With high collars, plunging backless dresses, tailored cropped tops and smart tuxedo jackets, Karoline Lang’s designs are refreshingly un-Middle Eastern, and even her branding doesn’t give the game away. She does in fact hail from Beirut and is definitely a talent to watch out for. By the end of my…
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Fashion
It’s hard to imagine that Bottega Veneta was on the brink of bankruptcy when Tomas Maier took over as creative director but during his thirteen years in charge, he hasn’t just created riches, he’s brought much needed respect back to the luxury goods label. Bottega Veneta might mean ‘small shop…
The world may credit Coco Chanel with changing the face of fashion and introducing us to the little black dress, the pea jacket and trousers for women but she also played an integral role in transforming our appreciation of jewellery. The opening salvo of Coco Chanel’s war on jewellery began…
Chopard may not have changed their name when they switched family ownership but a lot did change when artistic director and co-president, Caroline Scheufele set up her haute jewellery collections, expanding the company’s reach from ladies’ watches to eco-jewellery. Everything about Caroline Scheufele seems to sparkle, from the tasteful jewels…
When you arrive at the sleek, white 250,000 square-metre glass building, you’ll be hard-pressed to guess it’s a shoe factory. Perhaps the architecture is too contemporary. Or maybe the airy interior, with tastefully appointed artworks in every corner, has the feel of a gallery. But if you take a closer…
Over half a million visitors queued for hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City this summer to witness a monumental, retrospective exhibition of the late British fashion designer Alexander McQueen’s astonishing body of work. Alexander McQueen was obsessed with beauty and its decay. His macabre expressions…
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” -The Queen, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Alice laughed: “There’s no use trying,” she said; “one can’t believe impossible things.” The dissonance of a Queen is a comparatively small ordeal to overcome, if one is to step out onto…
Back in 2007, Ghadah Al Rashid became the first Saudi Arabian female to have a Parisian couture boutique. Today Ghadah Couture is stocked by high-end boutiques across the Middle East and Europe, including London’s notoriously demanding Harrods. With her principal atelier based in Paris, Al Rashid’s fusion of an Oriental…
A darling of the red carpet and a purveyor of exquisite style and glamour, Elie Saab – the Middle East’s greatest fashion export – took time off from his busy schedule to talk to Bespoke. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WORK IN FASHION? I think working in fashion was more my…
The talented Lebanese fashion designer Rabih Kayrouz has had a phenomenal year: he was accepted into the exclusive Haute Couture club, launched the Starch boutique to help up-and-coming talents and now has become the recipient of Bespoke’s third annual Ultimate Fashionism Award. He surely wouldn’t want to call it an…