T Qatar November - December

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contents Men’s Fashion 2010

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4 contributors 7 REMIX

It’s all about . . . Charles Lindbergh, upscale lumberjacks, Ferrari World, the return of backpacks, and clogs for dudes.

16 Remix Qatar

34 Get Qatar

Montblanc’s Lennon edition...Beamer goes Golfing...Piaget’s millionth...

RL’s Ricky Bag.

Swipe happy at The Pearl Qatar...Star spangled Doha...T Qatar turns One...Jaguar XJ...celebrating Saudi stylist Ahmed Al Dossary...a chat with Amouage creative director Christopher Chong.

39 STRIP

28 GET

TALK

The must-haves: a parade of boots, trusted timepieces. The New Collectibles. The Takeaway: three-piece suits.

This fall, pledge allegiance to one color, plus a few shades for good measure. Photographs by KT Auleta 44 The haberdashery is an endangered species. The last of the breed, and the best of its kind, may be in Buffalo. By Christopher Petkanas.

Copyright © 2010 The New York Times

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contents

48 Seen Qatar

Salvatore Ferragamo in Qatar, the legacy has landed. By John Hunt. 52 Human barcodes and Khalifa Al Obaidly’s mission. By Yousra Samir. 56 Dubai is no Disneyland says Ali Mustafa. By Vani Saraswathi.

61 A ‘T’ Falls in the woods

Set design by Nicola Yeoman. Photograph by Jo Metson Scott.

62 cold play

High style meets high endurance in these expedition-worthy polar coordinates.

Ernie Shackleton would approve. Photographs by Jacob Sutton.

70 somewhere man

He’s been all over the Hollywood map, but Stephen Dorff is finally finding his sweet spot.

Text by Mark Rozzo. Photographs by Hedi Slimane.

74 leisure suits

This season, gray flannel gets a much-needed kick in the pants. Ditch the tie — or the shirt — and wear with a laissez-faire attitude. Photographs by Laurence Passera.

80 Untamed With feline eyes, statement jewelry and lots of attitude, this season’s couture gets seriously fierce.

88 TIMELESS

For the designer Evan Yurman, the ’57 Ford Thunderbird is a truly rare bird.

On the cover • Photograph by Hedi Slimane. Fashion editor: Bruce Pask. Lanvin jacket, QR 10,300. Go to lanvin.com. J. Crew shirt, QR 240. Go to jcrew.com. John Varvatos tie.

Fashion associate: Jason Rider. Grooming by David Cox for Redken Men at celestineagency.com.

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CONTRIBUTORS

& editor- in- chief Yousuf Jassem Al Darwish Sandeep Sehgal executive vice president Alpana Roy vice president Ravi Raman

publisher

chief executive officer

managing editor Vani Saraswathi deputy editor Sindhu Nair

assistant editors Ahmed Lotfy Ali

John Hunt

editorial coordinator

contributor

Cassey Oliveira Shalinee Bharadwaj

art director Venkat Reddy – production Sujith Heenatigala assistant art director Hanan Abu Saiam senior graphic designers Ayush Indrajith Sampath Gunathilaka M D

asst director

SIMON FOXTON Known for his loud, colorful styling, Simon Foxton softened his touch

with ‘‘Leisure Suits’’ (Page 74), a gray flannel

managers – marketing Mohammed Sami story shot by the photographer Laurence Zulfikar Jiffry Passera. Foxton grew up in a small hotel run by senior media consultant Chaturka Karandana his parents in Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, a media consultant Victoria Ferraris

medieval market town on the Scottish border.

Hassan Rekkab ‘‘I basically stayed in whatever room was vacant at that moment,’’ he says. marketing research & support executive Amjeth Ali

Not having a bedroom as a kid turned Foxton into a homebody, which is something of a

accountant Pratap Chandran rarity in the high-velocity world of fashion. sr. distribution executive Bikram Shrestha Foxton graduated from Central Saint Martins in distribution support Arjun Timilsina

1983 and began working in magazines after a Bhimal Rai chance encounter with Terry Jones, the founder of i-D. (An example of Foxton’s work for the magazine is at far left.) When he’s not making adventurous contributions to Arena published by Homme Plus and Fantastic Man or co-directing &SON, his creative consulting firm, he likes cooking Jamaican fusion food and polishing his collection of secondhand porcelain toast racks.

Qatar

Mohieb Dahabieh For “Untamed” (Page 80) Mohieb Dahabieh wanted a clear element of fierceness to enhance the season’s body-con couture gowns. All it took was flicked eye makeup, an all-over-to-one-side mane, and a torrent of jewels. “For me, the 80s — especially the first half — was all about high octane glamour. I’ve referenced time and time again the high-polish and amped-up glamour of Joan Collins in Dynasty, and I often reminisce about Sherihane’s unabashed glitz in ‘Fawazeer Ramadan’. Was it my intrigue over the global fashion hype during that decade, or is it simply my aesthetic DNA to be captivated by sexed-up beauty? Would my feelings for Twiggy and the coquettish characteristics that defined her have been any more profound than mere appreciation had I grown up in the swinging 60s? I can’t imagine it.”

Mohieb is the Creative Director of MoDa’s Touch, a London-based creative agency specializing in image management and luxury brand development.

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Oryx Advertising Co WLL P.O. Box 3272; Doha-Qatar Tel: (+974) 4672139, 4550983, 4671173, 4667584 Fax: (+974) 4550982 Email: tqatar@omsqatar.com website: www.omsqatar.com

From Top, from left: Robert Maxwell; from greg lynn form; From Jason Schmidt (2); Robert Fleischauer; AFP.

hedi slimane Beginning in 2000, Hedi Slimane transformed Dior Homme into a men’s-wear obsession. Rock stars and wannabes clamored for his sleekly tailored goods; Karl Lagerfeld reportedly lost 80 pounds just to fit into a Slimane suit. But these days, besides the odd collaboration — a DVD compilation with MK2 called ‘‘American Youth,’’ an exhibition with the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center — Slimane has devoted himself to photography. ‘‘It is like switching to a different language,’’ he says. ‘‘Not that it affects anything I have to say.’’ Slimane keeps photographic ‘‘diaries’’ on his Web site, which includes portraits of Lindsay Lohan and Courtney Love (far right). For our cover story (‘‘Somewhere Man,’’ Page 70), Slimane cast fresh light on Stephen Dorff, the star of Sofia Coppola’s forthcoming film, ‘‘Somewhere.’’

AFP

It s All About . . .

Charles Lindbergh . . . Modern Primitive . . . Ferrari World . . . Jaguar XJ . . . Film Festival.

Charles Lindbergh in his winter flying gear, circa 1928.

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Sky King

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The Lindbergh look flies again.

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Runway ready Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis, circa 1928.

guys like to dress up [like the] military,’’ says Nigel Cabourn, the British outerwear guru whose archive of 4,000 pieces encompasses everything from early R.A.F. uniforms to expedition gear worn on Sir Edmund Hillary’s ascent of Mount Everest. ‘‘With aviation, it’s a whole look, with hats, gloves, fat belts. And everything was pure — pure wool, pure cotton, pure silk. That’s what they were wearing on those aeroplanes. Nothing synthetic.’’

This fall, Lucky Lindy — that complicated American hero who became fascinated with the Third Reich only to emerge, late in life, as a leader in the nascent environmental movement — is reborn in collections as diverse as Burberry (bomber jackets with outsize shearling collars and fur-lined boots), Pierre Balmain (trim and elegant aviator jackets), Michael Kors (parachute pants, military boots and still more bomber jackets) and Haversack (honest-to-goodness breeches). The palette is martial: khaki, olive, charcoal, black, brown. The message is clear: I am down-to-earth, practical and capable of feats that will boggle your imagination. MARK ROZZO

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1. Fall 2010 looks from Burberry Prorsum (Boutique at Villaggio Mall).

2. The Lindbergh Atlantic Voyage watch from Longines (Available at Alfardan Jewellery). 3.

Lindbergh in full flying regalia, 1928. 4. The jumpsuit Lindbergh wore on his trans-Atlantic flight.

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clockwise from top: AFP; david schultz/missouri history museum, st. louis; AFP; from longines; AFP.

hen Charles Lindbergh took off from Long Island’s Roosevelt Field on May 20, 1927, en route to Paris aboard the Spirit of St. Louis, his wardrobe was a study in packing light: Army-issue breeches and ankle boots, an Abercrombie and Fitch flight jacket designed by Benjamin Willis (later of Willis and Geiger Outfitters fame), a brown A. G. Spalding & Brothers jumpsuit to keep out the cold, a wool-lined leather helmet, goggles, a white shirt and — in a nod to his home base and to the monoplane that would, 3,610 miles and some 33 hours later, make him the most famous man in the world — a blue-and-red striped tie from Vandervoort’s department store in St. Louis. The accessories were minimal, too: a pair of quart canteens, cotton wadding in his ears and a St. Christopher medal, handed to him at takeoff by a well-wisher named Katie Butler.

The day after Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget airfield, he stepped out onto a balcony of the American Embassy and greeted a throng of euphoric Parisians in a hastily borrowed double-breasted suit. He’d flown with little more than the flying togs that, captured in untold miles of newsreel footage, became the indelible sartorial image associated with Lindbergh, a man Will Rogers described as a ‘‘slim, tall, bashful, smiling American boy.’’

After the flight, Lindbergh wrote that ‘‘no man before me had commanded such freedom of movement over earth.’’ Indeed, ‘‘freedom of movement’’ was also a guiding principle in Lindbergh’s wardrobe: wearable, masculine, sporty, enduring. In the generations since, countless men have embraced the ruggedness of the classic aviator look for the same irresistible reasons. ‘‘At the end of the day,

Revel Yelp

Rather than making the pilgrimage to the Ferrari museum in Maranello, Italy, fans of Italian sports cars might want to head to Yas Island in the United Arab Emirates, where Ferrari World Abu Dhabi opened last month. The autocentric theme park, next to the Yas Marina Circuit racetrack, offers more than 20 action-packed attractions under its manta-ray-shaped, two-million-square-foot roof. Sure to be a big draw is the Formula Rossa roller coaster, which the park claims will be the fastest in the world, with carts inspired by F1 race cars reaching grand prix-worthy speeds of 149 miles per hour. A flume-type water ride, meanwhile, passes through a supersize Ferrari 599 V12 engine. ‘‘You go in through the grille and then get taken high up above the manifold,’’ says Troy Lindquist, the park’s sales and marketing director. ‘‘At the end, you’re shot out of the tailpipe.’’ TIM M C KEOUGH Qatar Airways flies daily to Abu Dhabi

now stitching • Brooklyn SHIRTING GALLERY

Epaulet makes custom shirts, selvage jeans and corduroys in a shade of lime called ‘‘go-to-hell green.’’ Welcome to D.I.Y.-crazed Brooklyn. The emphasis at this modest Cobble Hill storefront is on fabric and fit: Epaulet’s button-fly chinos (from QR 500), which have inspired cultish devotion, fit snugly, like a perfect pair of jeans. ‘‘We run on the Louis Vuitton model,’’ says Michael Kuhle, who opened the store two years ago with his wife, Adele Berne. ‘‘We never do markdowns because all our stuff sells out.’’ Their latest offering is an urban safari shirt (left; QR 900) created with Hamilton, the Houstonbased heritage label. It has easy-to-roll-up sleeves, the better to show off a wry tattoo. Go to epauletshop.com. Stephen heyman 10

* All prices indicative

clockwise from top left: Ferrari World; from akashic books; jens mortensen.

NOW amusing • speed racers

For those who’ve never had the opportunity to party like a rock star and felt like they were missing out, ‘‘Please Take Me Off the Guest List’’ (Akashic Books) may very well smooth over those regrets. A collaboration between the writer (and singer and Beauty Bar Brooklyn bartender) Zachary Lipez, the photographer (and Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist) Nick Zinner and the designer (and former design director of Artforum) Stacy Wakefield, the book chronicles the side effects of a hyperactive night life, including rambling cocaine narratives, a job as a disgruntled clerk at the Strand bookstore and the joys of being sent to fetch a straw from the bodega for your girlfriend’s morning P.B.R. ‘‘I call dibs on the indefensible,’’ Lipez says. Sobriety may not figure, but when consciousness raises its head, it is acerbic, anarchic and definitely not for the faint of heart. Shonni EneloW

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the magnificent seven

Coming soon to a saloon (or brasserie) near you.

1. Who’s afraid of Katie Eary? The buzzy London designer, inspired by Irvine Welsh’s dark, hallucinatory 1995 novel, ‘‘Marabou Stork Nightmares,’’ has created enormous reptile-print coats, hats with studs resembling teeth and other frightful creations that might haunt your sleep. Go to katieeary.co.uk.

2. The Viennese jewelry designer Florian Ladstaetter looked to the animal kingdom for the debut of his Florian men’s collection.

And he had the ‘‘strong alpha male’’ in mind, he says. Translation: cow-horn necklaces, lizard cuffs and python scarves with silk lining. Go to openingceremony.us.

3. This is Rag & Bone’s year. After scooping up the CFDA Award for men’s wear, the label recently opened its fourth New York store. Now comes its boot collaboration with Timberland.

Two rugged styles — a chukka and a taller boot — point to a classic workwear aesthetic, but made of the finest leathers to a high degree of craftsmanship. At Rag & Bone stores.

4. Junichi Abe, formerly of Junya Watanabe Comme des Garçons, takes a similarly unorthodox approach to his Kolor line — but with less concept and more comfort. Rolled-up pants,

haphazard layering and a muted brown-gray palette suggest a disheveled yet very deliberate appearance. At If SoHo, 94 Grand Street.

5. Stetson, the iconic American hatmaker, and the celebrated South African milliner Albertus Swanepoel have teamed up to create a highly eccentric line of hats. Styles range from the Charlie, a classic cowboy shape in allover plaid, to the pompom-topped Verbier, named after a Swiss ski resort. At Barneys New York.

6. The ts(s) label, reintroduced last year, is all about paradox: Italian-looking but from Japan, outdoorsy but you wouldn’t think of going near dirt, a little distressed but meticulously so.

Think rumpled herringbone blazers, oversize parkas and cozy wool-blanket vests. Or, as the designer Takuji Suzuki says, ‘‘unpredictableness with dignity.’’ Go to contextclothing.com.

7. Walter Van Beirendonck says he was thinking about ‘‘world stress’’ for his fall collection.

And it shows in his bag collaboration with the London-based accessories label Chris & Tibor.

Rocket-shaped backpacks and fanny packs that spell out FIRE, FLY and W are a nod to current events, but with a healthy dose of whimsy. At Seven New York, 110 Mercer Street.

now coveting • modern primitives

To create their new collection of hyper-masculine curiosities, the glass-blowing studio Esque and the art and design firm No. 1 Son (both based in Portland, Ore.) pilfered ideas from millennia past. Aptly named (Bar)barian, the collaboration was inspired by what Andi Kovel and Justin Parker of Esque call the ‘‘noble savage’’: objects that were once made from horn, wood and stone are reimagined in glass and leather. Why serve drinks from an ordinary decanter when you could present (Bar)barian’s Flagon, a swirling glass vessel that resembles the horn of some mythical beast? Or why not go all out with the Travel Bar (right): two hornlike glasses, a bone-shaped stirrer and a leather studded case in which to lug them? Just don’t go hunting for dinner with the OB-J slingshot. Rendered in wood-colored glass with an inelastic leather strap and fragile handle, it’s entirely nonfunctional. But that’s entirely the point: by allowing utility and convenience to go the way of the woolly mammoth, (Bar)barian has transformed objects from the past into up-to-the-minute pieces of pure decadence. TIM M c KEOUGH

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Lee Carter

left: tom allen. model: miles garber; bottom: brenton salo. top: 5. mike jurick.

The resurgence of backpacks romanticizes collegiate sportswear — frat-boy faux pas reconsidered as stylish staples. A more casual alternative to the borrowedfrom-the-ladies man bags of recent years, the backpack was seen all over the fall runways, in both familiar interpretations (Louis Vuitton rediscovered the expedition-worthy rucksack) and new ones (Master-Piece’s digitized Navajo print, below, and Prada’s acidic camouflage). Consider the Japanese approach in introducing one to your wardrobe: a shot of pattern against a schoolboy uniform of classic khakis and a baseball jacket. JASON RIDER

Going Rogue

Rake, a new men’s line of suit separates made to mix and match, fancies as its customer ‘‘a gentleman of rogue habits.’’ The owner, Clive Darby, late of the Savile Row outfitter Kilgour, marries the precision of English tailoring with the louche sexiness of Serge Gainsbourg. ‘‘He didn’t follow some dictated idea of what a suit should be,’’ Darby says. ‘‘He wore it with jeans, with sneakers or with fabulous brogues.’’ The whole collection — reversible waistcoats, wrinkle-resistant jersey jackets that pair well with boozestained undershirts — targets global gadabouts who travel light.

Jackets from about QR 5,200. Go to rakestyle.com. STEPHEN HEYMAN

FRAME JOB

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* All prices indicative

Clog post Since men’s clogs are coming out of the kitchen this season, Christine Muhlke asked Anthony Bourdain what he really thinks of them:

‘‘I wore clogs when I cooked for the same reason so many cooks have faithfully worn them through the years: because, in spite of their hideousness, they are perfectly suited to the job.

They are comfortable. They provide optimum and all-important back and arch support. They allow maximum air circulation while still providing protection against dropped knives, pans, spilled boiling liquids. Because of their ugliness, when it’s time to throw out one food-encrusted pair and buy another, there is no sentimental attachment. These days, I only wear my old kitchen clogs for (very) quick runs across the street for toilet paper or bagels. And I pray I’m not seen while doing it.’’

Boot up From Louis Vuitton 2010-2011 collection (Boutique at Villaggio Mall).

from top: from rake. styled by william Gilchrist; jens mortensen (2); AFP.

Gerry Beckley has some peculiar enthusiasms. A founding member of the ’70s Cali-rock band America, he spends most of his days on the road reviving ‘‘Sister Golden Hair.’’

And each morning, like clockwork, he photographs the view from his hotel-room window — a ritual he’s kept up for about 15 years.

Wherever Beckley happens to be — a United States Air Force base in Japan, a street stall in Ecuador — he’s prowling for vintage treasures: classic tennis sneakers (Dunlop plimsolls), wristwatches (Bell & Ross) and especially eyeglasses made in the 1950s and 1960s by American Optical and others of that thick-framed ilk. ‘‘My tastes tend toward the archival,’’ says Beckley, 58, who has become so sophisticated about design that he can talk shop with an expanding clutch of artistically inclined friends, including the minimalist architect John Pawson and the fashion designer Steven Alan. ‘‘Gerry came in the store and said, ‘I’m a fan of what you do. I have a band you might have heard of called America,’ ’’ Alan recalls. ‘‘He even sent me a greatest-hits CD.’’ The designer and musician have become good friends, and the Steven Alan outpost in TriBeCa is now stocking a small batch of vintage frames hand-picked by Beckley, many with period accents like comfort-cable temples that hook around the ear (above right; QR 500 without lenses, QR 670 with tinted lenses).

Beckley says collecting vintage eyewear goes way beyond the vaguely anachronistic impulses of, say, an Urban Outfitters devotee. ‘‘It’s not just saying, ‘Let’s all wear Buddy Holly glasses!’ ’’ he says. ‘‘It’s understanding the difference between what Buddy wore, what Onassis wore, what James Dean wore.’’ Stephen Heyman

QATAR

the

scene

Swipe Happy at The Pearl-Qatar

Now is the time to head to The Pearl-Qatar, and get a feel of the latest collections from some of the most coveted brands in the world.

We take a sneak peak at prestigious labels under the Salam Stores umbrella.

Here are some of our favorites; go on, spoil yourself. Orna Ballout

Boss Orange Round silver ball decorations hang gracefully from the ceiling of this tastefully designed store, while wooden display units proudly show off key pieces. The focus is on casual wear with offerings of clothing, bags, shoes and sunglasses. Palettes of purples, blues and turquoise feature strongly. The ladies collection features many daywear pieces that will easily transform into evening glamour to achieve effortless style.

Ice Iceberg Reflecting its name, this store is a little cooler than others. However, this doesn’t divert from its fabulous collection for men and women which offers a fusion of fun and fashion. It collaborates with Disney to produce pieces which feature some of the most well-known characters. It’s all about Tom & Jerry, Donald Duck and Penelope Pitstop this season and the cartoons can be spotted on a selection of t-shirts, jumpers and accessories. Dresses in loud colors of hot pinks emblazoned with animal prints are available along with a selection of versatile and stylish bags to team perfectly with every outfit.

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Canali The luxury men’s collection by Italian designer Canali epitomizes sophistication and style. The store in The Pearl is brimming with an array of suits, shirts and accessories made from the finest luxurious materials. It provides a bespoke service allowing customers to avail of the perfect fitting suit; the process is simple, select the material you desire from a wooden box packed with samples of materials and the Canali masters will work their magic to create a stylish suit. The tie collection is amazing with some pieces containing 24ct gold stitched carefully on to material.

Galliano It’s easy to comprehend why the Central St. Martin’s graduate’s collections have a long list of celebrity fans as the garments exude glamour and style. A focus on clothing and accessories is surrounding a newspaper theme; t-shirts and leather bags are covered in writing similar to a newspaper; while warm festive burgundies and grays feature on other key pieces.

Kipling It’s bag heaven in this bright compact shop. The Belgium brand is renowned for its practical, fashionable and versatile offerings which provide a bag for everyone. Cool rucksacks in bright, fun colors are available for little ones; all adorned with the cutest monkey keyring that dangles off numerous pieces. A sturdy and stylish luggage range is also on offer along with an endless selection of other must-haves for style savvy shoppers.

the

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Diesel Its fabulous jeans collection is the highlight of the store. One is spoilt for choice with the availability of styles in a variety of washes including dark blue, medium and light cloths, unwashed and treated denim. The range has a DIY theme with the main decorative element of wire which features in different threads running through fabrics. For ladies, this is expressed in detailing like small chains on back pockets and a ripped effect. The men’s collection also has the same feeling with patches and rips featuring throughout.

Just Cavalli This store is bright and inviting with its quirky elephant door knobs and sparkling floor. A central theme is animal prints leopard and tiger which can be spotted on various pieces; while festive colors of winter reds and greens feature also. Bags, belts and sunglasses are available. Main highlights are a black clutch leather bag adorned in lace with stud detailing and belts that scream glamour with a Just Cavalli logo glistening on buckles. Menswear is definitely for fashion conscious males. Close attention is paid to detailing on shirts with some edgier styles featuring a mix of patterns and materials like denim collars.

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QATAR

Star Spangled Doha

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The second Doha Tribeca Film Festival turned the city on its head both with the stars it attracted and the films it showed.

awi” and “Balls” (“Farsan”) took the Arab Film Competition prizes; “Grandma, A Thousand Times” received a special jury mention and audience award for best documentary; and The First Grader won audience award for best narrative film.

“Balls”, directed by Lebanese-Swedish Josef Fares, features his actual father as a lonely widower slowly making his way back onto the dating scene, with amusing, endearing results.

“Hawi”, directed and written by Ibrahim El Batout, is a portrait of modern Alexandria, where themes of human loss and displacement take center stage in place of a clearly defined story arc.

“Grandma, A Thousand Times” (“Teta, Alf Marra”), directed by Mahmoud Kaabour, documents with great intimacy, the larger-thanlife character of a feisty Beiruti grandmother as she struggles to cope with the silence of her once-buzzing house and imagines what awaits her beyond death.

“The First Grader”, directed by Justin Chadwick, is the inspirational story about an elderly farmer in a Kenyan village who wants to enroll in a local school and learn to read.

The Doha Film Institute (DFI) presented Egyptian screen legend Adel Imam with the inaugural DFI Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to Arab cinema.

The celebrated actor, fondly referred to as “the Egyptian Charlie Chaplin,” is regarded as one of the most talented actors to emerge from the Middle East. His success transcends the Arab world and Imam is a driving force behind memorable films, such as “Omaret Yakobean” (Yacoubian Building) and “al Mutasawel” (The Beggar) that showcase his trademark ability to use humor to address social issues, while promoting tolerance and justice.

On the sidelines of DTFF, DFI presented ‘I Am Film’, an exhibition of photographs by world renowned French photographer Brigitte Lacombe.

“This Project, with portraits of Arab filmmakers for the Doha Film Institute, is the most ambitious, exciting and generous one that I was ever offered. I am grateful,” says Brigitte Lacombe. n

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Adel Imam Egyptian Charlie Chaplin

I Am Film Exhibition of Brigitte Lacombe photos of film personalities

Winners Stills from the winning films Balls, Hawi and First Grader

Red Carpet Clockwise from bottom left: Robert DeNiro, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival; Salma Hayek, jury member; and Freida Pinto whose film Miral was shown in the festival

Women Power Mira Nair and Amanda Palmer do the rounds at Katara, Cultural Village

T Qatar turns One A year ago, T Qatar, the local edition of T: The New York Times Style Magazine, was launched amidst great expectations and interest.

Over six issues, the magazine has created quite a stir in the country. An elegant dinner affair in November marked its success and celebrated its year in style.

The venue was the picturesque terrace of Al Mourjan Restaurant on the Corniche. Reprints of "T" Art designed by renowned artists and designers like Oscar de la Renta, Karl Lagerfeld, Jeff Koons were on display. This select screening was by invitation only and Qatar’s social glitterati, business heads, artists and prominent members of the art scene were in attendance.

Birthday Bash Art, food, music and a picturesque setting by the sea.

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QATAR

Jaguar XJ

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Pounce on it ByVani Saraswathi

here is nothing feline about this one, but it sure can eat you up with its sheer presence and elegance. The XJ seems to be what you’d get if you crossed a luxury yacht with Jaguar finesse. The Jag sure does turn heads and gets right of way even in Doha’s maniacal roads — but what’s inside is what really inspires you to play the lottery.

First thoughts sinking into the plush leather is that of PETA activists at your doorstep. But checks drawn on the right organizations should take care of the conscience, till the pleasure of driving the Jag numbs you and protects you from the concerns of the world.

The big worry on driving out of the Alfardan Premier Motors showroom was navigating the haphazard parking in Al Sadd, staying clear of predators on C Ring road and finding

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appropriate anchor space outside the magazine offices in Hilal.

Once the first leg was completed on a steady heart rate, the Jaguar was in control of your senses.

The hi-tech virtual dashboard contrasts and compliments the analog clock; The rotary shift interface that controls the automatic transmission; The leather detailing covering the dashboard and converts the interior into a rather cozy living space. Chrome and piano black detailing provide an eye-catching contrast to the beautifully-crafted leather and veneer surfaces.

The all-new XJ’s cabin offers four specification levels — Luxury, Premium Luxury, Portfolio and Supersport — allowing the customer to tailor the car to suit their tastes of choice in colors, veneers and leathers

not seen before in a Jaguar.

The man responsible for the look and feel, Ian Callum, Jaguar Design Director says of his boldest interpretation yet: “The new XJ is a thoroughly modern interpretation of the quintessential Jaguar. Its visual impact stems from the elongated teardrop shape of the car’s side windows, that powerful stance and its wide track. It is the most emphatic statement yet of Jaguar’s new design direction.”

While matching up to the technological expertise of German brands and the budget value of Japanese wheels, the Jaguar holds its own by finding a powerful niche between the two.

The XJ benefits from the most advanced, powerful and efficient Jaguar powertrains ever.

The XJ features a 5.0-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine with 385 horsepower or a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 available in 470 and 510 horsepower versions.

What product or organization is complete without an eco-commitment?

This vehicle takes a new approach to sustainable motoring. The lightweight aluminum structure — with 50 percent recycled material — underpinned by a lifecycle

God is in the details. Fine-tuned controls.

More than sleek.

approach to vehicle design and manufacture, enables the new XJ to minimize its carbon footprint. This alone creates a potential saving of three tons of CO2 per vehicle, compared to a body shell made from new aluminum.

Aerodynamic wonder The Jag has always been about equal parts look and performance. Callum feels any good car design - indeed the design of anything of value - should tell a story. “The new XJ does that, with a visual hierarchy and clarity of intent. We took inspiration from classic Jaguars like the Mk2 and original XJ and created a Jaguar for the 21st century with pure, sensual forms.”

And the new XJ doesn’t just look sleek and streamlined: it is, alongside the XF, the most aerodynamic Jaguar ever. The car has a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.29, and, equally importantly, outstanding high-speed stability.

A key factor in achieving this highly efficient aerodynamic performance was the extensive use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to refine the shape long before the car ever saw a wind tunnel. Taking the process pioneered on the XF program to a new level of sophistication, more than 400 detailed CFD studies were performed during the initial design phase.

Every area of the new XJ — from the outer skin to the composite undertray to the fine grille

Design notes. The making of Jaguar XJ

meshes of the cooling system — was optimized using this process. Key areas included the profile of the rear decklid, which was engineered to ensure that the airflow was controlled without the need for a spoiler. As well as reduced drag and impressively low wind noise, the overall shape achieves aerodynamic loads that are carefully balanced between front and rear axles to What’s that again? ensure optimum handling l Dual-View technology 8-inch Touch-screen that can project DVD balance and high-speed movies or television programs to the passenger while the driver views stability. vehicle functions or follows satellite navigation. l Premium surround sound options include the top-of-the-range All the engines in the new XJ 1200W Bowers & Wilkins system, as well as advanced infotainment transmit power through an features like hard drive-based audio and navigation systems, and enhanced version of Jaguar’s comprehensive connectivity for portable audio and video devices via the powerful Media Hub. acclaimed six-speed automatic l A panoramic glass roof is an integral part of the all-new XJ’s design transmission. The transmission concept, enabling the car to have a lower, more streamlined roofline, has a fully-adaptive shift system while dramatically enhancing the feeling of light and space inside. l Constructed using Jaguar’s aerospace-inspired aluminum body which delivers extremely technology, which makes the XJ lighter than its rivals by at least smooth gear changes and 150kg. optimizes performance and l Alfardan Premier Motors has a new top class after sales facility, with its own in house training academy. economy at all times.

The high levels of torque produced by the new engines make it possible for the torque converter lock-up feature to be used even at low speeds, without slip, further improving CO2 emissions and fuel economy.

As befits a sports saloon, all XJ models are fitted with the Jaguar Sequential Shift system for manual gear selection, with shift paddles mounted behind the steering wheel. The system has been tuned for quicker responses, resulting in a smoother, more powerful shift feel and an almost instantaneous shift.

I could not hit the Lusail circuit, nor was I willing to cough up for a speeding ticket, so I had to be satisfied pushing the Jag to 120 kmph — and what a smooth ride that was, even over speed breakers.

After the pace is when we start talking the space — but (yawn!) I’m skipping that.

If you have between 320k-500k riyals gathering moss, you know what to clean that up with. n

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ow often do you come across a man from the GCC who is a fashion designer, stylist and a personal shopper?

The 21st century has seen the birth of a new generation of fashionconscious, well-groomed Arab men who are expressing themselves through fashion, music, photography and art while at the same time holding their culture and tradition close to their hearts.

While the Khaleeji society used to frown upon men who chose a career in fashion, Ahmed Al Dossary and others like him are a new breed of stylish young men who are challenging social taboos in their passionate pursuits. These are men who are teaching women how to dress and who know their Birkin from their Kelly. Of people’s attitudes towards fashion-loving men like him Ahmed says, “They are slowly becoming receptive to the idea ... but the new generation has changed and is more conscious and know their fashion and designers”.

Half-Saudi, half-Bahraini and a self-claimed fashionista, Ahmed Al Dossary is a stylist, personal shopper and fashion designer. The multi-talented Al Dossary, who lives in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, comes from a well-known family of socialites. His father is a writer (who has written two books on his colourful and talented family already), his mother owns a cupcake

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Stereotypes be gone!

Personal Shopper. Designer. Stylist. Fashionista... meet Ahmed Al Dossary. ByYousra Samir

business and his sister is a make-up artist. “It’s really amazing being a stylist in the GCC because you don’t really find many stylists and personal shoppers here, so it’s great to be one of them!” says Ahmed. He is currently working on his own line of high-end menswear under the label AD and describes the experience as being amazing.

It was by helping out friends and family members to go shopping and put together outfits which suited them that Ahmed discovered that he had a natural flair for Diva dilemma A knack for holding his own in awkward situations.­­­­­­­ knowing what clothes look he admits. good on different people.

And he had no qualms about telling his parents What really sets Ahmed Al Dossary apart that he had fallen in love with the idea of from other stylists is that not only can he whip making a career out of his style talents. “When up fabulous ensembles for his male and female I told my family that I wanted to be a stylist, clients, he also knows the secrets to styling the personal shopper and design my own clothing thobe. According to him, the secret to looking line they actually really liked the idea and they stylish in the thobe is in accessorizing. “You both helped and supported me – I really think can wear a nice designer watch and team your that I am lucky to have such an amazing and thobe with leather shoes for a look that is chic. unique family like them,” gushes Ahmed.

These days there are many male thobe Ahmed is easy to warm up to, and his bubbly designers coming up with modern takes on the personality is definitely one of the reasons he thowb and I like it!” Ahmed explains. If there is popular with the region’s glitterati. Working is one piece every man should own this season as a personal shopper and stylist for the creme Ahmed says it is a pair of Christian Louboutin de la creme of Khaleeji society, run-ins with diva-like clients must be a norm. But Ahmed is loafers.

But what about other Gulf men who want to one man who can hold his own in awkward become stylists, personal shoppers and fashion situations, which is probably why many of his designers who may not have families as clients have also become treasured friends. open-minded and receptive to the idea as “They believe in me which is important when Ahmed’s? His advice to them: “They should sit working with clients; they have to trust you down with their family, open up their hearts and your decisions,” he explains. and tell them what their dreams are and what Marc Jacobs, Damir Doma, Viktor & Rolf, they want to be. Then they need to follow their Balmain and Balenciaga are just a few of the dreams and make sure to work on them very big fashion names which Ahmed counts as his favorite designers. And his ultimate role model hard to make them come true. They also need to always be positive and not let anything bring and reason for pursuing a career in styling is them down.” Pearls of wisdom spoken by a stylist to the stars Rachel Zoe. “I love Rachel true style guru.

Zoe; I think she is the best stylist I’ve ever seen Ahmed is to launch his label AD, a line of and I always look up to her ... I love her work men’s clothing, next summer. n and I totally respect and love what she does,”

Qatar

where ART lives.

If you want your preferred customers or guests to receive VIP copies, join our “Preferred Destination Program” email: tqatar@omsqatar.com or call Patricia on +974-44550983 23

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orn in Hong Kong, brought up in New York, now living in London, Christopher’s fascination with luxury goods began when he was just a child.

Having studied humanities at university — gaining an in-depth knowledge of art, music and literature, he went on to become a trained opera singer. Which he feels compliments his current role. “I used to sing the notes. Now, I smell them” Hired four years ago by the then CEO David Crickmore, whose task was to take Amouge international, Christopher was brought in to develop fragrances for the house. His nonperfumery background helped in making his contribution unique.

How do you visualize a perfume brief, what are your sources of inspiration to come up with a new fragrance?

My brief is inspired by all elements around me, especially music. I begin with a story that contains a symbolic journey of human endeavors to explore one’s hidden desire. I am inspired more by music, especially classical than the actual ingredients. I don’t know if my style is different from others or not, but I do not set out to create in a conventional manner.

My style leans more towards the artistic and literary angles. Since I joined Amouage, I decided that all my creations should be connected rather than creating one fragrance one year which is entirely irrelevant to the one before or after. All my creations are interlinked by a story, which continues from perfume to perfume.

For instance, I began with the story of the nymph singing to the moon in Jubilation.

Many people asked me who this nymph is. I continued the narrative in Lyric with the story of the nymph when she was a human in quest of immortality. After selling her soul to the Svengali in order to obtain immortality, she went on a quest to become the Legend in Epic.

What are the unique traditions in Arabian perfumery that fascinate you, influencing your

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The Scent of Oman From a niche perfume house with its roots in the Sultanate of Oman and supported by no less than the Royal family, house of Amouage has expanded to become a globally recognized brand. T Qatar meets Christopher Chong, Creative Director of the perfume house at the preview of Amouage Memoir. work?

It’s the Arabian passion for perfumery that I admire most. I love the fact that they are so adventurous with perfumes and most people from this part of the world make their own blends. I have seen many Arabs mix different

perfumes to come up with their signature smell. They seem to be much more evolved and informed when it comes to perfumery You have said before that Amouage has tried to break tradition, yet you are rooted in Oman and

Magical Mulberry

Memoir Man: can be best described as a leatherwoody-fougere fragrance, containing notes of wormwood, absinth, basil, mint, frankincense, rose, lavender, vetiver, sandalwood, guaiac wood, amber, vanilla, musk, oakmoss, leather and tobacco; it was developed by perfumer Karine Vinchon. Memoir Woman: created by Perfumers Daniel Maurel and DorothÈe Piot, it can be classified leather animalic chypre with its notes as mandarin, cardamom, absinthe, pink pepper, pepper, clove, white flowers, rose, jasmine, wood, frankincense, styrax, oakmoss, castoreum, leather, labdanum, fenugreek, and musk.

supported by the Royal family, how do you explain that?

Amouage’s heritage and roots will always remain the same. What we have tried to break tradition in, is the creative process. It can best be described as fusion, combining the traditional ingredients with modern technology. To be part of the international market we cannot smell too regional. Silver Frankincense, Rose and sandalwood are very popular ingredients in this part of the world, so I use these ingredients but construct them in a western way, using western technology, giving it an international interpretation. We coined a term “Modern Omani Chic” which would reflect the brand’s positioning. It is using the traditional Omani motif but with a little bit of minimalism. n

Region's Pride Amouage’s factory is in Oman where most of the post bottling process is done by hand. The exquisitely designed bottles go into satin-lined boxes with a little card with the name of the lady who packed it. There have been stories of delighted customers turning up at the factory asking to see the lady who had packed their bottle of perfume. I certainly would like to thank Fathima who packed mine.

Amouage also exclusively shared with T Qatar, the global release of Opus IV from its Library Collection uniting the world against AIDS. The latest inspiring creation was especially crafted to instill knowledge and empowerment in efforts to promote HIV / AIDS awareness by Christopher Chong who worked assiduously with renowned perfumers in Grasse.

Fifty percent of the world-wide profits from Opus IV will be donated to promoting HIV/AIDS awareness in Oman, an initiative supported by various United Nations organizations represented in the Sultanate.

Amouage launched Memoir Man and Memoir this fall which is available at 51 East and Paris Gallery in Qatar.

Mulberry has revealed a whimsical Spring Summer 2011 collection at an exclusive showing at its store in The Pearl. The must-have offerings won’t be available until February; however, the event highlighted key pieces which are set to be sell-out and undoubtedly adorn every fashionistas arm next year.

Inspired by the children’s novel The Secret Garden, the range transports you into a magical realm where nothing is quite as it seems. A play on proportion and prints encourages a fusion of charm, wit and iconic detailing which are in line with the Mulberry brand.

The palette is grounded with colors including Powder Beige, Chestnut, Petticoat White and Light Peach which complement the existing classics of Oak, Black and Chocolate. Brighter colors of Electric Blue, Watermelon, Bright Coral, Hot Pink and Grape Soda dominate other styles.

A highlight of the range comes in the form of the Tillie. This new group of bag is

guaranteed to be a best-seller with many different styles available such as the Tillie Tote and Tillie Hobo. Made from materials like luxurious supple, soft leathers and pale blue washed denim which are decorated with a familiar belt buckle closure which has been redesigned into a single metal unit.

Elegant opulence at Berluti Berluti recently opened its first store in Qatar, at the Villagio Mall.

From its geographical location to its opulent, elegant decor, each detail of the store is inspired from the design and architectural lines of the historic rue Marbeuf boutique.

The result is a perfect balance between wood and leather. To further accentuate the boutique’s Club spirit and masculine universe, the patinas and wood colors boast warm brown tones ranging from honey to ebony.

“Arabian Princes, business men and students of Pan-Arabian region have always walked through the doors of Berluti, driven by their love of our shoes and respect for our artisanal craftsmanship. They inspired us to dream and pushed us to the limits of artistic creation due to their desire for excellence,

unparalleled expectations and extravagance.

Each customer exemplified the heroic spirit of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights,” says Olga Berluti, the House’s Artistic Director.

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QATAR

Going, Going, Gone...

Contemporary Middle Eastern artists take the auction scene by storm

The Whirling Dervishes, 1929 by artist Mahmoud Said sold for QR9,269,260 ($2,546,500), after a fierce bidding battle involving eight bidders

Swimming By Hamed Nada (Egyptian, 1924-1990), sold for $290,500(QR 1,057,420)

M

odern and contemporary art is riding on an unprecedented wave of commercial success and the recent Christie’s sale in Dubai which made QR51,116,520 ($14,043,000 ) stands testimony of this fact.

According to post-sale results, the Contemporary Middle Eastern Art Auction, was 94% sold by value and 84% sold by lot. The buyer breakdown by lot was 60% from the Middle East, 28% from Europe, 10% from the Americas and 2% from Asia. Speaking to T Qatar before the sale in Dubai, President of

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Banquet, 2009 by Mohammed Ehsai (Iranian, b.

1939), sold for QR2,411,500 ($662,500)

Two People In Space Outfits

by Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar (Egyptian, 1925-1965), sold for $290,500 (QR1,101,100)

Christie’s Europe and Middle East, Jussi Pylkkanen says, “We organize 500 sales a year of which only two is in the region. But our patrons here have been buying from us for 40 years.”

For Pylkkanen, art and collection is not only about money but about sharing. “Art is not a political language but a spiritual one, that bridges cultures and allows people to interact.”

But he is also proud of having spearheaded the art movement in the region and says, “This is the first time that we are championing the art of the region and we are very proud of the opportunity.

What is more important for us is to encourage collectors to engage in our sales in New York, London and Hong Kong. So it is more of a

Love, 2003, by Farhad Moshiri (Iranian, b. 1963), sold for QR1,537,900 ($422,500)

A Mad Woman, 1957, by Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar (Egyptian, 1925-1965), sold for $338,500 (QR1,232,140)

relation building agenda.”

He talks about the growing interest in contemporary art and the resulting boost to the artist themselves, in Qatar. “The interest of Qatar mirrors our own in promoting the Middle Eastern artist. Six years ago none of these artists were known and now we have several of them selling art between $1 million (QR3.65 million) and $2.5 million (QR9.1 million).

The quality and seriousness of these artists were being recognised, he says citing examples of two: Tanavoli, whose work was sold for over $2 million (QR7.28 million) and Mahmoud Said’s work which sold for approx $2.5 million(QR9.1 million). n

Future fantastic Designers with the W Hotel officials, (extreme left) Anthony Ingham, Vice President, Design and Luxury Brands, Starwood Hotels and (middle) Safak Guvenc, General Manager of W Hotel, Doha

Lighting tiles. Jamie Zigelbaum and his creation

Designers of the Future

A

Experimental designs that make you think.

tax-defying table with tiny pyramids on its surface, a desolate DJ booth that is stark and beyond description.

Exciting? Look yet again. You will see new dimensions to what could at first glance be classified as “drab”. Like the tiny pyramids that can be touched and turned, giving a third dimension to design, and then when the pyramid moves a plain surface emerges.

The DJ booth seems part of a construction site and the tax-defying table, has you pondering about limitations and how they control designs...

These artifacts on display at W Hotel Doha form a part of the experimental designs that will influence the next generation of hotels. They are the winning concepts of the 2010 W Hotel Designers of the Future Award, in partnership with Design Miami/Base.

Graham Hudson, designer of the bar-cum-DJ booth, is from London and is confident of the ‘bold’ component in his design. He says that his design celebrates the death of a pre-Internet, socially dynamic era and refers to the hedonism of that era. He uses materials which are in stark

contrast to the glass and concrete skyscrapers. At the same time, the materials are part of the ongoing construction, like the scaffolding which forms a part of the booth.

Eyal Burstein of Beta Design is the man behind the Pyramid Table.

“We explored the relationship between innovation and government policy. When the pyramids point upwards the table is not functional as a table and for tax purposes is classified as art, which is taxed only 7% in Germany, but when the pyramids point down, the table can be used and therefore it is design, which would have attracted a 19% tax,” he says.

Another design feature is a lighting installation with magnetic pixel tiles that react to touch, again a manifestation of a different dimension, the touch and feel experience in design, which is so important and is mostly forgotten.

Jamie Zigelbaum is the ‘new’ generation designer, who builds next generation computer interfaces, augmented objects and human experiences.

“The underlying factor is about creating design that interacts while playing its role, or

Art and utility. Eyal Burstein with his pyramid table

Guess what? Graham Hudson and his DJ booth

having a function but with a bit more to it,” he says.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, Vice President, Design and Luxury Brands, Europe, Africa and Middle East , Anthony Ingham says,“Design is the core of the W experience. And through the Designers of Future project, we take bring this experience closer to you. These are the ideas that will transform the guest experience and define the hotels of tomorrow.” n

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SOCIAL CLIMBERS

Take a hike up to the next level.

1. Bally boot, QR 3,100. 2. N.D.C. boot, QR 2,500. 3. Moncler V boot, QR 2,700. 4. Brioni boot, QR 6,500 (Brioni is available at 51 East). 5. Tod’s boot, QR 2,000 (Boutique at Villaggio Mall).

* All prices indicative

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TIME STANDS STILL

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Winding down memory lane.

1. Bulgari 42mm Chronograph watch, QR 23,500.

(Boutique at Villaggio mall). 2. Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust II watch, QR 27,500. (Boutique at 51 East) 3. Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso 976 watch, QR 22,900. (available at Al Majed Boutique, Al Saad). 4. Piaget Altiplano 40mm watch, QR 55,500 (available at Alfardan Jewelry). 5.

Cartier Roadster S watch, QR 16,800. (Boutiques at Villaggio Mall & Royal Plaza) 6. Tag Heuer Silverstone watch, QR 23,800. (Boutiques at The Mall & City Center) 7. Timex 1600 watch for J. Crew, QR 700.

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* All prices indicative

6

Hat Trick The Brooklynbased milliner Tracy Watts’s modern take on the classic fedora is fashioned from soft rabbit-fur felt.

It’s QR 900 at Bergdorf Goodman and American Rag, Los Angeles.

Golden Handshake Marni’s surf-inspired leather and wool glove is QR 2,000 at Marni, 159 Mercer Street.

The New Collectibles

Worth Pining For The London-based jeweler Antje Géczy’s 18-carat gold pine-cone cuff links are around QR 10,200 at antjegeczy.com and kabiri.co.uk.

To have and to hold on to. By Sandra Ballentine

Total Transparency The silk insoles in Max Kibardin’s PVC shoe (QR 6,000) are custom-stitched with naughty embroideries by the artist Iké Udé. Go to maxkibardin.com for more information.

Lamb Two Ways 3.1 Phillip Lim’s cozy vintage lambskin shearling aviator jacket is QR 5,000 (Phillip Lim is available at Zai Boutique).

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P H O T O G R A P H s BY jens mortensen

* All prices indicative

A Fine Mesh This tactile metal belt by Hermès has a silver-plated buckle. It’s QR 6,300 at Hermès stores (Boutique at The Pearl Qatar).

Packs a Wallop Go to the head of the class with Prada’s printed cordura and leather backpack. It’s QR 2,200 at select Neiman Marcus stores (Prada is available at Villa Moda, Ritz Carlton).

AG

AH

AI

AJ

White collar Black Fleece by Brooks Brothers coat, QR 8,000.

Tommy Hilfiger suit, QR 2,250 Phineas Cole shirt, QR 1,000.

Bottega Veneta tie.

Close to the vest Ermenegildo Zegna suit, QR 12,000, vest, QR 3,200, shirt, QR 1,400, tie and collar pin (Boutique at Villaggio Mall).

Mad for plaid Tom Ford suit, QR 20,500, shirt, QR 2,000, tie, pocket square and collar pin.

Brooks Brothers cuff links. Cole Haan shoes.

Fashion associate: Jason Rider. Grooming

by Enrico Mariotti for Pantene at See Management. Tailoring by Martin Keehn.

Model: Ryan Koning.

* All prices indicative

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QATAR

Imagine Lennon on Montblanc

Montblanc recently unveiled the John Lennon Edition writing instrument and launched a program that will support access to music education to children around the world.

To celebrate the launch of this edition, Montblanc hosted five simultaneous events in major cities around the world to celebrate John Lennon’s global message of peace and love and the 70th Anniversary of one of the most talented artists ever to write music history.

The Montblanc John Lennon Edition is available in Montblanc Boutiques worldwide.

Montblanc Boutiques in Qatar are in The Mall, City Centre, Royal Plaza & The Four Seasons Hotel. Ali bin Ali is the exclusive dealer for the brand in Qatar.

Beamer goes Golfing

For avid golfers, there is no wrong time of the year - maybe just the wrong latitude. And when BMW enthusiasts tee off, their brand comes along – with the BMW Golfsport Collection. Most of the products in this line were developed and produced in collaboration with golf specialist OGIO. The result: uncompromisingly good quality and a design that offers the best of both style and function.

Golf umbrellas, golf bag, the golf gift set, and other accessories make up the range.

The entire BMW Golfsport Collection is available at select BMW dealers and on the Internet at www.bmw-shop.com. Alfardan Automobiles is the exclusive dealer in Qatar.

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Crafted Excellence

Ralph Lauren’s The Ricky Bag is inspired by a vintage Cooper bag. The Cooper, named after the craftsman from England who created it, was a saddle carrier – a luggage piece for saddles-in the late 19th century. Many of the Cooper’s original, authentic characteristics, rarely found on bags today, are incorporated into the construction of the Ricky.

All Ricky bags are made by hand in Italy, and takes 10 to 12 hours to make one. The silhouette of the bag is formed by cutting each piece from the leather by hand. The pieces are skived – or cut in thin layers-by hand and the pieces are hand stitched together, including the handle and the leather lining.

The hardware-including the grommets and the lock is attached, by hand into place. The separated pieces of the Ricky are sewn together while the bag is turned inside out.

It then takes two expert artisans to carefully invert the bag, without disrupting the stitches or the hardware. Once the bag has been fully turned, it is shaped with special tools and finally complete.

And these beauties will be launched in Qatar on Dec 15, and will be available at the Ralph Lauren store, Villagio Mall.

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QATAR

Vacheron Constantin Vacheron Constantin introduced the world’s thinnest watches in the 1950s and 1960s.

Today, Vacheron Constantin is enriching its ‘Historiques’ collection with two new creations directly inspired by its heritage, each lending a new and distinctively modern touch to one of two legendary calibres.

Historique Ultra-fine 1955, is currently the world’s thinnest mechanical hand-wound watch measuring just 4.10 mm thick.

Historique Ultra-fine 1968 is equipped with the ultra-thin mechanical self-winding 1120 movement featuring a new decorated oscillating weight.

Select models of Vacheron Constantin are available at Alfardan Jewellery.

Wrist Watching

Piaget The millionth Piaget watch represents the culmination of more than 300 hours of development. Its distinctive cushion shape and the decision to combine full-cut and baguette-cut diamonds totaling 9.9 carats clearly added to the daunting complexity of this project. This exceptional model embodying the best of two worlds - haute horlogerie and haute joaillerie - celebrates the production of the one millionth Piaget timepiece. Its very nature means the Piaget Emperador Full-Set Coussin Perpetual Calendar is destined to be a “confidential” model issued in limited quantities, with only a few of these magnificent tribute watches emerging from the Manufacture each year.

Select models of Piaget are available at Alfardan Jewellery.

TechnoMarine Eternally cool, the military look can hardly be called a trend, but this season it’s being buzzed about more than ever and TechnoMarine is on the frontlines with Cruise Steel Camouflage. The new style, a special series, is an easy but powerful way to incorporate the military trend into your autumn wardrobe.

Technomarine is represented by Amiri Gems in Qatar.

Parmigiani Parmigiani’s Bugatti-inspired time-piece, the Atalante Flyback Chronograph is a traditional round, 43mm time-piece and is available in red, white gold as well as a limited number in platinum.

Parmigiani is represented by Al Majed Jewellery in Qatar.

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Girard-Perregaux The Girard-Perregaux’s iconic Tourbillon is enclosed in a round case, increased to a diameter of 41 millimetres, and exudes an elegance which is at once timeless and highly contemporary. The historic architecture of the Tourbillon with three gold Bridges has been augmented for a very limited edition of only 50 pieces.

Girard-Perregaux is represented by Alfardan Jewellery in Qatar.

JeanRichard With JeanRichard’s latest Chronoscope JR1000, the brand presents the last model in its collections which had yet to be fitted with the JR1000 in-house movement.

The final step consecrates the brand’s efforts to master gradually the production of all its timepieces in-house.

JeanRichard is represented by Al Majed Jewellery in Qatar.

Zenith The El Primero Striking 10th chronograph embodies the grand return of Zenith to the technical values that have forged the brand’s success. Unequalled to date, the legendary El Primero caliber was the world’s first automatic chronograph to beat at a rate of 10 vibrations per second.

It is the most sophisticated mechanical ‘motor’ and the one boasting the highest degree of precision, since the vast majority of other mechanical movements beat at 8 vibrations per second at best.

The model presented at Baselworld embodies a major horological breakthrough by showcasing tenths of a second, meaning each pulsation of this exceptional mechanism.

Select models of Zenith are available at Blue Salon.

Corum In the year Corum is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its iconic Admiral’s Cup model and reinforcing its presence in the sailing world, it reinforces its sports collection by introducing two timepieces with a 44 mm-diameter profile.

Corum is available at Alfardan Jewellery in Qatar.

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Solid citizens

This fall, pledge allegiance to one color, plus a few shades for good measure.

Photographs by KT Auleta

From left: 1. J. Crew sweater, QR 220. L. L. Bean Signature pants,QR 290. Whillas & Gunn backpack. 2. Diesel Black Gold coat, QR 3,300. Lands’ End shirt,QR150.

3. Filson jacket, QR875. Lands’ End sweater, QR 250. Asos pants, QR 160.

Fashion editor: Bifen Xu.

* All prices indicative

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From left: 1. 3.1 Phillip Lim jumpsuit. Inhabit sweater. 2. Boss Black sweater, QR 950. Richard Chai jumpsuit, QR 2,700.

3. Club Monaco sweater, QR 900. Tim Hamilton Redux shirt, QR 550. Lacoste pants, price on request.

From left: 1. 3.1 Phillip Lim jacket. Tory Burch pants. Tommy Hilfiger belt. 2. G-Star coat, price on request. 3. Penguin coat, QR 850. Dockers shirt, QR 175.

Levi’s pants, QR 300. 4. Tommy Hilfiger jacket,QR 1,000. A.P.C. sweater, QR 850. Unis pants, QR 800. Zero Maria Cornejo scarf. Billykirk belt.

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* All prices indicative

From left: 1. Yigal AzrouĂŤl shirt, price on request. Topman pants, QR 450. Quoddy boots. 2. Penfield jacket (in hand), QR 1,100.

J. Crew sweater, QR 220. Victorinox pants, QR 500. 3.1 Phillip Lim boots. 3. Lacoste jacket, QR 1,500. Diesel Black Gold pants, Qr 900. Quoddy boots. 4. Elie Tahari jacket, QR 1,600.

Riviera Club shirt, QR 600. Woolrich Woolen Mills pants, QR 1,00. Acne boots.

From left: 1. Perry Ellis jacket, QR 580. Patrik Ervell sweater, QR 1,000. Assembly New York pants, QR 1,400. 2. Zero Maria Cornejo cape. Helmut Lang sweater.

True Religion jeans. 3. Acne coat, QR 1,900. Gap sweater, QR 200. Tim Hamilton Redux pants, QR 675. 4. Kenneth Cole sweater, QR 550. Diesel jeans, QR 1,095. Billykirk belt.

* All prices indicative

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From left: 1. Oliver Spencer sweater, price on request. Banana Republic shirt,QR 200, and pants, QR 450. 2. L. L. Bean shirt, QR 75. Woolrich Woolen Mills pants, QR 1,200.

Perry Ellis scarf. 3. Billy Reid jacket, QR 1,275. Post Overalls vest, QR 1,200. Whillas & Gunn shirt, QR 450. 3.1 Phillip Lim pants, QR 1,200.

Where to Get It 3.1 Phillip Lim Zai Boutique Banana Republic Villaggio Mall Diesel Salam Stores

Gap Villaggio & Landmark Mall Hugo Boss The Pearl Qatar Lacoste Villaggio Mall Levi’s Royal Plaza

Topman Villaggio Mall Victorinox swissarmy.com Whillas & Gunn whillasandgunn.com Woolrich Woolen Mills

woolrichwoolenmillsproduction.com Yigal Azrouël yigal-azrouel.com

Fashion associate: Jason Rider. Makeup by Stevie Huynh at the Wall Group. Hair by Bok-Hee at Streeters for Rene Furterer. Set design by Matthew Mazzucca.

Models: Miles Garber, Aiden Andrews, Michael Elmquist, Charlene Almarvez, Corey Baptiste and Pauline Van Der Cruysse.

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* All prices indicative

Blue-chip stock Left: O’Connell’s has sold investment-grade men’s wear since 1959. Top: a pink oxford. Above: a Harris tweed sport coat from Southwick.

Buffalo Hunting The haberdashery is an endangered species. Christopher Petkanas examines the last of the breed — and the best of its kind.

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n the innocent, pre-Rugby days of the early ’60s, there was nothing ironic or fashiony about a free-hanging dartless suit or the kind of heathery saddle-shoulder Shetland crew neck beloved of John Cheever. Buffalo, N.Y., alone had maybe 15 family-owned men’s-wear shops selling what a certain three-hankie film would universally popularize as the preppy look. By the time Ralph Lifshitz paid a sales call on O’Connell’s, the only pre-‘‘Love Story’’ haberdasher still operating in the Queen City, he was already the tie designer Ralph Lauren, and you have to assume he was paying attention.

Still owned by one of its founders, Bernhard Huber, O’Connell’s can feel good about keeping the local university dons in regulation Greek fishermen caps, needlepoint belts with a panorama of sea turtles and tweed lidded Champagne coolers, built like tanks to double as shooting stools on Kenyan safaris. In the spirit, practically, of furthering the species, the store furnishes a historical corrective — no witty elbows in the side — to the neo madness of lines like Ralph’s Rugby and André Benjamin’s dead-in-the-water Benjamin Bixby collection. If you’re Thom Browne or Band of Outsiders’ Scott Sternberg and the inspiration well is running a little dry, a Saturday spent tanking up and resetting your compass at O’Connell’s is a day well spent. And if you’re in the cuff links

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P H O T O G R A P H s BY L orne Bridgman

Real McCoys From top: beef-on-weck tie; the shop’s teeming displays; belts with drinking elephants, and American flags.

or underwear business, it’s a good place to see what’s moving. Bamboo and sterling silver links tied with bonefishing flies: not so much. Full ‘‘gentleman’s-cut’’ broadcloth boxers with single-panel backs and no-chafe waistbands: huge.

The shop’s insistence on details that might be seen as fetishistic or unmanly by the average Joe give men who live to dress, like Michael Williams of acontinuouslean.com, a reason to get up in the morning. ‘‘While the concept of the ‘men’s shop’ has all but disappeared, O’Connell’s has thrived — and in Buffalo, of all places,’’ says Williams, 31, who is a partner in a Manhattan marketing firm by day. ‘‘I’m originally from Cleveland, and I’ve frequently made the long detour to O’Connell’s on my drive from New York to Ohio, and it’s always worth it.’’ With a weakness for double-faced schoolboy scarves and heavyweight Harris tweed jackets, he says, ‘‘O’Connell’s is unique because it’s the only place you need to go to get your entire wardrobe, from pajamas to suits and everything in between. Plus, you can trust them to sell you the ‘real McCoy.’ It’s well-made clothing that lasts, all in the tradition of WASPy frugality.’’

John Tinseth of thetrad.blogspot.com is an unlikely authority on the desirability of non-Teflon-coated pinpoint oxford cloth dress shirts with single-needle stitching, barrel cuffs, generous armholes and split yokes — another O’Connell’s specialty. At 53 he has been a paratrooper, a National Park Service ranger and a sherrif ’s deputy. These days he sells . . . aviation insurance. ‘‘A lot of O’Connell’s stuff is great value, like the Quoddy canoe mocs,’’ Tinseth says. ‘‘I hear they’ve got a ton of old stock, so much so they don’t even know what they have.

I’d love to go through their back room.’’

Sartorial pilgrims have learned to make an outing out of it. The store’s charmless brick facade seems particularly cruel in a city of architectural marvels by Louis Sullivan (the Prudential/Guaranty Building), Daniel Burnham (the Ellicott Square Building), Frank Lloyd Wright (the Darwin D. Martin House) and Henry Hobson Richardson (the Buffalo Psychiatric Center, which presides over Frederick Law Olmsted’s Delaware Park).

To fuel all that barnstorming with anything but a week and a weck — Buffalo’s signature sandwich of roast beef and horseradish on a kummelweck roll, topped with coarse salt and caraway seeds — would be a snub and an abuse.

And while it is nice to know you can pick up a pair of made-in-Maine mocs, bench-sewn

and lined with glove leather, anything that’s not a Southwick or H. Freeman suit is really just window dressing at O’Connell’s. Both suit manufacturers specialize in minimally constructed jackets with soft, barely built-up shoulders and full, top-to-bottom canvas linings. Typically a blend of camel hair, goat hair, wool and viscose, canvas stabilizes a jacket and molds to the wearer’s contours, preventing what Huber calls the dreaded ‘‘stiff-looking chest.’’ Of course, there are less costly ways of building a jacket: glue, stays, tapes, half canvases that stop at the fastening button. Fusibles — synthetic linings heatbonded to the shell — are often the default solution for linen, silk, seersucker and other difficult-to-tailor fabrics in hot, humid climates. But fusibles are also synonymous with puckering and bubbling. Not to mention violent scenes at the dry cleaner when a lining is discovered to have blown away from a lapel.

The doctors, lawyers, judges, mayors, civic elders and odd Buffalo Bills linemen who patronize O’Connell’s would never tolerate dents. And they like that the store has never merchandised its stock so much as warehoused it; towers of trousers rise 40 pairs high.

Customers also groove on the constancy: year after year the same club-handled ebony hairbrush by Kent in England, the same handcarved walking stick with mortise-and-tenon joinery by Whistle Creek in Colorado, the same rainbow of no-name brass-grommeted grosgrain watchbands. That almost the entire world has come around to the O’Connell’s way of thinking this season — Burberry with its General MacArthur greatcoats, Billy Reid with crew-neck sweaters that are meant to be be beat up and stretched out — is a coincidence that Huber finds vaguely unpleasant. Among his private-label goods, only tie and lapel widths are revisited, and then with agony.

A board meeting is called, and Huber and his sons, John and Ethan, do the dirty deed.

Ties are currently holding at 3.5 inches, the lapels of Southwick jackets at 3.25 to 3.5 inches.

Southwick’s fan base spreads across the country, but no one wears its suits with the same entitlement as members of the Buffalo Club, a bastion of preppy privilege since it was co-founded by Millard Fillmore in 1867.

Men must wear coats and ties to formally dine at the Delaware Avenue redoubt, and ‘‘denims of any kind are not permitted.’’ Southwicks are practically the club’s uniform, worn with an Hermès-style silk tie from O’Connell’s patterned with what look like hundreds of tiny hamburgers but are, naturally, wecks. n

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OBJECT LESSON: ALICE RAWSTHORN

Blade Runners

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aybe it’s because I spent so much of my childhood rampaging through the woods pretending to be one of Robin Hood’s outlaws or the last Mohican, but I think of oldfashioned knives (the sort you’d use to survive in the wild rather than slaughter rival drug dealers) as being noble rather than scary.

I’m not alone. Anyone who wants to play spot-the-designer at the Milan Furniture Fair should skip the fair itself and head for G. Lorenzi, the lovely old coltellinaio, as the Italians call cutlery shops, on the Via Montenapoleone. You’ll find lots of boldface men (and women) drooling over beautifully made handles and blades.

The knife is a rare mix of precision and sensuality, two irresistible design qualities.

Functionally, it’s remorseless. If the blade isn’t ground into exactly the right form, it won’t cut. The same rigor is required of the handle and sheath, which have to be easy to grip even in extreme conditions. Yet knives can be made from very seductive materials: metal, bone, wood, leather. There is also the romantic symbolism. ‘‘A knife is a tool — one of the most ancient tools, in fact,’’ said the German designer Konstantin Grcic. ‘‘It can kill but also save lives. That’s what’s so fascinating about it.’’

Not surprising, then, that Grcic and 21 other designers, including the Briton Jasper Morrison and the French brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, jumped at the chance to

create their own versions of one of the most ruggedly romantic knives, the leuku. That’s the Finnish name for the long-bladed knife that has been used for centuries by the Sami, a semi-nomadic indigenous people living in the icy northern edge of Europe.

Many Sami still survive on hunting, fishing and herding, and depend on the leuku as an all-purpose tool for chopping firewood, skinning animals and building shelters.

A typical leuku has a slender 7- or 8-inch blade with a bone or birch handle, which is chunky enough to be gripped by hands that are heavily gloved or numbed by cold. A reindeer leather sheath makes it easy to spot a leuku if you drop it. Losing one in the wild can be disastrous for the owner.

Making such a robust tool requires considerable skill in the traditional techniques that Sami craftsmen have honed for centuries.

Those skills are now dying, which is why the Finnish designer Simo Heikkila is trying to revive them. ‘‘The leuku is a beautiful and functional object, pure in shape, well balanced and simply composed,’’ he said. ‘‘Locally developed objects like this are vanishing all over the world.’’

He began by organizing a workshop for students at the forge of one of Finland’s great leuku makers, the blacksmith Josef Laiti. The next step was to invite international designers to reinterpret the original 7-inch knife. The results were exhibited in Finland last year and will be shown again at the Saint-Étienne Design Biennial in France this fall, when a

book on the project is to be published.

Most of the designers remained faithful to the original leuku while interpreting it in their own way. ‘‘It didn’t seem right to try and redesign something which has its shape from hundreds of years of trial and error,’’ said Morrison, who is known for his subtly minimalist design style. ‘‘I simply tried to imagine what a beautiful leuku would look like, refining the blade and handle shape, and giving it a sheath with a simple way of attaching it.’’

The Bouroullec brothers showed similar restraint, but used bone — ‘‘the most sensual of the original leuku materials,’’ as Ronan Bouroullec put it — for both the handle and the sheath.

By contrast, Grcic, who always starts the design process by analyzing how the object will be used, looked for ways of improving the leuku functionally, and he found a flaw. ‘‘It seemed difficult to pull the original knife from its sheath,’’ he said. ‘‘So I added a lash on the end of the handle. Your finger can go through a hole in the lash to pull out the knife in an emergency.’’

By puncturing both the knife’s handle and sheath with a series of holes, revealing the part of the blade that’s usually hidden beneath the handle, the Dutch designer Gijs Bakker hoped to highlight the craftsmanship of the knife. ‘‘The hidden part shows off the technique, but because it’s considered to be ugly and, of course, can’t be held in the hand, it’s always covered,’’ he said. ‘‘My design is a sort of homage to the blacksmith.’’ n

Power tools From left: a leuku by the blacksmith Josef Laiti, and its reinventions by Gijs Bakker, Jasper Morrison, and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

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Chikako Harada (4)

Leading-edge designers sharpen up an Iron Age classic.

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The Legacy Has Landed Salvatore Ferragamo

By John Hunt

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far as legacies go, those of Salvatore Ferragamo (born: 1898) are worthy of note. One among them being that his name sits above the entrance to well over 500 eponymous stores worldwide selling a cavalcade of luxury items including shoes, leather goods and ‘his and hers’ ready-to-wear clothing.

The ‘Hollywood Boot Store’ in California was the native Italian Salvatore’s first premises in 1923 but a single shop cannot be considered inauspicious when the likes of Joan Crawford and Gloria Swanson are numbered among your customers, nor if you are providing footwear for Hollywood epics of yore such as Cecil B DeMille’s The Ten Commandments. So it might be argued that the renown of Salvatore’s products matched his original number of outlets - they were both singular.

The Great Depression of the 1930s forced him into bankruptcy but he bounced back in spectacular style and after the Second World War the company flourished, reportedly producing 350 pairs of handmade shoes

a day. The multinational company of 2010 that turned over QR2 billion last year had achieved such reach because of the foundations that he laid down. When Salvatore passed away in 1960, his widow Wanda picked up the reins and oversaw the running of the company, which quickly diversified into other apparel like the aforementioned clothing and leather goods but also perfume, eyewear and watches. That she did so while also a mother of six indicates neither shortage of drive nor energy.

This is Wanda’s legacy.

Salvatore Ferragamo Italia S.p.A, to give the company its full title, remains a global concern and one that is expanding. In November, SF opened its first store in Qatar, at The Pearl. That SF should be approaching 600 stores before opening here doesn’t say anything negative about Qatar or, indeed, the company; rather it is indicative of steady growth which is more about organic expansion rather than the explosive nature of some brands’ development. SF’s arrival here suggests more of a symbiotic readiness betwixt brand and location. This was part of the message coming from Massimo Ferragamo when we caught up with him at The Pearl outlet on the occasion of its opening.

Massimo is Salvatore and Wanda’s youngest son and chairman of Ferragamo USA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SF which serves North America. He was representing SF at the Doha opening when perhaps the most obvious opening question was: why Qatar?

“Why not?” was Massimo’s response (amusing, predictable, but only as

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predictable as the question) to the enquiry before he expanded somewhat, “Our people have come here and seen what is happening and our people have said ‘this is a place to be’. I second that thoroughly. It’s one of the places in the world where things are happening, it’s an exciting place to be and that is why we have come here. This is the first store in Qatar; hopefully there will be others to follow.”

What will exposure to the Qatari market do for Ferragamo?

With a brand like ours, a global brand, quite often a really successful item will be a global hit. There are really no barriers these days, but having said that, there is always a part you can fine-tune for the market; we have done this in the US, in China and in Europe. Here, we are learning that there are some things in our collection that can be highlighted more. So in that respect, Qatar can help us make adjustments to our collection and better understand what regional customers prefer.

It’s important to listen to what is going on in all the areas in which we operate. I’m not a designer but if I were going back to the designers today, I would definitely want to share with them some of the things I have learned since I have been here. The nice part of this work is that you learn consistently every day about the markets you are dealing with.

How important is the Middle East market to Ferragamo?

It is a market that we didn’t have 20 years ago, and 20 years from now it will be a core part for our business. This is a region in which Ferragamo will hopefully be important. This being so, the Middle East market will be important to Ferragamo as well.

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Ferragamo is known as a product that is true to its roots in quality. If a customer is looking for something extremely flashy or trendy then they may not think of Ferragamo, but if they are looking for something elegant then they are more likely to come to us.

“We are very careful to always be viewed as a luxury brand, never as a mass brand”

is a big move for a company like ours, this is the first time we have had this position created.

Focusing on doing better and better is always part of our immediate future.

Longer term, we need to be innovating more, which is where this company has its initial roots. My father’s innovations in footwear, which were unheard of at the time, gave this company a reputation for bringing new techniques of manufacture to the market, new ideas, shoes made from every conceivable material. To be consistently innovative, that’s a goal. We are very, very careful that we will always be seen as a luxury brand. This will never be a mass brand.

Whenever luxury brands are mentioned, the specter of counterfeit goods is never far behind.

There is the perception that until the brand has achieved a certain value, it’s not worth copying.

Present now at The Pearl Qatar

What are the differences in, and realities of, high-end retail in the Middle East and the West?

We have had a big downturn, we all know that.

On the other hand, we’re enjoying similar sorts of figures this year as we had in 2007 - which was a record year for Ferragamo - even in the US. The biggest part of our growth is coming from this side of the world - China, all of Asia, this region. I don’t know if there is a difference in that sense but here the market is newer and more up-and-coming. The momentum is here, and that is the main difference between here and, say, the European markets.

It’s clear from what we know about Salvatore and Wanda Ferragamo is that their history has been one of achievement and innovation. What inspires you in work and life?

I’m inspired by being part of a great brand. I really feel lucky to have been born into it. I’m inspired by my mother and father and the work they have done and, when my father passed away in 1960 my mother - who was only 38 at the time and with six kids at home - took over the running of the business. That’s inspiring, having parents like this, parents that set an example of hard work, achievement and innovation.

I, and my brothers and sisters get up every morning inspired to try and do better and better and bring this company further along as I think it has some intrinsic values behind it which are very important and with a family that is fully behind it. That’s inspiring to me.

Is there something about the Ferragamo brand that speaks to the people of this region?

What is the immediate future for the brand?

We’ve appointed a new Creative Director. This

By this yardstick, SF products have ‘made it’.

What is your line on counterfeit goods?

Fake goods have always been there and always will be. It’s theft, in no uncertain terms. It’s an ongoing battle that has not been solved and probably won’t be solved after you and I are not here anymore! It’s part of life and it affects everyone. It’s like all other types of theft - you have to keep after it, even though you will never solve it.

Again, an unsurprising response but Massimo does make the distinction between obvious and low-quality fakes and accurate copies made from similar materials to the real thing. The former can cost $30 or so, the latter significantly more but still a fraction of the price of the original. One is infinitely more dangerous to the brand than the other.

On that happy note, Massimo makes his way inside from The Pearl terrace which has hosted our chat, to the upcoming party to celebrate the arrival of his parents’ legacy in Qatar. n

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Human Barcodes

In his latest exhibition, “Tagged”, award-winning Qatari photographer, Khalifa Al Obaidly, delves into the personalities behind nameless migrant workers

By Yousra Samir

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you know the name of the man who washes your car every week when you take a trip to Villagio, or the name of the packer who helps you bags your groceries? If the truth be had, few of us give any thought to the tens of thousands of migrant workers in Qatar who help us carry out our everyday jobs and errands.

Men and women who come alone to Qatar with the hope of providing a better quality of life to the families they’ve left behind.

But one man who has taken the effort to get to know these workers is award winning Qatari photographer Khalifa Al Obaidly.

In his most recent exhibition “Tagged”, which was held at the Virginia Commonwealth University Gallery, Khalifa’s controversial portraits of migrant workers branded on the forehead with barcodes was on display; alongside those portraits was one of his own image branded in the same manner as the migrant workers. “Tagged” was part of VCU Qatar’s

‘Now’ exhibitions which focus on the work of contemporary Qatari artists and photographers.

Rather than going for the easy option of digitally adding a barcode to his subjects’ foreheads, he handmade his own barcode stencil and then transferred it onto the foreheads of his subjects using face paints, to give what he describes as “a more human, less industrial touch”.

According to Khalifa, who is also one of the founding members of the Qatar Photographic Society, the barcode symbolizes the way in which migrant workers in the region are treated.

“These people are humans; they are not supermarket items with barcodes where you pick up what you want...Imagine if one of these people carries your box of oranges to your car and you give them five riyals or ten riyals, that’s very good. But, if you ask them ‘what’s your name?’ or ‘where are you from?’ – these are very simple questions but for them it’s like ‘this guy cares about who I am, so this means that I am somebody’ and so he or she feels that they are part of this society,” he says.

Khalifa came up with the idea for the exhibition while working on various projects for large corporations in Doha, where on a daily basis he interacted with the subjects portrayed in the photos. After seeing their hard work and their plight, he felt that he wanted to give something back to them. He realized that they were being provided for

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in terms of food, accommodation and healthcare, but that no one was providing for them emotionally. In his view, the neglect by many companies of migrant workers’ emotional side results in the crime, suicide and other problems that follow.

The black, white and grey portraits show closeups of solemn and perhaps even sullen looking subjects; their faces express a raw sense of humanity and the viewer gets the strong sense that each subject has a story to tell. Khalifa says that this is exactly what he wants viewers

“I want people to empathize with the

subjects in my portraits and

to see and feel. “I want people to empathize with the subjects in my portraits and to deal with people like them with respect, give them their rights and also give them their place in society. They are playing an important role and we should respect their role in our society”, he says.

Known for taking photographs which both observe and question the society he lives in, Khalifa’s ‘Tagged’ has sparked much interest in Qatar – where visitors to the exhibition expressed their interest in taking photographs in a similar manner and even offering to be his subjects – and beyond. There is interest from Britain, Germany and South East Asia. There are talks of ‘Tagged’ going on an international tour in the near future.

Khalifa’s passion for photography began while he was at university studying marine biology and he started off by exploring the captivating world of underwater photography. His work has been featured in both solo and group

to deal with people like them with respect, give them their rights and also give them their place in society.”

Tagging the nameless At the exhibition in VCUQ

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exhibitions worldwide, including ‘Languages of the Desert’, an international exhibition which took place at the prestigious Institute de Monda Arabe (Arab World Institute) in Paris.

He is an expert when it comes to photography equipment as well, and even participated in building the world’s largest lens which is two meters long and weighs a quarter ton!

In 1998, Khalifa, who works in the cultural sector, was approached by what is now the Museum of Islamic Art to build up a collection spanning 55,000 pieces of cultural heritage.

He has also personally taught and trained many of today’s finest photographers in Qatar.

For now, the humble Khalifa who still refers to himself as “a serious amateur” is getting ready for his next exhibition which will take place in Korea in November, and he is considering doing a second series of ‘Tagged’ in the next year. His next project? Coming up with a new barcode and finding new ways to transfer it onto his subjects. n

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Ali F. Mustafa

Dubai is no Disneyland It’s not difficult to envisage Ali F Mustafa on the silver screen, but he is certain that he is a better fit behind the camera, as a filmmaker, a passion that took roots when he was barely nine years old.

Vani Saraswathi te x t by

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B

orn in London to a British mother and an Emirati father, Ali’s earliest influences were Western arts and Arab culture. In terms of appearance, his Arab roots are more visible — but in attitude, the suave and handsome Ali is nothing but cosmopolitan. He switches between a lazy drawl (while talking about his life and influences) to animated indignation (when he talks about the flak his city receives). And there is an air of listless boredom that we’d prefer attributing to his age (29) or to the flight he has to rush to catch in an hour.

Ali caught up with T Qatar when he was in the city to participate in a session at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival. He set out to make City of Life, a multilingual film, to show the heart of Dubai.

Considered the ‘first international Emirati feature film’, it had a fairly long run at the box office in UAE and other Gulf states. Though he penned the script in the English, Ali is well-versed in Arabic and Hindi as well, the other two languages of the film. He thinks and dreams in English, he says but is greatly influenced by his culture — the Arab culture. His father had a large collection of Western films that served as fodder for his childhood ambition.

“I didn’t get into Arab cinema until fairly recently. I am pretty much influenced by Western films.

That’s what I knew, and those are the standards I aspire to reach...” Using those standards and that medium he wants to provide a fitting retort to the West’s dismissal of Dubai.

City pulse “The Western media portrays Dubai as a very artificial place, like Disneyland. I was just trying to show that that’s ridiculous. You can’t say that to the people who were raised there, who grew up there, that they live in a fake place. Like any other major city in the world it has both negatives and positives.”

However, he is clear that he didn’t set out to make a documentary on Dubai. “All I wanted to do was show that Dubai was a real place — not necessarily show the grit of the grit — I was giving a very balanced view of how I see it. Through my eyes. The city I grew up in and what I know of it.”

He understands where the criticism stems from, but doesn’t agree with it. “It’s unfortunate that the people who speak of Dubai in this manner and the Western media, haven’t really visited the city. It’s the perception of Dubai. If they do visit, then again, they will only stay in the places that were newly built.

“It is different for people like us who grew up there — long before Sheikh Zayed Road became the 16-lane motorway it is today, when it just had two lanes, and the World Trade Center was the tallest building then, it’s the shortest now. It has grown so rapidly, it makes you feel like you miss old

Dubai, at the same time you are proud as an Emirati for what your city has achieved.”

Expatriates living in Dubai who have watched my film have said to him that they had no idea this stuff existed. “Because they keep to themselves – within their community, in their box or in a bubble,” says Ali. That seems to be true of most of the Khaleeji cities, where the different communities haven’t really integrated. The bane of living in a society whose main draw is tax-free income, where the immigrant is there for the money and little else, negating any cultural exchange that could happen?

He throws back: “Why is it the problem of the city, not of the individual? Isn’t it up to the individual to go out and explore? Aren’t Arabs known to be the most hospitable people in the world?”

Entertainment first On how his film speaks to that scattered audience, he says: “I was making a film, a form of entertainment, it had some dramatic moments... I wasn’t setting out to try and politicize anything, or get into any type of deeper meaning. I am showing what I see as a real place. What I see as real people going through real issues. I was primarily making a movie — but it was at the same time trying to showcase one of the most misunderstood cities in the world.”

His point is further illustrated by one particular review he received. Amongst the overwhelming bouquets and some brickbats, was one that he finds difficult to stomach.

“There was this one really bad review, in an internationally-renowned publication. The editor, whom I know quite well, didn’t agree with the review. A lot of the people I know who work there, didn’t agree with it. But this woman, the reviewer, was at the world premiere. She said the film was ‘as soulless as the city itself ’.

And I thought to myself: ‘What kind of a review is that? How do you take a review of a film and compare it to a dislike of a city?’ It was something that touched a nerve. She was hitting out at Dubai and using my film as catalyst for that. Even the film review turned into a bad review of the city. It was surreal.”

Arab tag Dealing with more than just the art at hand is something Arab filmmakers have to get used to. Given the geo-politics of the age, isn’t being an Arab-anything both a challenge and a responsibility?

“Yes and no,” says Ali.

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Calling the shots

“Yes, because post 9/11 or even before that, we haven’t been depicted very well in either the media or in films, as Arabs. So I think it’s almost our duty to try and change that. We need to try and counterbalance it with films we make.

“No, because you don’t have to. As a filmmaker you make films you want to make and tell stories you want to tell. You are not obliged to defend an entire nation, people or religion. Because you are a filmmaker at the end of the day — you make films, you try and captivate an audience.

“At a personal level, I would like the audience to leave the hall having learnt something new.

So I am right in the middle of it — I want to defend and I want to entertain.”

On the future of Khaleeji cinema, he says there is both financial and strategic support, but a lot hinges on how the next few films fare.

“I think we are going to get a lot of support. A lot of people are using my film as a case study to try and attempt something new. It will get a lot of support if film number one does well, and film numbers two and three do well too...

“We are under a lot of pressure.

I was with this film.

Bioscope City of Life is a 2009 multilingual Emirati film written, directed, and The next filmmaker, with his... produced by Ali F. Mustafa. Set in the United Arab Emirates, the film because if his film doesn’t do revolves around three parallel lives, amongst many cultures in one city. well, then the guy after him will A privileged young male Arab at odds with his cultural identity and have a problem. Because support his less fortunate street smart friend; a disillusioned Indian taxi driver will depend on the success of the who bears an uncanny resemblance to a famous Bollywood star; and a former Romanian ballet dancer now working as a flight attendant and films. The next few films have a searching for love and companionship ... these individuals all live in task in hand — they really have to Dubai and their lives are about to collide for better or for worse in a city capture an audience, people where ambition, growth and opportunity are encouraged and dreams can still manifest. need to feel comfortable about The DVD is to be released next month. walking into the theatre to watch In 2003 Ali Mustafa did his Masters for practical training in film a Khaleeji or Emirati film.” technique from the London Film School. Over the next two years, he With his next venture, Ali says worked on short films and TV commercials in all areas of production, marketing will receive a lot never losing sight of his ultimate dream of directing a feature film. more emphasis.

For City of Life Ali’s graduation film Under the Sun has been selected and nominated for — which had a huge budget by best Foreign Film at various international festivals.

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regional standards — promotion was primarily viral, with zero budget for marketing. Though that worked well, it will not be the model going forward.

Comedy, remake... DiCaprio? His next film would be a comedy — “a difficult genre to handle, so it’s going to challenging” — in English but based in the Arab world.

His dream project, however, is to remake Moustapha Akkad’s Mohammed, Messenger of God (Arrisallah in Arabic and released as The Message in USA) — “an emotional film” that inspired him.

His other early influences include George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, and he says he has just the right script to cast Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead — “it’s a big film. And he is a good actor and would suit the role.”

For now he juggles his feature films with ad films, because “I can’t make a living with just feature films, unless I am making them back to back.”

Back to the cities of his life, London or Dubai?

He says it has to be a 50-50. He sees no similarities between the two, except that they are both multicultural.

“But they are not melting pots of culture, because there is no fire under the pot.” n

The New York Times Style Magazine

FALL 2010

A ‘t’ falls in the woods set design by nicola yeoman photograph by jo metson scot t

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cold play high style meets high endurance in these expeditionworthy polar coordinates. ernie shackleton would approve.

Photogr aphs by

jacob sutton

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Parka brother burberry prorsum coat, (Boutique at villaggio mall). ann demeulemeester men pants. comme des garรงons homme plus hood. denis colomb scarf. hugo boss gloves (Boutique at the pearl qatar). scott-nichol socks. dolce & gabbana boots (Boutique at villaggio mall). fashion editor: bruce pask.

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Mr. cool calvin klein collection sweater (Boutique at the pearl qatar). rick owens jacket. linda farrow for veronique branquinho sunglasses. marni scarf. opposite: michael kors fur wrap. commes des garรงons homme plus jacket. missoni scarf (Boutique at the pearl qatar). tracy watts hat. banana republic gloves (Store at villaggio mall). gant rugger gaiters.

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cold fusion salvatore ferragamo coat and scarf. barbour jacket. 3.1 phillip lim pants (available at Zai). linda farrow for dries van noten sunglasses. orciani belt. michael kors arm warmers. billy reid gloves. opposite: john varvatos coat.moncler gamme bleu jacket and gloves. moncler pants. yigal azrouĂŤl scarf. tracy watts hat. pringle of scotland scarf (worn around waist). scott-nichol socks. cole haan boots.

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man cave dolce & gabbana coat and boots (Boutique at villaggio mall). d&g pants. rick owens coat. michael kors arm warmers. opposite: polo ralph lauren coat and boots (Boutique at villaggio mall). robert geller vest. ts(s) pants. yigal azrouĂŤl snood. michael kors arm warmers. moncler gamme bleu gloves. fashion associate: jason rider. grooming by james pecis at d + v management using bumble and bumble and biotherm. set design by gary card at clm. model: lasse pedersen.

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his sensitive side polo ralph lauren shirt (Boutique at villaggio mall). j. crew sweater. fashion editor: bruce pask.

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SOMEWHERE MAN He’s been all over the Hollywood map, but Stephen Dorff is finally finding his sweet spot. mark rozzo HEDI SLIMANE te x t by

Photogr aphs by

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B

ack in 1994, in the afterglow of his first big role — playing the doomed fifth Beatle, Stuart Sutcliffe, in ‘‘Backbeat’’ — Stephen Dorff did what any self-respecting young actor might do when the checks start coming in. He moved into the Chateau Marmont. ‘‘I had some money and I didn’t have a place to live,’’ Dorff, now 37, explained during a recent stopover in Manhattan. ‘‘So I said, ‘You know what? I’m checking into the Chateau.’ ’’ He toasted his 21st birthday with a ‘‘wild party’’ in one of the four bungalows.

The premiere bash for ‘‘Backbeat’’ was held in its famous garden, where 700 guests, including Pia Zadora, Tori Spelling and Keith Richards, jockeyed for chicken skewers and face time with the newly minted star. Life at the Chateau was grand — for a while. ‘‘It got to the point where my business manager called and said, ‘Stephen, you need to take a movie or get a job, ’cause you’re out of money.’ And I said, ‘O.K., I guess I’m moving out.’ ’’ Dorff did move out and he did get jobs, good ones: putting on a blond wig as Candy Darling in ‘‘I Shot Andy Warhol,’’ taking the lead in John Waters’s ‘‘Cecil B. DeMented’’ and sprouting fangs as the vampire Deacon Frost in the B-movie semi-blockbuster ‘‘Blade,’’ a role that earned him a 1999 MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. The 2000s saw him lighting up the Gawkersphere with an impressive roster of girlfriends (from Milla Jovovich to Pamela Anderson), an alleged death threat left on a rival’s answering machine and a contretemps with Jeremy Piven on the men’s-room line at Bungalow 8. (Piven: ‘‘You’re a has-been!’’ Dorff: ‘‘You’re only on TV! Cable TV!’’) It was bad-boy time, but, still, there were highlights: Oliver Stone’s ‘‘World Trade Center,’’ the prisonyard drama ‘‘Felon’’ and Michael Mann’s gangster epic, ‘‘Public Enemies.’’

Then last year Dorff found himself checking back into the Chateau Marmont, that fortresslike retreat above Sunset Boulevard where Hollywood stars — and would-be stars — go to hide out in plain sight. The occasion was Sofia Coppola’s latest movie, ‘‘Somewhere,’’ which required Dorff to hole up in Room 69 for three weeks while he tackled the role of Johnny Marco, an actor whose career is on cruise control while his life is veering into a ditch. If he’s not tooling around aimlessly in his Ferrari F430, he’s in his suite at the Chateau enjoying in-room pole-dancing performances by a pair of extremely dexterous blonde twins. Johnny’s tabloid-worthy torpor is broken only by the unexpected arrival of his 11-year-old daughter from a broken marriage, Cleo (the luminously cute Elle Fanning). What ensues is the most inspired father-daughter buddy movie since ‘‘Paper Moon,’’ shot through with the freeway-bound ennui of ‘‘Play It as It Lays.’’

It forms a kind of diptych with Coppola’s much-loved ‘‘Lost in Translation’’: disaffected actor, younger female, hotel, bittersweet moments strung together with precise calibration.

In person, Dorff is resplendently disheveled in a green tank top. He retains the compact and pugnacious aura of a terrier, an effect heightened by glinting, buff-colored eyes and an upturned nose. ‘‘It was the ultimate role at the ultimate time,’’ he says of Johnny Marco, the character 72

Coppola wrote with him in mind. ‘‘I went through a period where I just didn’t get much interesting work. I felt like I didn’t want to do it anymore. And then, out of nowhere, I get this gift.’’ The feeling was compounded by the loss of his mother, Nancy, to cancer in 2008.

(The actor’s father, the songwriter Steve Dorff, composed ‘‘Every Which Way but Loose,’’ and Dorff grew up around L.A.) ‘‘She always wanted me to play a father, to grow up in film.

I know she had something to do with this one.’’

Among Dorff ’s many tattoos — including the number 73, the year of his birth — is one that simply reads NANCY .

The actor’s return to the Chateau isn’t so much a comeback as it is a homecoming — to the edgy, eye-grabbing roles Dorff embraced in the heady period of his first success. Coppola’s camera lingers on him as he shuffles along in Red Wing boots, smokes Camel Lights down to the filters and drains one Corona after another.

Dorff ’s Johnny Marco is all eye bags, forehead creases, three-day scruff and the occasional mysterious facial abrasion. What could be his motto appears on an Ed Ruscha print that Dorff sourced himself and propped up in Johnny’s room: COLD BEER BEAUTIFUL GIRLS . (He counts Ruscha as a friend and ‘‘the epitome of cool.’’) ‘‘Stephen had to carry the whole thing,’’ says Coppola, who has known Dorff since the ‘‘Backbeat’’ era. ‘‘And he’s not hiding behind a big performance. You always see pictures of him at these parties, but his persona is really different — a serious actor and a sweet guy.’’

Dorff had just returned from Coppola’s rented villa in Tuscany, where he happily played uncle to her 3-year-old daughter, Romy.

Wife and kids are clearly on his mind. But are they on the way? Not quite, although Coppola has issued ‘‘an age cutoff ’’ for his future girlfriends. Despite all the talk of growing up, à la Johnny Marco, Dorff says no one is waiting for him back at his Malibu beach pad — just his vintage guitars and keyboards. He’s been swept up in next year’s projects, playing the porn star Dick Shadow in the Adam Sandler-penned ‘‘Born to Be a Star’’ and starring with Mickey Rourke in Tarsem Singh’s ‘‘Immortals,’’ which he describes as ‘‘ ‘Gladiator’ meets ‘300.’ ’’ Even so, Dorff is still savoring his latest stay at the Chateau, as if wishing he could check out anytime he likes but never leave. ‘‘I told Sofia, ‘If we ever get a chance to work again, just make the shoot longer.’ I was so happy on this movie. I wanted it to last forever.’’ n FACE TIME WATCH T’s LATEST ‘‘SCREEN TEST,’’ a video interVIEW WITH STEPHEN DORFF, AT nytimes.com/tmagazine.

ROUGH RIDER george m C cracken jacket.

Fashion associate: Jason Rider. Grooming

by David Cox for Redken Men/ celestineagency.com.

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making strides dunhill jacket and pants (Boutique at Royal Plaza). prada shoes.

OPPOSITE: versace coat, sweater and pants (showpieces only, Boutique at Suhaim Bin Hamad Street). fashion editor: simon foxton.

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This season, gray flannel gets a much -needed kick in the pants. ditch the tie — or the shirt — and wear with a laissez -faire attitude.

Leisure suits Photogr aphs by

Laurence Passera

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coat check paul smith coat (Salam Stores). prada sweater and pants.

Opposite: z zegna suit and shoes (Boutique at villaggio mall).

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smokin’ tweed louis vuitton coat, anorak, pants, and shoes (Boutique at villaggio mall). opposite: emporio armani jacket and vest (showpiece only, Boutique at the pearl qatar). marc jacobs pants. prada shoes. fashion assistants: shun bellieni and Rasharn Agyemang. grooming by jimo salako at jimosalako .com using bumble and bumble. models: Max Barreau, Bunny Kinney, Joshua M c Kenna and patrick o’donnell.

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With feline eyes, statement jewelry, and lots of attitude, this season’s couture gets seriously fierce

UNTAMED Cre ative Direc tion

Mohieb Dahabieh Photos

MoDa’s Touch

GREEN WITH ENVY Dress: Elie Saab Haute Couture Jewelry: David Morris

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GO FIGURE Dress: Armani PrivĂˆ Jewelry: David Morris

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FIERCE CREATURE Dress: Atelier Versace Jewelry: David Morris

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BIRD OF PARADISE Dress: DSquared2 Hat: Piers Atkinson Jewelry: David Morris

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IMMACULATE CONCEPT Dress: StĂˆphane Rolland Haute Couture Headpiece: Stephen Jones Millinery Jewelry: David Morris

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BLUE IMPACT Dress: StĂˆphane Rolland Haute Couture Jewelry: David Morris

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IN FULL BLOOM Dress: Georges Chakra Haute Couture Jewelry: David Morris

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A WEB SHE WEAVES Dress: Zuhair Murad Haute Couture Veil: Piers Atkinson Jewelry: David Morris

Production: Christian Helland Ouff Model: Luma @ Premier Model Management Special thanks: Paul Hunt Makeup: Pablo Rodriguez, using MAC Pro Hair: Nina Beckert, using Kiehls Stylist Series Hairpieces: Hairaisers Nails: Sarah Bacchus, using OPI All jewelry: David Morris; available at Ali Bin Ali Watches & Jewelry at Royal Plaza (Doha) Elie Saab at zai; versace, al sadd, doha; Georges Chakra & stephane rolland at the Pearl Qatar

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timeless

Days of Thunder For the designer Evan Yurman, this ’57 Ford is a truly rare bird. ‘‘The ’57 Thunderbird is elegant, sporty — it’s a gentleman’s sports car,’’ says Evan Yurman, the design director of men’s jewelry and watches for David Yurman, not to mention a vintage car buff. Evan, who is the son of David Yurman, might very well be describing the company’s brand-new Classic 1957 Limited Edition watch, a sporty, elegant and, yes, gentlemanly timepiece that was inspired by cars from the ’50s and the Thunderbird’s instrument panel in particular. ‘‘I drive these kinds of cars a lot, and I’m always staring at the speedometer

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to see where I’m at,’’ he says. For Yurman, the ’50s were the golden era of American design, and not just in the automobile industry. ‘‘I tip my hat to it and hope I can only add to this legacy.’’ When it comes to cars, however, it’s ultimately what’s under the hood that gets him revved up: he loves the ’57 T-Bird for its beauty more than its brawn. ‘‘It is a cruiser, a cream puff,’’ says Yurman, who instead owns a ’66 Bel Air and a ’69 Ford Mustang. ‘‘I go for the one where some guy in the factory said, ‘Let’s make this car as fast as we can.’ ’’ Alix Browne

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