar, though the weather in February leaves a lot to be desired! Regionally, Dubai is still the place to be when it comes to Gulf film festivals, though Doha Film Institute now also has an annual event called Qumra - which is more of a filmmaker’s gathering – with screenings, talks and networking. I’ve also been a couple of times to Durban International Film Festival in South Africa, which I’ve really enjoyed and where you can meet a lot of important people from the international documentary scene.

On a personal note – what’s your preferred movie genre, what’s the best movie you’ve seen this year, and how many times a year do you watch a movie in a theatre?

I often say that the films I watch, for pure entertainment, and the films I make are rather different. I often produce films with very personal narratives. However, I grew up reading Agatha Christie murder mysteries and watching black & white horror

films of the 1930s and 1940s – just about all I did when I spent summers with my maternal grandparents in Chicago. Later on, I was enthralled by Sci-Fi (Star Wars, Aliens) but also got into musicals (my favorite, West Side Story). I think the 1970s was also a remarkable period for American cinema too; a period where many smart thrillers like “Three Days of the Condor”, “Marathon Man” and “The Boys from Brazil” were produced.

Perhaps in coproducing “Kindil el Bahr” - the Algerian film we had in Cannes earlier this year – I became involved in a genre (i.e. fantasy/horror) that I was previously more likely to watch than to produce. So it’s interesting to delve into new territory and to try something that I am familiar with as a spectator but far less so as a filmmaker.

I think the best film I’ve seen this year - though released in 2013 - has been Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Ida”. Superbly shot in black & white, it is the story of a young nun in 1960s Poland, who is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a dark family secret dating back to the years of the German occupation. I confess that I watched it on an airplane – possibly the worse way to experience it – so I guess that makes it all the more convincing!

I used to go to the cinema in Kuwait relatively frequently. But the experience often got compromised in so many ways. For one thing, censorship has resulted in some films being cut so much that the story or action can hardly be followed. Codes of conduct should also be enforced more strictly too: Having your fellow audience members talking throughout a film, using their mobile phones and, even, smoking just makes the experience unbearable sometimes. Action movies are probably the safest bet for a decent viewing experience here or else one can go see a late show of an art house film – as the auditorium will be pretty much empty!

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THE LUXE ART

Women of Kuwait: Turning Tides Portraying Leading Female Figures

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ar-Anand Publications has released Chaitali Banerjee Roy’s latest book “Women of Kuwait: Turning Tides”. In it she tells the life stories of some remarkably empowered Kuwaiti women who dared pursue their dreams - at times against immense odds - and who made profound contributions to the evolution of Kuwait as a modern state. The first book of its kind on Kuwait, it was officially launched at the Kuwait Embassy, New Delhi on September 7, and this will be followed by a launch later this month at the Kuwait National Library on October 19.

THE LUXE ART

Chaitali Banerjee Roy has been in print media and radio broadcasting in Kuwait and India for twenty years. As Special Correspondent for the Arab Times, and as Editor and Producer for Radio Kuwait, she has been working on features and articles and producing audio documentaries and special shows, since 2001. Her work, which spans art, culture, society, women of the Arab and Islamic worlds, brought her in touch with many inspiring Kuwaiti women who left an indelible impression.

Chaitali has done extensive research on a wide range of subjects including women’s issues, heritage, health, education, Islamic art and culture, and also explored various socio-cultural aspects of the Gulf region. Passionate about advocating multiculturalism, she has tried to find connections between cultures by actively promoting, facilitating, organizing and anchoring several cultural events on well-known platforms in Kuwait. Awarded a Fellowship, she represented Kuwait at a Senior Journalist Seminar in 2015 organized by East – West Center, an internationally recognized organization that fosters better understanding between the United States and countries with major Muslim populations.

Portraying sixteen prominent Kuwaiti women from politics, diplomacy, education, sports, art, business and activism fields, who share their stories of ups and downs, and reinforce that most of the problems women face across the world are universal. Unlike, the stereotypes of Arab women as shrouded and shackled, these women are independent, educated and free.

Some of the achievers in the book are leading names in the Gulf region such as Sara Akbar the chemical engineer who worked in the oil fields with Kuwait Oil Company; Dr. Masouma Al Mubarak who served as Kuwait’s first female cabinet minister and was one of the three Kuwaiti women to become a member of parliament; Dr. Moudi Al Humoud who made history when she became Minister of Housing and State Minister for Development; Ambassador Nabeela Al Mulla who is the first female ambassador from the GCC, the first woman from the Middle East and South Asia to chair the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the first Arab woman to lead her country at the United Nations; Sheikha Altaf Al Sabah an anthropologist, author, painter and activist who preserved and reinvigorated the ancient art of Bedouin weaving as the head of Al Sadu Weaving Cooperative; Lulwa and Balsom Al Ayoub are the first female fencing champions from Kuwait and they are also sports’

ambassadors and social entrepreneurs. There are others like Dr. Haifa Al Ajmi, the first woman holding her Ph.D. in Petroleum Engineering with a specialization in Heavy Oil Reservoir Management in the GCC - a Bedouin woman who with active support of her family is successfully pursuing her ambitions.

Many of the women Chaitali has written about have made history, serving as the first females in a large number of different positions and sectors.

According to her, the book conveys a positive message, “for years, I have admired these women for their courage, determination and pragmatism. It has not been an easy journey for them, and yet they persisted and in varying degrees they succeeded. Their stories echo the universal dilemmas of women elsewhere. And that is something I want to convey. One should pause and consider before standardizing a community.”

“The book is not a work of fiction” she said. “It’s about real people. I believe it will appeal to Kuwaitis both young and old who would like to know more about the contributions of their pioneering women to the development of their country.

I am also hoping that it will reach out to natives of other Gulf countries, who have to some degree shared the same struggles. And yes, I think it may offer an alternate narrative to non – Arabs who tend to stereotype people living in this part of the world.”

These are stories that inspire and need to be told.

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ARABNET

The Olympics of Technological Innovations

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he Olympics are not just about sports. As athletes have constantly pushed the boundaries of human ability at the Games, technology has constantly moved forward too, writes Arabnet’s Rita Makhoul. The Olympics have a historical impact in leading technological advancements and innovations long after the Games end.

In the four years since the London Olympic Games, technology has continued to transform ever yday life at an astounding pace. At Rio 2016, we witnessed the Olympics harness some of these innovations in addition to many new innovations that made their debut. As the majority of the world had their eyes on the competitions, we kept our eyes out for all the technological advancements and innovations that were introduced this year.

ARABNET

Precise Time Keeping and Judging Innovations It seems unimaginable that at one time, Olympic judges supplied their own stopwatches to keep time during races and time-centric events. This practice often led to varying degrees of legitimacy in results. It’s not until the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles that Omega introduced its Olympics chronograph, made with a fly-back hand, which allowed judges to use an identical, precision-rated piece for timekeeping, thus increasing the accuracy and reliability of results. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Seiko who coordinated a quartz crystal timer with the shot from the starter’s pistol and employed a photo-finish mechanism to get results down to 1/100th of a second accuracy. Creating this technology for the Olympics helped Seiko later invent the quartz wristwatch in 1969 — a technological milestone for society at large.

This year marked Omega’s 28th time as the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games. Throughout the decades, the brand has pulled out all the stops to become ever more precise and accurate, and have come a long way from the days of the chronographs. The Rio Olympics used 480

timekeepers utilizing state-of-the-art equipment, sensors, electronic starting pistols, detection devices, touchpads in pools resulting from heavy investments into research and development.

The Omega Scan’O’Vision Myria camera is one of the innovations that were introduced this year. The camera captures 10,000 images per second in the photo finish.

The brand also developed a four-cell Photocell Technology system that tracks body stance and movements for use in determining track winners, and a new Archery Targeting System that calculates the arrow’s distance from the center point with an accuracy of 0.2mm – more than the human eye can detect.

The ancient martial art, Taekwondo, has even embraced technology. The point system technology was dependent on assessment from referees, often resulting in complaints from athletes and officials. In the 2012 London Games, they wore vests fitted with sensors. At Rio this year, the fighters also wore magnetized socks and headgear equipped with impact sensors that recorded every kick to the head.

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ARABNET

Innovations in Broadcasting The Olympics made broadcasting history in 1936 when it became the first ever televised sports event. Approximately 150,000 people in viewing rooms located in Berlin and Potsdam watched 72 hours of black and white, medium definition live broadcasts of the Berlin games. The 1960 Olympics were the first Olympics to be broadcast live across Europe, the1964 Games was the first to reach a worldwide audience – and in color, the 2008 Olympics witnessed the first-ever High Definition Broadcast of the Games to 4.7 billion people, and at the 2012 Olympics BBC launched 24 HD television channels to broadcast every since event.

Instead of 24HD television channels, this year BBC provided the same experience via online live streaming. However, they were not the only ones providing live streaming: Google sent 15 YouTube stars to the games to capture the mood in Brazil albeit not as comprehensive as BBC’s online coverage. NBC broadcasted hundreds of hours of coverage in ultra high definition, known as 4k, which features four times the pixels of regular high definition. However, there was a 24-hour time delay considering the processing time required to produce the footage, and viewers needed a 4K-equipped TV to watch.

The BBC tested 4K behind closed doors, not making it available to the public, while Japan’s NHK recorded in Super High-Vision, that’s 8k – 16 times as many pixels as regular HD. Since regular televisions are not able to display 8K video yet, they aired the footage at public broadcasting centers around Tokyo. Their aim is to build the technology’s profile ahead of the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

Since the 2012 London Olympics, there has been an explosion in drone technology in TV. This year BBC partnered with Olympics Broadcasting Services to provide international broadcasters with coverage of rowing and some other sports with drone cameras to avoid distorted images and provide more ‘side-on’ cameras. Getty Images and Associated Press utilized myriad robot cameras to capture the Games at every angle imaginable.

Some of the most stunning pictures captured allowed viewers a fresh angle of swimming contests where the cameras were beneath the surface of the water. Samsung also partnered with Olympics Broadcasting Services to generate around 85 hours of programming for Samsung Gear VR users from the Games in virtual reality, including the opening and closing ceremonies.

ARABNET

Wearables and Gadgets for Athletes There is no doubt that the stellar performances by the athletes were a result of years spent preparing for the games. Wearable trackers have been around since before the 2012 London Olympics, but there have been vast improvements in tracking and analytic software making wearables and trackers an integral part of training for many Olympic athletes. The wearables are significantly more advanced than the ones available to consumers as they run advanced algorithms and spit out indescribable quantities of data. For example, the US cycling team wore Solos augmented reality glasses, which started off as a Kickstarter campaign. The glasses feature a heads-up display showing the cyclists key data during training, including heart rate, speed, time, elevation, and other information in real-time. The US Women’s volleyball team trained wearing a VERT jump monitor around their waists to calculate their jump heights and counts to help prevent injury.

In the boxing ring, Canadian and US fighters trained with Hykso, a sensor that calculates the amount of punches being thrown, as well as the types and speeds of those punches. It is worn inside the fighter’s wraps and uses two independent accelerometers and 3D motion tracker. Some divers trained with tiny waterproof sensors to let them know how high they jumped and how long it took them to get into their first spin.

Real-time data such as this assists athletes in all disciplines by allowing them to make critical adjustments in their performance.

Even the most advanced distance swimmers tend to lose track of their lap count. At Rio, digital lap counters were provided by Omega that sat at the bottom of each lane, near the swimmer’s turning point, automatically updating the lap count when a swimmer hit the touchpad on the wall. Swimmers of the 800m and 1500m freestyle competitions, managed to focus more on their own performance.

Payment Technologies Using Near Field Communications (NFC) technology, Visa launched a bracelet and ring that visitors to Rio 2016 were able to use as contactless payment to pay for services and goods at all 4,000 point-of-sale terminals at the Olympic venues.

The rings were only provided to the 45 athletes the company sponsored at the Games and do not require the use of battery or recharging. They also are water resistant to a depth of 50 meters, so that even the Visa sponsored swimmers were able to go from pool to payment by simply waving their ring near the NFC card reader. Basically, visitors and athletes at the Olympics venue were able to pay by swiping, tapping, dipping, or clicking.

What to Expect at Tokyo 2020 The 2020 Games are already preparing for new major technological implementations. Tokyo is preparing for selfdriving taxis, facial recognition stadium entry, broadcasting in Super High-Vision, a scoring system that uses 3D lasers to monitor a gymnast’s technique in real-time, and more. Far more advanced tracking devices and gadgets are being prepared for athletes, and of course, there will be new technology advancements that have not been invented. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can’t wait for 2020.

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REAL ESTATE REPORT

Brexit – what it means for overseas investors

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hile Britain still weighs up the implications of Brexit, Cityscape takes a look at the opportunities this opens up for international investors looking for a slice of the action in the key real estate markets of London, Birmingham, Manchester and beyond.

Written by Cityscape magazine

REAL ESTATE REPORT

The UK voted out of the European Union on June 23, 2016, following a public referendum that saw months of fierce campaigning by both the Leave and Remain camps.

The shock result had an immediate impact on the markets.

The pound sterling dropped to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in more than 30 years, while billions were written off the stock market as it crashed on June 24.

While the knee-jerk reaction was shocking, the country now finds itself in limbo – with up to two years of ‘European divorce proceedings’ ahead of it.

However, in a country where housing demand outweighs supply, what will Brexit mean for the property market?

Opinions are mixed. Some experts claim ‘fortune favours the brave’ and now is the time to invest, while others are urging caution and a ‘wait and see’ approach.

Price drops and currency wins With the market in a period of uncertainty, some softening is expected in the prices of property for sale – good news for overseas investors.

The devaluing of the pound against the dollar makes property in the UK an even more attractive proposition for those buying in dollars or currencies index-linked to the dollar, such as many Middle Eastern currencies.

“The 12% drop in the value of the pound against the dollar since the referendum result offsets our expectation of a 5% fall in prices in the short term. That said, nobody can make predictions with any certainty at present, so one has to err on the side of caution when offering opinion,” pointed out Louisa Brodie, Head of Search and Acquisitions at Banda Property.

“With currency discounts of tens of thousands of pounds, American, Middle Eastern and Far Eastern investors have all made enquiries [since the vote] and they aren’t overly concerned with the prospect of short-term price dips since their goals are long term,” she added.

Martin Bikhit, Managing Director of Kay & Co, said: “We have seen a rise in the number of Middle Eastern and Indian buyers since the referendum; we have secured the sales of three prime apartments valued between GBP 5 million and GBP 15 million since the value of sterling fell.”

student numbers increase from both the UK and abroad at the country’s most prestigious universities,” he said.

Existing stock & current owners The UK market seems well positioned for those looking to make an entry, but what about those already holding a property or portfolio of properties in Britain? Is now the time to get out, or should you hold steady and ride the possible storm?

Stuart Johnson, Business Development Manager at Prime Centrum, said that if you were not planning to sell before the EU Referendum result then there is no reason to sell now. “Providing the property is located where good tenant demand exists, which is the case for many UK cities, there is no need for concern. Indeed, rental demand is increasing in many cities and during the current uncertainty less locals are looking to buy new homes for the first time, hence increasing demand,” he said.

Ray Withers, CEO of Property Frontiers, agreed now isn’t the time to sell. “Investors who already hold a UK property portfolio should hold tight and wait for the exchange rate to improve.

For those who hold mortgages, the likelihood of falling interest rates is good news,” he said.

Meanwhile, Marc von Grundherr, Lettings Director at Benham & Reeves Residential Lettings, has found that existing owners are actively looking to expand their portfolios, following the Brexit vote.

“Lots of our overseas clients have been in contact as they are now actively looking to add to portfolios. Even clients who had said London was too expensive are now re-examining the situation due to the sterling drop versus the Dirham. Further clients who had said they did not want to let as they were considering selling are changing their minds and putting the properties back up for rent. We’ve also seen a very positive response in the rental sector. Not only is demand up, but tenants are keen to sign two or three year leases, something that was relatively uncommon until recently,” he explained.

New cities & new development Looking to enter the UK market but not sure where to place your investment? The recent Brexit vote has cast a shadow over some of the most recent landmark developments in the capital city of London.

Steve Povall, Managing Director of Residential Estates, said the drop in currency makes now the perfect time to enter the market as an investor.

Nine Elms – a 195-hectare redevelopment on the south side of the River Thames – was a beacon of new London. Now, the large-scale mixed-use development may prove too big for the city’s market to absorb.

“As a foreign investor, now is an excellent opportunity to purchase UK property, particularly at the cheaper end of the market. Student property remains a strong investment as

“The biggest effect [of Brexit] is to likely be on new developments in London, in particular areas like Nine Elms, where there is a massive oversupply of high value flats, which

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REAL ESTATE REPORT

there simply aren’t the end-users for at the moment. There is likely to be some drop in prices, although how much remains to be seen,” commented Edward Heaton, Founder & Managing Director of property buying and search agent Heaton & Partners.

benefit more than central London. “It may be that buyers are anticipating a correction in the market when it comes to prime London areas and thus are focusing on outer London and cities such as Birmingham and Liverpool instead,” he explained.

Camilla Dell, Managing Director of Black Brick, remarked: “Areas such as Nine Elms in Vauxhall and Earls Court in West London are particularly vulnerable due to oversupply of expensive properties aimed at the overseas investor.

However, there are a handful of stand-out developments – such as Television Centre – that we believe are likely to continue to prove popular, and there will certainly be bargains to be had, particularly on the secondary market.”

Future investment & long-term goals It’s hard to predict what the future may hold for the UK’s property market. One thing is for sure – there is a long period of uncertainty ahead, while the country re-establishes its relationship with Europe and with its other global trading partners.

With London’s most noteworthy developments tipped to struggle, where are the experts recommending investors place their money? Second tier cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool have been showing great returns at a lower investment mark than London for a number of years now.

“Our advice is to focus on areas outside of London such as Manchester and Liverpool that will continue to take advantage of strong population growth and infrastructure spending. The government has committed to maintaining current infrastructure projects and with lower entry prices and higher yields these cities offer a strong investment case,” said Paul Mahoney, Managing Director, Nova Financial.

According to Property Frontiers’ CEO, Ray Whithers, there has been a surge of interest towards the mainstream property market, with second tier cities and the London suburbs set to

However, its appeal with Middle Eastern investors is unlikely to diminish, with London remaining a draw card for any would-be property investor.

“London continues to be one of a handful of truly global cities with a diverse culture, rich history, a transparent legal system and leading education facilities,” commented Banda Property’s Brodie.

Banda Property forecasts a fall of up to 5% in London house prices this year, in part due to the over ambitious asking prices of the last 18 months. However, the London housing market is resilient and a lack of supply will underpin values into early 2017, when the market will return to steady positive growth.

“The underlying strengths of the UK economy remain in place and there continues to be a demand/supply imbalance that will underpin prices. Demand for prime London property rests on a wide range of drivers, most of which are unaffected by the referendum decision. Furthermore, in a weakening

REAL ESTATE REPORT

global economy, London’s property market will still be seen as a safe long-term investment,” Brodie explained.

Jean Liggett, Founder & Managing Director of Properties of the World, offers an alternative to the traditional buy to let investment, with the firm seeing an increase in enquiries for commercial properties after the referendum.

“In an uncertain market, investors like the fact that hotels, student accommodation and care homes offer fixed returns of five or more years and the return is more than twice what they would get from most residential buy to lets.

“Buyers know, for example, that they will get a circa 8% return year in and year out with a care home, student accommodation or hotel room compared to residential buy-to-let where the returns are not fixed and hence could fluctuate greatly year on year.”

Buying in Britain Stamp Duty Land Tax – The UK government introduced a 3% stamp duty land tax (SDLT) on investment properties in April 2016.

Mortgage Interest Relief – From April 2017, buy-to-let investors will no longer be able to claim mortgage interest relief on their investments.

Low Interest Rates – The Bank of England base rate (at time of going to press) has stood at 0.5% since March 2009. However, it is widely expected that this will drop to 0.25% in the coming weeks – good news for those requiring finance for their next property purchase.

This article is supplied by Cityscape Magazine.

Meanwhile, Black Brick’s Dell believes the Super Prime market will be the least negatively affected, with the collapse of the sterling meaning that dollar buyers are actually factoring in a 12.5% increase in their purchasing power since before the poll.

“For the global elite buying properties at GBP 20 million or above, purchases tend to be about lifestyle choices, rather than business decisions, or are to diversify extremely large portfolios. Indeed, we are still seeing transactions continue; Brexit did not feature in conversations with clients in this part of the market before the referendum, and it is unlikely to be much of a factor now it is underway,” she remarked.

Cityscape magazine is the Middle East’s leading real estate investment title and is owned and published by Informa Middle East Limited. For more information, please visit www.cityscape.org Visit Cityscape Kuwait, the only international real estate investment event in Kuwait for buying your dream home.

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THE LUXE TRAVEL

Cyprus The ideal Mediterranean destination?

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s Cyprus the ideal Mediterranean destination? For sure there’s plenty of competition vying for this title, but Cyprus has a lot more going for it than might appear at first glance. The island is small, but not too small. It’s well-placed – being a little further south than mainland Europe’s major Mediterranean resorts the season runs a little longer in to the later months of the year. How well provisioned is it in the luxury hotels front? Well, we did a bit of homework, and now it’s time for you to decide.

THE LUXE TRAVEL

With our friends at ‘Leading Hotels of the World’ we looked at the finest two places to stay – Anassa and Amathus. Seeking a place to catch the last of the Med sun in 2016? You’ve still got time to do it in the most elegant and finest of styles….

Anassa Northwest Cyprus Designed like a traditional Cypriot village, with low-rise rooms, suites and residences, Anassa is not only recognized as a leader in luxury Mediterranean resorts; but, has been named many times as one of the best hotels in the world. Encouraging refined “joie de vivre” and perfect for travelers who appreciate life’s quintessential pleasures, Anassa lines the edge of west Cyprus’ rugged Akamas Peninsula.

The hotel is famous for its beautiful secluded beach, crystal waters, vast gardens of olive groves and bougainvillea, chic design and gracious service. Epitomizing Mediterranean living, the hotel exudes traditional charm – from the Village Square with its own Byzantine chapel to the signature suites and residences named after Greek Gods and Goddesses.

Executive Chef David Goodridge has got your dining sorted – Anassa’s four restaurants offer a variety of local and international cuisine. Amphora, serving daily buffet breakfast and themed buffet dinners, Helios, serving an imaginative mix of à la carte and table d’hôte menus, Basiliko, the resort’s signature gourmet restaurant and Pelagos, an all-day poolside restaurant.

Basiliko’s cavern is the ideal setting for a romantic candlelight dinner. Serving gourmet dishes inspired by Asian cuisine with a hint of Mediterranean flavors, from Wagyu Beef Cannelloni to Alaskan Black Cod – it’s our restaurant of choice.

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THE LUXE TRAVEL

At the Thalassa Spa, Thalassotherapy draws on the restorative benefits of the maritime climate, seawater, and marine derivatives. From one-off saltwater jet spray massages, seaweed polishes and algae body wraps, to 10-day detox immersions, the spa focus is on individual, tailor-made treatments and entirely natural products – using seawater pumped directly from the crystal shores of Chrysochou Bay. Osea, QMS ‘medicosmetic’ and ila’s ‘beyond organic’ products provide superior skin therapy, while a Roman-style indoor pool offers sky-lit respite from the sun; 18 treatment rooms, saunas, steam baths, saltwater exercise pool, squash court, fitness room, yoga and healthy cuisine complete the Thalassa Spa experience.

They have a vast selection of rooms which opens with their garden view rooms. Located in the main building of the resort, appointed with a typical Mediterranean style of decor and offer a colorful view of the resorts secluded gardens, as well as the hills of Neo Chorio Village. All rooms and suites have a safe, satellite TV, air conditioning and heating.

Our own recommendation, the 122 sqm seaview Presidential Suite These is situated on the top floor of the resort. With a separate bedroom and luxurious bathroom facilities with sea views, a private whirlpool on the balcony, a fireplace and antiques also grace the rooms of this opulent suite.

You don’t need to take our word for it – it’s multiple award winning, and at the top of everyone’s list when it comes to Cyprus (and indeed for many when looking at a broader range of luxury Med-based resorts).

THE LUXE TRAVEL

Amathus Beach Hotel Limassol

T

he Amathus Beach Hotel is a 5-star beachfront resort, member of the ‘Leading Hotels of the World’ on the outskirts of Limassol with a unique seafront, 4000m2 of mature landscaped gardens and a private beach area.

It is home to the Limanaki Fish Restaurant. Known and acknowledged as the best fish and seafood restaurant in Cyprus for more than 30 years, Limanaki is literally only a few steps from the water and has been recently transformed.

Limanaki is open for dinner between May and October with exceptional fresh fish delicacies.

The Grill Room, La Terrazza, Cyan and Kalypso complete guest’s enviable dining choices at Amathus - La Terrazza is the ultimate choice for al fresco enthusiasts. Open throughout the summer months, guests are welcome to unwind within the blissful surroundings with the melodies of the in-house

live band as they watch the chefs prepare the most delicious international dishes. Their Executive Chef and his brigade create the best from the gastronomic theme night buffets.

The 2,000 square meter Amathus Spa & Wellness Centre is dedicated to beauty, health and wellbeing. The designer spa is a world in itself, inspired by wellness philosophies from East and West, whilst the hotel’s unique outdoor areas feature extraordinary facilities for families, without compromising the tranquility that adults and business travellers appreciate. (amathuslimassol.com)

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THE LUXE ZEITGEIST

ZEITGEIST Good design, where form and function come together so exquisitely, should always be celebrated.

This month Men’s Passion features some of the most desirable and well executed products that define the times in which we are living.

Panono

360o photography

THE LUXE ZEITGEIST

Panono is the integrated solution for professional 360째 photography.

The Panono Camera is a ball-shaped, high-resolution 360째 camera. It is equipped with 36 individual cameras that trigger simultaneously to capture everything in every direction in a single shot and deliver full-spherical images.

With a total resolution of 108 megapixels, the Panono is the highest resolution 360째 camera on the market.

Panono also provides a cloud-based service for fully automated stitching, hosting, and further applications for 360째 images.

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THE LUXE EVENTS

Startup Kuwait’s Inspiring Start Startup Kuwait’s first National Competition final, for Spring 2016, took place on May 29 and May 30, 2016. Over the course of Spring semester, Startup Kuwait launched entrepreneurship programs simultaneously with five of the nation’s universities.

The National Innovation & Entrepreneurship Challenge saw the participation of Kuwait University, Gulf University for Science & Technology, Box Hill College Kuwait, American University Kuwait, and Australian College Kuwait.

As part of this initiative, students were encouraged to work on innovative ideas that can be realistically and successfully turned into real businesses. More than 600 students formed over 100 teams presented their ideas and went through several competitive rounds before reaching the final.

The 12 final teams across these academic institutions competed on May 29, 2016, under the patronage of HE Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Bader Al Essa. The event was also attended by HE Sheikh Salman Al Humoud Al Sabah, the Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs, who encouraged the youth to pursue their business ideas.

The 12 teams competed before a distinguished panel of judges, Dr. Saad AlBarrak, Dr. Naif Al Mutawa, and Richard Preston (former director of research commercialization @ MIT).

On May 30, under the patronage and in the presence of HE Dr. Yousef Al Ali, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, the event was dedicated to 20 teams (including the 7 winning teams) exhibiting their business ideas, and the National Competition winners awards ceremony for Startup Kuwait National Innovation & Entrepreneurship Challenge.

The minister, Dr. Yousef Al Ali visited and discussed with all 20 exhibiting teams their business ideas, potential opportunities and their needs, and encouraged them to seek out support from the Kuwait National Fund for SMEs. Dr. Yousef Al Ali in his speech to the audience stated such accomplished initiatives would need to be supported across disciplines and congratulated Dr. Husain Al Ansari, the President of Kuwait University, for taking the leadership of the Startup Kuwait initiative and all participating universities and their leaders for their commitments and accomplishments within this initiative.

The winning teams: Bone Fracture Detector – KU Lunch Boxer – GUST Arena – GUST BabyGuards – GUST TechnoRex – AUK

THE LUXE EVENTS

Bone Fracture Detector (KU) – (People’s Choice award – voted by people) Intelligent Fire Extinguisher System (KU) (Most Social Responsible project idea – the judge LoYAC’s Chairperson) About Startup Kuwait Startup Kuwait is a national initiative launched by the Global Center (Kuwait University) to encourage students to understand the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship, and be able to work on and launch their own business ideas. Dr. Redha Behbehani expressed his thanks to all 5 participating universities in spring 2016, and welcomed PAAET and KCST in joining KU, GUST, AUK, ACK, and BHCK for Startup Kuwait National Innovation & Entrepreneurship Challenge Fall 2016 covering over 95% of enrolled college students. The Fall 2016 semester (September 2016), will start with 7 universities and multidiscipline participating together to create multidisciplinary ways of addressing Kuwait’s most challenging problems through entrepreneurship. Spring 2017 two programs would run, one for college students and another in parallel for young professionals who have graduated and would like to pursue their business passions.

In 2017; Startup Kuwait plans to introduce a non-profit accelerator program as well for selective entrepreneurs businesses which are beyond the idea generations.

Startup Kuwait was chosen and invited to attend 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) @ Stanford June 2016. Dr. Redha, attending on behalf of all involved with Startup Kuwait, represented Kuwait at GES 2016.

Dr. Redha Behbehani (above) stated that Startup Kuwait “National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Challenge” is just the first of many other programs that we hope to launch to support entrepreneurs in Kuwait. We look forward to growing Startup Kuwait in the years to come in partnership with other universities, entrepreneurship organizations, businesses, civic societies, foundations, and the Government.

Dr. Redha concluded with encouraging the youth and young entrepreneurs to follow Startup Kuwait’s motto of “Startup Kuwait – The World is Your Pearl, Ride the Waves”

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THE LUXE EVENTS

Boucheron Opens at The Prestige

The end of September saw the opening of a new boutique from one of Paris’s most exclusive jewelry maisons – Boucheron.

The setting, at The Prestige, Avenues, pitches Boucheron in one of Kuwait’s most exclusive addresses. The event was honoured by the attendance of loyal clients, VIPs, invited guests and the nation’s media.

THE LUXE EVENTS

Sweet Dreams are Made of This Bridgewater Chocolate, the award-winning American chocolate brand, has made its debut in the Middle East with the opening of its first store at Grand Avenue, The Avenues in Kuwait in partnership with retail franchise operator M.H. Alshaya Co. The new store was officially opened by Bridgewater Chocolate co-founders Erik Landegren and Andrew Blauner, and Alshaya’s Executive Chairman Mr. Mohammed Alshaya.

Customers in Kuwait share a passion for taste and quality, and Bridgewater Chocolate take great pride in handcrafting each and every item, which results in a unique and delicious chocolate.

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THE LUXE EVENTS

Smart Time from de GRISOGONO and Samsung

Two iconic brands have united to create the most glamorous smartwatch. de GRISOGONO’s vision and boldness meet Samsung’s technological expertise and innovative design. A high-tech object transformed into a glamorous accessory.

Style marries function. Original, on point, beautiful, innovative, elegant, surprising and precious: it symbolises the best of the two worlds it connects. When a smart jewellery watch tells the tale of luxury time.

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THE LUXE EVENTS

The Latest Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Devices at Dar Al Shifa As continuation of the successes and achievements of Dar Al Shifa in providing the latest technologies in the field of diagnostic imaging, the Centre has incorporated the latest magnetic resonance imaging devices on Monday, September 5th 2016.

It is worth mentioning that Dar Al Shifa Diagnostic Imaging Center holds a golden accreditation from the American College of Radiology (ACR) for the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computed Tomography scans (CT), Ultrasound Imaging services (Sonar) and mammograms.

Through these credits and through the success of the capabilities of diagnostic imaging center, Dar Al Shifa Hospital is looking forward to continue applying the highest standards of quality in the field of radiology and imaging.

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THE LUXE EVENTS

Attraction and Indulgences: Reborn – at CAP Kuwait This opening reception, which attracted many art-lovers from Kuwait and abroad, presented two exhibitions; Attraction by French artist Quentin Carnaille is about the concept of time through the use of clockworks and magnets as prime materials for his creations; and Indulgences: Reborn by Kuwaiti director Mohammad Al-Hemd. Al-Hemd had the courage to speak on a delicate subject reflecting the relationship between what’s happening now in the Middle East and the event that occurred during the Dark Ages in Europe.

The exhibition runs through Contemporary Art Platform.

21

October

at

Kuwait’s

Carnaille and Al-Hemd spoke with Men’s Passion; you can read the interview online at menspassion-online.com

THE LUXE LISTINGS

Listings Our carefully curated monthly list of events not to be missed.

Indulgences: Reborn What: Art installation Where: CAP Kuwait When: thru’ 5 October, 2016

Fadhel Al Abbar Retrospective What: Art exhibition Where: Boushahri Gallery, Salmiya When: thru’ 9 October, 2016

To Kuwaiti artist Mohammed Al Hemd, history repeats itself in similar cycles no matter how long those cycles are; whether they are days, years, decades, centuries, or even millenniums. This installation attempts to relate what is happening now in the Middle East to what was happening in the past. In particular, this installation emphasizes the similarities between the current events in the Middle East and the events in Europe during the dark ages.

Born in Kuwait in 1946, Al Abbar is one of our firm favourites. A landscape architect by profession, he’s got an eye for form and material. A wealth of sculptures will be exhibited at Salmiya’s Boushahri Gallery. The gallery is located in the front of Al Laheeb Mosque, opening hours: 10am–1pm 5pm–9pm. On Friday and Thursday afternoon though, it’s closed.

The IMPROVengers What: Comedy night Where: Crowne Plaza, Farwaniya When: 8pm on 20 October, 2016

The Flying Start What: Triathlon Where: Marina Crescent, Salmiya When: 7am on 28 October, 2016

Because no matter what sort of week you’ve had, Friday night should always be comedy night. A production by Staged In Kuwait, a brand new group of comedy performers will be thrown onto the stage of the Auditorium, Crowne Plaza, Farwaniya, with only your suggestions and their combined wit to help them navigate the evening. It promises to be a show to remember.

Flying Start is a triathlon race organized in Kuwait on an annual basis. The race was first organized in 2010 as a way to motivate three club members to continue training for a triathlon. The success of the first race turned Flying Start into an annual event, which gives the community a continuous goal to train for. To compete you must first register. To support, just join them on the day.

It’s A Mad World What: Art exhibition Where: Ayyam Gallery, Beirut When: thru’ 5 November, 2016 Shurooq Amin, Kuwait’s best-known contemporary artist and a recent Men’s Passion cover-girl, continues to dominate the region’s art headlines.

It’s a Mad World invokes the toll of violent conflicts that have devastated parts of the Arab world. Several paintings depict the worsening conditions of decimated cities while commenting on the social issues that continue to affect entire populations.

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