NOVEMBER 7, 2023
Fashion is a luxury, but luxury is not necessarily fashion, simply because luxury is not all materialistic and worldly; it’s spiritualistic too. Luxury is not always what you can buy, but also what you can feel. Silence and quiet in the morning is as much a luxury as buying a jet, sleeping and waking up without fear, speaking your mind, wearing runway couture, choosing to love who you want to, buying a mansion, sharing your private time or going on a bespoke holiday – these are all life’s luxuries that we choose to indulge in of our own volition. A rooftop swim past midnight under the stars at The Dorchester Collection’s first property in the Middle East, The Lana, with the Dubai skyline adding more shimmer to the night, is just the kind of luxury money can buy, and the soul can feel. The Lana opens in Dubai in February 2024 and it is going to be the hottest luxury hotel opening of the year because the Dorchester Collection hotels are always beyond cool.
DUBAI: The Lana is the 10th Dorchester Collection hotel that will open in February 2024 in Dubai where water, land and sky will converge with humans in luxurious, manmade excellence. A waterfront location with definitive modern architecture in the Marasi Drive, The Lana’s infinity-edge, rooftop pool with a bar, has stunning views of the adjacent marina facing the Burj Khalifa and Downtown Dubai. Comprising of 225 guest rooms and suites, with showstopping balconies, you can watch the changing landscape around you from sunrise to dusk. “Inspired by the bold spirit of Dubai, my team and I are thrilled to be opening Dorchester Collection’s first hotel in the Middle East. We look forward to offering you a truly exceptional experience, crafted with the utmost care,” says Richard Alexander, General Manager of The Lana. One cannot think of a London without The Dorchester and 45, Park Lane, Los Angeles without The Beverly Hills and the Bel Air, Paris sans the geranium dotted façade of The Plaza Athenee and Le Meurice, Italy without Hotel Eden Rome and Principe Di Savoia, or the beautiful English countryside without Coworth Park in Ascot. Each one of these beautiful Dorchester Collection hotels is iconic, luxurious and glamourous, shaping the histories of the cities they’re located in, and being a part of history in people’s memories. These hotels have played architectural parts in films and Netflix series and are stars in themselves, such is the indomitable presence of all nine Dorchester Collection hotels in the world of luxury, with The Lana all set to create its own history in the Middle East with a Marhaba Dubai! I think the Dorchester Collection hotels are architectural actors really, representing the past and present of their cities and more importantly, their people.
©The Lana, Dubai
SWEDEN: H&M is a forerunner in the world of fashion collaborations with the late Karl Lagerfeld being their very first partnership in November 2004, followed by Versace, Comme des Garçons, Balmain, Maison Margiela, Stella McCartney and Sabyasachi over the years. H&M is ready to drop its second designer collaboration of the year with Rabanne online and in stores, on November 9th, 2023, the first being with Mugler in May 2023. Paco Rabanne, the fashion label, known only as Rabanne as of 2023, was founded in Paris in 1966 by Spaniard, Paco Rabanne, whose real name was Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo. The 1966 debut show of Paco Rabanne in Paris, with a collection called Manifesto: 12 Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials, made of metal plaques and organic plastic linked with wires, was shown on black and white models, who walked barefoot as he could not afford to buy shoes for them. An original fashion anarchist, the show earned him fame with art collector Peggy Guggenheim buying and wearing his creations. Rabanne was also known for his fragrances – Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, 1 Million and Lady Million that are immensely popular to the day. He was awarded the Legion of Honour by France’s minister of culture, Frederic Mitterrand in November 2010, with Mitterrand highlighting Rabanne’s early work, especially his Manifesto collection during the ceremony. Rabanne was acquired in 1987 by Puig, a Spanish fashion and fragrance company, with Julien Dossena reimagining the textile alternative design language of the maison since 2013 as its creative director. “As a designer, I’ve always been interested in exploring hedonism and empowerment. I was very enthusiastic to work with H&M on a collection that will introduce Rabanne’s avant-garde energy to a wider audience in a democratic way,“ says Dossena of the H&M collection that includes womenswear, menswear, shoes and accessories, and a capsule home décor line. In the 60s, Rabanne’s metal couture was met with disparaging rebuke and today, almost 60 years on, metal couture is a haute step forward in sustainable fashion.
Jared Leto, Damson Idris, Irina Shayk, Julien Dossena, Creative Director of Paco Rabanne,
Elle Fanning and H&M Creative Director Ann-Sofie Johansson.
WORLD: The ongoing strife between Israel and Palestine for the siege of Gaza marks a month today, with horrific loss and devastation all around in both countries since October 7th. Christian Dior seems to have replaced Palestinian-Dutch model, Bella Hadid with May Tager, an Israeli model, in their new holiday beauty campaign. There is no official statement from Dior on the replacement, if that holds true, or if Tager is another beauty ambassador alongside Hadid and many more. Hadid, a beauty ambassador for Dior since 2016, has never shied away from vocalizing her thoughts on Palestine over the years. She is very aware and cognizant that her advocacy for Palestine could jeopardize her modelling career, but she has stood firm in her stance and beliefs to honour her roots. Hadid’s father, Mohammed Hadid, an American real estate developer born in Nazareth, Palestine, was married to her mother, Yolanda van den Herik, a Dutch model and television personality, born in Papendrecht, Netherlands, from 1994 to 2000.
Bella Hadid
The worldwide ramifications of the war between Israel and Palestine remain to be seen in the days and months to come, with over 10,000 people killed since October 7th, 2023, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. As the war rages on and the world watches history being written, it is humanity that is being written off the Earth rather tragically.
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Rubina A Khan 