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…
Category
People
Seven years on, Philippe Massoud’s ilili , the New York-based Mediterranean fusion restaurant is busy redefining the concept of Lebanese cuisine. New York City is now several years deep into its fascination with Brussels sprouts. In a town known for its seasonal food fads – think pork buns, cupcakes and…
Nathalie Khayat’s studio isn’t especially quiet. Just down the road from the post office on Sassine Square in Beirut’s Ashrafieh, it opens onto the city’s soundscape; the dull roar of traffic, squealing tyres, honking horns, the drill of construction, passing conversations, the cries of street vendors, all the ambient sounds,…
If ever it is completed, Abu Dhabi’s Mastaba Project would be the world’s largest public sculpture. First developed by the celebrated art duo Christo & Jeanne-Claude back in 1977, a new book by Taschen documents the process of the monument’s construction. The craft of the builder was regarded as a…
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 Egyptian feminist writer, activist, physician and psychiatrist, Nawal El Saadawi, has braved prison, exile and death threats in her fight against female oppression. It’s a fight she wants to see through to the end. The first thing Nawal El Saadawi does when we speak for the first time, is…
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…
Currently chairing the jury responsible for selecting, each year, one of the most prestigious recognitions of architectural mastery, the Pritzker Prize, Lord Peter Palumbo spends much of his life travelling the world, visiting the great works created by today’s shapers of space. For decades, Lord Peter Palumbo has had his…
Redman Whiteley Dixon have perfected the ‘turnkey’ yacht design experience, homing in on every detail from the yacht’s helicopter hangar down to the captain’s cufflinks. The designers of the graceful SY Quintessential, winner of this year’s World Superyacht Award for Best Catamaran take bespoke boat design to a new level.…