ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, MARCH 17-18, 2017
NEWS/FEATURES
21
Fashion
Bloggers take to fashion
Arab Vogue debuts
with ‘bold mission’
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 16, (AP):
Vogue launched its newest international edition this
month, targeting a niche audience in the Middle East
that is fashion conscious, style-driven and wealthy. If
its debut is anything to go by, the magazine promises
to be bold, representative and deferential.
The 22nd international edition of Vogue featured
on its cover American supermodel Gigi Hadid, whose
father is Palestinian, wearing an embellished, mesh
veil covering half her face. With one eye peering out
from beneath the veil, the magazine’s cover words
aimed readers directly at its mission: “Reorienting
perceptions.”
At the helm of Vogue’s nascent project is Deena
Aljuhani Abdulaziz; a fashion-forward mother of
three and Saudi royal who describes herself as “ambitious”.
“I don’t want Vogue Arabia to just be another regional
magazine. I definitely want it
to be a global one as well, especially in this political climate. I
think it’s very important,” she
told The Associated Press from
her office in Dubai’s Design
District.
Through its range of features
and shoots, the magazine
Hadid
attempts to cater to a wide and
diverse audience of Arab women, whose varying takes
on personal style and modesty cannot be defined by
one trope or fashion statement.
While not intentionally provocative, there are images of women in backless gowns and skirts that end
above the knee. There are also artful shots of women
in headscarves, though not necessarily worn in the parameters of the Islamic hijab.
In Hadid’s cover shot, for example, the veil reveals
a hint of bronzed shoulder.
“We aren’t trying to make a giant political statement but we do think that we can help contribute to
conversation” said Shashi Menon, founder of Nervora, which published Vogue Arabia in partnership with
Conde Naste.
“We want to be — delicate is the wrong word, but
we want to be cognizant on how we are speaking to
and with women from this region and that means being understanding,” he said.
Vogue Arabia’s strongest foothold is — as its name
suggests— in the oil-rich countries of the Arabian
Peninsula, where modern malls and a growing art
scene are part of a wider push to get in on the multibillion-dollar-a-year global fashion industry, which is
currently dominated by the US, Europe and Japan.
Vogue Arabia’s target audience is well-traveled
and has long had access to fashion magazines, both
local and international, including of course American
Vogue.
Vogue Arabia launched digitally first last fall, but
its print edition went out this month with 35,000 copies distributed across the major cities of the Gulf, as
well as in Cairo, Beirut and select salons and hotels
in North Africa. It was not, however, in newsstands in
conservative Saudi Arabia.
Menon says the expectation isn’t that Vogue
Arabia will somehow replace American Vogue or
Vogue Paris, but that it will provide for the first
time an edition that directly speaks to a Middle
Eastern audience in a local voice. It’s also the first
Vogue edition for an entire region, rather than for a
single country.
Inside its glossy pages, Vogue Arabia capitalizes
on the breadth of culture and character of the Middle East’s 22 Arabic-speaking countries. For its March
issue, that meant features on an arts initiative in the
Saudi coastal city of Jeddah, an interview with the
Egyptian sisters behind the purse brand Okhtein and a
high-glamour shoot in Paris by Sudanese stylist Azza
Yousif.
Bold colors are prominent throughout the layout,
not just on the clothes, but in the makeup and accessories too. Advertisers include powerhouses like Dior
and Cartier, as well as the local outlets that carry them.
The March arrival of the magazine also had a section entirely in Arabic.
Calligrapher Wissam Shawkat produced the Arabic
typography for the various sections of the issue. He’s
also been featured in the digital edition.
The Iraqi-born calligrapher, whose Arabic artwork
has debuted on Rolex watches and in the logos of
brands like Tiffany & Co, says he had total freedom of
design when working with Vogue Arabia.
“Calligraphy is usually not something featured with
something like a magazine like Vogue,” he said.
But by featuring culture and art from the Middle
East, he says the magazine spreads an important message.
“It shows there’s still beauty and hope in the region
whatever is happening. This is hope,” he said.
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Dressed in a red top, fuchsia pleated skirt and fluffy
boa worn on the shoulder, fashion blogger Beatrice
Balaj poses for pictures in her front row seat at a New
York catwalk show.
She is among a number of bloggers who use the internet and social media to cover the biannual womenswear events in New York, London, Milan and Paris,
as well as everyday fashion, and whose power to set
trends has grown to rival that of traditional glossy
magazines.
“We basically show people our lives on-camera and
off-camera, and people are interested in that and want
to know more,” said Balaj, whose Instagram feed carries images from a number of once-exclusive fashion
week shows.
“We’re very influential because people fall in love
with our personalities rather than what we do.”
Reaching consumers via the web or social media
platforms, Balaj and other bloggers post snaps of their
outfits and images from the shows and may collaborate with brands that sometimes dress them.
“(Bloggers) belong to a fashion system that ... has
been literally reshaped,” said Tommaso Aquilano,
creative director at Italian fashion brand Fay. “Influencers and bloggers at the end of the day are the mirror
of what people are in everyday lives.”
But relations with the established fashion media can
be frosty. Last year, fashion bible Vogue criticised
bloggers in an online post about Milan Fashion Week,
with one writer accusing them of “heralding the death
of style” by changing into “head-to-toe, paid-to-wear
outfits every hour”.
The bloggers said that was hypocritical, as magazines borrow designer clothes for shoots and dedicate
large spaces to brand advertising.
Italian fashion blogger Carlo Sestini says the two
sides help each other, and that “fighting will just not
lead to anything”.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the audience before the start of the Broadway debut of the musical ‘Come From Away,’ in New York on March
15. (AP)
Theater
Show celebrates Canadian compassion
Trudeau, Trump catch musical
Julianne Moore attends the Tiffany
& Co 2017 Whitney Biennial at the
Whitney Museum of American Art on
March 15 in New York. (AP)
Trump
Prince
Variety
LOS ANGELES: US President Donald
Trump rattled off a series of tweets
Wednesday morning that covered a smattering of topics not limited to recent reports
about his tax returns, an upcoming rally in
Nashville, Tenn., and music video released
by Snoop Dogg.
In the video that elicited a reaction from
Trump’s twitter, Snoop makes a statement
about police brutality by firing a toy gun at
a clown version of the president. The video
was inspired by the death of Philando
Castile. (RTRS)
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MILAN: Rodolfo Paglialunga is leaving
NEW YORK, March 16, (Agencies): Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau — along with first daughter
Ivanka Trump as a guest — welcomed
a new musical that celebrates Canadian compassion and openness to international travelers following the Sept
11 attacks.
Trudeau and Trump and some 120
ambassadors from around the world attended the show “Come From Away”
on Wednesday night at the Gerald
Schoenfeld Theatre, in a city where the
bulk of the 3,000 people on 9/11 died.
The musical is set in the small Newfoundland town of Gander, which
opened its arms and homes to some
7,000 airline passengers diverted there
when the US government shut down
its airspace. In a matter of a few hours,
the town was overwhelmed by 38
planeloads of travelers from dozens of
countries and religions, yet locals went
to work in their kitchens and cleaned
up spare rooms.
In remarks before the show,
Trudeau got on the stage and said he
was pleased that, “the world gets to see
what it is to lean on each other and be
there for each other through the darkest times.”
The show got a standing ovation,
including from Trump, who sat near
Trudeau, his wife and UN ambassador Nikki Haley. Also in attendance
was Jean Chretien, a former Canadian
prime minister, and the mayor of Gander. Trump was seen clapping along
happily as the band played at the curtain call.
The actors did not make any changes to the script or acknowledge the special audience, but one afterward was
still buzzing.
“When do we have the opportunity to share a story about kindness,
gratitude and love that takes place in a
country that is known for opening their
hearts to people,” said actor Rodney
Hicks. “It just meant the world to all
of us.”
Trudeau, who champions global
free trade and has welcomed 40,000
Syrian refugees, was celebrating the
150th anniversary of Canada’s confederation and also hoped to reaffirm the
special friendship between Canadians
and Americans.
“Our friends are there for those
the Jil Sander label after three years as
creative director.
The change announced Wednesday is the
latest fashion world shake-up. Paglialunga
joined the label in 2014, after Jil Sander exited her eponymous brand for the third time.
A reason for the latest change was not
given and no successor was named.
Paglialunga said in a statement that “it
was a great pleasure to collaborate with
everyone in Jil Sander and to give my
contribution to the brand’s history and
legacy.” (AP)
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alcohol were detected. (AP)
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CLEVELAND: The Rock and Roll Hall of
LOS ANGELES: Prince’s ex-wife is open-
Fame will celebrate 50 years of Rolling
Stone magazine in a new exhibit set to
open this spring in Cleveland.
The Rock Hall says the exhibit will
explore the magazine’s archive of awardwinning music and political and cultural
reporting. It will open in conjunction with
the release of the book, “50 Years of Rolling Stone.”
The exhibit will include rarely heard
stories, original manuscripts, music reviews
and audio interviews that spotlight the artists, writers and others who shared a special
partnership with the magazine that debuted
in 1967. (AP)
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tough times, when you lose a parent or
a loved one, when you get knocked off
your path at a difficult moment in your
life. Where you go through difficult
times, that’s when you turn and you
lean on your friends,” he said. “That
ultimately is what this story is all about
— being there for each other.”
In the show, a cast of a dozen play
both residents and marooned passengers, telling true stories of generosity,
compassion and acceptance, while
fear and suspicion reigned in America. The show arrives just as a debate
over immigration and open borders
has reignited following the Trump
administration’s push for a ban on
travelers from six predominantly
Muslim nations.
Canadian husband-and-wife writing
team Irene Sankoff and David Hein
wrote the book, music and lyrics, and
it was directed by Christopher Ashley, the artistic director of the La Jolla
Playhouse. The musical veers its focus
from weighty matters — a mother anxious about her missing firefighter son
in New York — to more silly events,
like a rowdy evening at a local bar
where visitors are urged to kiss a cod.
Intense
Security at the theater was intense
and theatergoers had to navigate
through frozen snow drifts as well
as black SUVs. But Trudeau seemed
comfortable on the stage.
“I have to sort of personally say, on
behalf of all Canadians, thank you for
making us so welcome with the snow,”
he said. “It’s a nice touch. You really
went out of your way.”
Trudeau’s warm reception was in
contrast to the ones that greeted two
other world leaders who recently attended the Broadway smash “Hamilton” — Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and Vice-President-elect Mike Pence. Both received
more than a smattering of boos.
One woman in attendance on
Wednesday was seeing “Come From
Away” for the 58th time, having followed it as it made its way from California to Seattle to Washington, DC,
then Gander and now Broadway.
That was Beverley Bass, the first
female captain at American Airlines,
who was at the helm of Flight 49, going up about the couple’s son, who was
born with a rare genetic disorder in 1996
and died just six days later.
Mayte (MY’-tay) Garcia writes in a
new memoir excerpted in People magazine
that baby Amiir was born with Pfeiffer
syndrome type 2, a disorder that causes
skeletal abnormalities. She says the baby
struggled to breathe and underwent multiple procedures before his death. (AP)
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NEW YORK: While TV star Jussie
SAN DIEGO: Authorities say Lee
O’Denat, who founded the popular website
WorldStarHipHop.com, died of natural
causes.
The 43-year-old died suddenly at a San
Diego massage parlor in January.
The medical examiner’s office said
Tuesday that O’Denat was obese and had
a severe buildup of plaque near his heart,
which contributed to his death. The Los
Angeles Times reports toxicology tests
showed marijuana use but no other drugs or
ing from Paris to Dallas-Fort Worth,
when she ended up in Gander on 9/11.
She was interviewed by the musical’s
creators for her story and is portrayed
onstage by Jenn Colella.
After almost 60 performances,
might she at some point just step in
for Colella one night and play her own
life? Bass laughed: “I can’t sing and
dance, so her role is safe from me,” she
said. Then she thought for a moment
and added: “I guess she can’t fly jets.”
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Jo Lampert is so conspicuously
exotic, with her pale, elongated face
and icicle-thin body, that it’s entertaining just to watch her wave her flag
and model her armor. The performer’s
compelling stage presence and powerful alto help her survive “Joan of
Arc: Into the Fire”, a flashy display of
eye-catching stage tricks from director Alex Timbers. In the follow-up
to his hit Imelda Marcos tale “Here
Lies Love”, David Byrne contributed
the book, music and lyrics for this lugubrious treatment of the 15th-century
virgin saint who saved France — and,
for her troubles, was burnt alive at the
stake as a heretic.
The plotline follows the broad
outlines of Joan’s life: the voices in
the garden, the quest to see the Dauphin, the successful Siege of Orleans,
the failure to take Paris, the religious
showdown with the bishops. All very
exciting, until it ends in her imprisonment and death.
The basic concept of this concept
musical, premiering at the Public
Theater, is that Joan was less inspired
by the heavenly saints who launched
her mission to defeat the English invaders and unify France than she was
stirred by the warrior within. To this
end, Timbers (who also directed “Here
Lies Love”) has staged each of the
main events in Byrne’s script as an
epic battle. Ten exceptionally hunky
male actors constitute both the English
and the French armies, identifiable by
the snazzy battle dress designed by
Clint Ramos. (Hint: the French wear
fleurs-de-lis on a field of blue, and the
English fight under a blood-red cross.)
In one scene (with choreography by
Steven Hoggett), the actors fight themselves by wearing both sets of armor
at once.
CEO & Publisher of the Vogue Arabia, Shashi Menon poses for the camera at
the magazine office at the Dubai Design District in Dubai, UAE on March 15.
(AP)
Smollett was in the recording studio working on his own music apart from “Empire,”
set for release later this year, he couldn’t
help but write a song about what’s going
in the world, from injustice to President
Donald Trump.
That’s when he penned “F.U.W,” short
for “… world,” around President’s Day
and immediately directed a music video to
bring his words to life. The clip will debut
late Wednesday on his YouTube page.
The black-and-white video features men
and women of various ethnicities and highlights injustices, from human and LGBT
rights to religious and racial prejudices. A
woman wears a hijab in one scene, a boy
wears a hoodie in another and four women
put their fists up as they stand in front of
the words, “My body, my rights.”
“This song is for the oppressed. That’s
why I feel like people will connect with it
because it is very broad, because oppression is so broad,” he said in an interview
Tuesday with The Associated Press. (AP)