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One of the big stories of China may be how international luxury brands are successfully luring China’s new rich to spend on their status symbols but we’re far more interested in another scoop, namely how Hermès has thrown its weight behind Jiang Qiong Er as she pioneers an original Chinese…
Considering it’s only fifteen years younger than Cartier, it’s amazing that the Lebanese, family-owned jewellery house of Tabbah is not more widely recognised. Of course, this has much to do with the nature of their business – quietly creating one-off haute joaillerie, often for international royalty. If you were a…
Chopard is a family-run business in the midst of a generational handover. Despite this evolutionary yet also potentially disruptive transition, things are much the same with a steadfast commitment to a long-term vision rather than short-term gains. And with sales hitting an all-time high, it goes to show how slow…
Perfumer Francis Kurkdjian may hail from an Armenian family from Aleppo but everything else about him is resolutely French. Paris is where he started in the business, creating some of the most successful perfumes for major designers, it’s also where he co-founded the esteemed Maison Francis Kurkdjian. It might be…
Philippe Jabre is not who you think he is. Born in 1960 in Beirut to an affluent family who owned the very successful Almaza brewery (88 per cent of which was later bought by Heineken), he grew up in Lebanon before the war forced him to continue his education in…
Last August, Ralph Lauren’s executive vice-president of advertising, marketing and communications was elected to the corporation’s board. Noteworthy? We thought so. Why? Well, let’s just say this acorn hasn’t fallen far from Ralph’s tree. I first met 42-year-old David Lauren just a few weeks before his high-profile promotion. We were…
As I make my way through the busy streets of Ashrafieh, it might be due to my biased perception but my eyes are drawn to Maktabis everywhere. And all of them in the carpet business. There’s Nivine Maktabi’s Oumnia, with its modernist tribal rugs, Hadi Maktabi’s traditional Oriental carpet shop…
The hotels Jean-Michel Gathy designs for the likes of Aman, One&Only and Cheval Blanc are off the decadence Richter scale. It’s therefore about time we meet the man who pioneered the private plunge pool, ‘naughty bathrooms’ and basking nets. The name Jean-Michel Gathy may not feature in the panoply of…
Born in Dakar and raised in Kuwait City, Fatima Al Qadiri is a genre-mixing phenomenon in the world of electronica. The New York-based visual artist and composer’s works pivot around the politicised axes of gender, consumerism, military action and cultural stereotypes. “I believe in djinns,” says Fatima Al Qadiri. “I…
Born in Beirut but based in Paris and as passionate about graphic design as he is about furniture or lighting, Charles Kalpakian’s designs sit at the junction of several different overlapping worlds. A quote from Gibran. A vase called ‘Saida’. A room divider called ‘Hawa’. A light fixture entitled, ‘Travail…
