Watch | The Secret World of Haute Couture

A fascinating documentary* produced by BBC Four – Margy Kinmonth meets millionaire customers and world-famous designers as she explores the anachronistic but little-explained pocket of the fashion industry known as haute couture (2010).

*You can watch the rest of the episode on YouTube

عبدالمجيد عبدالله – حب و غرام

عبدالمجيد عبدالله – حب و غرام

#Beautiful by Mariah Carey & Miguel

Dedicated to our #Beautiful Symphony family. Do you like Mariah’s new song?

Q&A Alexis Mabille

Designer Alexis Mabille

Symphony // This is the first time you will be stocked at Symphony. What do you think of the Middle East in terms of fashion and style?

Alexis Mabille // I’m very interested in the Middle East as an emerging place, and of course, I am very happy to start working with Symphony as the women in your country are very keen on fashion and creativity.

Symphony // What were you inspired by for Spring/Summer 2013?

Alexis Mabille // This summer the collection is really dedicated to the cool, chic and elegant urban girls all over the world who prefer macadam than beaches for summer. It is a mix of fresh summer feelings but urban and active. She is a power girl.

Symphony // What was your biggest highlight of 2012?

Alexis Mabille // We had so many! The opening of our new shop in Paris, and being declared an official member of the Haute Couture circle was magical!

Symphony // Who should we look out for, for 2013?

Alexis Mabille // Dita Von Teese. Her new American show in New York is absolutely crazy. Plus, she is wearing some Alexis Mabille couture tuxedos. Also, The Brigittes, who are a very nice French girl band.

Symphony // What can’t you leave home without and why?

Alexis Mabille // My cat and my pink pashmina, they are both my comfort when I am tired.

Symphony // What is your favourite piece from your new collection for summer and why?

Alexis Mabille // I love the embroided blue sweatshirt which is, for me, a good balance between active life and romance.

Alexis’s favourite piece for SS13. Available in-store at Symphony now.

Symphony // What’s your main fault?

Alexis Mabille // Ah! That’s my secret!

Symphony // What’s your favourite virtue?

Alexis Mabille // Being positive.

Symphony // What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Alexis Mabille // The best came from two important people in my life: Christian Lacroix, who told me to go in the direction I want and to be patient, and John Galliano, who told me not to be afraid of ideas that the most common thing could be a couture piece with creativity.

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Alexis Mabille’s Spring/Summer 2013 collection is exclusive to Symphony in Dubai. View the collection, with prices here now.

Symphony | Ground Floor, Fashion Avenue | The Dubai Mall | T: 04 330 8050

Lennon and Maisy, Call Your Girlfriend

Wow! 12 and 8 year old sisters Lennon and Maisy sing their version of Robyn/Erato Call Your Girlfriend.

#Backstage | Rue Du Mail, PFW SS13

The fashion industry, as anyone who works within it will tell you, is fast-paced and constantly changing. Designers will immediately go from presenting one collection to finalising another season, buyers will be scouring the fashion weeks for new designers and placing orders for a season before the prior season is even in stores. It’s a beautiful, never-ending wheel of cycles and seasons. Isn’t it nice then, to take a moment to reflect on all of the work and energy that went into producing a collection? We think so. Join us as we present these stunning, exclusive behind-the-scenes images of the Rue Du Mail Spring/Summer 2013 fashion show – a collection which months on is now available in-store at Symphony, The Dubai Mall now.

Founding Designer Martine Sitbon (left)

Rue du Mail was established in 2006 by Semeiotics, Inc at 5, rue du Mail in the 2nd arrondissement in Paris where Martine Sitbon was appointed as its founding designer. With Martine Sitbon’s creative DNA, Rue du Mail embodies an organic romanticism that is rooted in the Parisian essence. It is both an address and a creative space that transforms itself with every new season. The Rue du Mail woman has a carefree elegance and a modern sense of style that brings forth an intriguing mix of rock and femininity.  Inspired by the sweetness of Mia Farrow and the sensuality of Catherine Deneuve, Martine Sitbon merged her two favourite iconic gentle-women with the mood of the 1960s to create new lady-like silhouettes for Rue du Mail Spring Summer 2013. Shift dresses, always masterly tailored, play a prominent role, paired with signature trenches, opera coats and bomber jackets. Cutouts, beautiful prints and 3-D floral effects invigorate unique depth and dimension. Whimsical white and bold black share a restrained palette of red and pink blooms.

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View the Spring/Summer 2013 collection by Rue Du Mail at Symphony, The Dubai Mall here now

The XX, Together

Today’s Music Monday is another Great Gatsby soundtrack release, this time by the wonderful XX. Do you love it as much as we do?

Opening Night | The Little Black Jacket, Chanel

We were lucky enough to attend the much-anticipated Opening Night of the Chanel Little Black Jacket Exhibition, which has been touring the fashion capitals and arrived in Dubai this weekend. Situated in a grand, and impossible chic, pop-up “tent” beneath the Burj Khalifa, the exhibition is now open to the public and will run until the 11th of May 2013.

Watch the short film for the ‘Making of’ online here now and find out more details.

The Little Black Jacket: Chanel’s Classic Revisited by Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld’s exhibiting at The Venue, Downtown Dubai, Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard, from Saturday 27 April through to May 11. Open 11am-9pm on weekdays and 11am-10pm on weekends.

Our Picture Diary…

Symphony’s Holly opted for a Rochas Full Skirt and Cropped Blouse with EK Thongprasert Necklace all from Symphony, The Dubai Mall.

Holly completed the outfit with a Givenchy clutch and the FINSK for Symphony nude heels

The Chanel Little Black Jacket Exhibition at The Venue, Downtown Dubai

Symphony’s Holly (right) with Head of Buying for Gucci Middle East Alex Gnjatovic (left – wearing Gucci)

Symphony’s Holly (right) with Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s Sally Matthews

We had a magical evening. Thanks so much to Chanel for hosting us!

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xoxo

Young & Beautiful by Lana Del Rey

As the release date for Baz Luhrmann’s highly-anticipated Great Gatsby draws closer, we were most excited to hear Symphony favourite Lana Del Rey’s contribution to the soundtrack. Will you still love me when I am no longer beautiful? Yes Lana, yes we will…

Sleeping Beauty

Carole Hochman (pictured above) is perhaps the single most influential woman in the intimate apparel and sleepwear business in the U.S. today, we are delighted to add her beautiful sleepwear to our loungerie edit for Spring/Summer 2013.

A designer and industry pioneer, Carole Hochman has been designing intimate apparel for more than 30 years. What began as a young girl’s dream to become a New York City fashion designer has today evolved into a global powerhouse company. The Carole Hochman Design Group manufactures not only the unsurpassed Carole Hochman brand of sleepwear, loungewear and daywear, but also owns OnGossamer and the licenses to several exceptional lingerie and sleepwear collections including Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Jockey and Betsey Johnson.

Hochman began her career in lingerie by accident. While attending Drexel University, a trade college in Philadelphia where she studied fashion design, she landed a job at Bergdorf Goodman in a department she’d given very little thought to before – lingerie. Carole worked hard, learned the business and was soon hired by a lingerie company and had the opportunity to design sleepwear for Bonwit Teller. Without knowing a thing about garment construction or the fabrics required to produce them, Carole nailed the collection on the first try, launching her career into the dreamy world of intimate apparel.

The following year, Carole Hochman began working for a small New York-based intimate apparel design firm. It was here where she truly learned how to design collections that would satisfy both women’s fantasies as well as their lifestyle needs – pioneering new directions in intimate apparel. In 1985, a testament to Carole’s vision and talent, the company was re-named Carole Hochman Designs.

During this time, Christian Dior was Carole Hochman Design’s biggest licensee, and the industry standard in luxury lingerie, sold in virtually every major department and specialty store, and found in every elegant woman’s wardrobe across the U.S. Carole traveled several times a year to Paris, mastering the art of flawless construction and experimenting with different textiles and fabrics during her time there.

Then, in the late 1980s, the economic downturn dictated a shift in consumer mindset away from pure luxe and towards comfort. Carole instantly saw an opportunity to design sleepwear that revolved around comfortable-chic. She set her sights on Turkey which was experiencing a cotton boom and returned within weeks with a 100% cotton sleepwear collection that Macy’s bought virtually sight unseen. And so was launched the Carole Hochman brand of sleepwear that is today synonymous with luxury, comfort and style and sold in better department and specialty stores across the U.S.

By the mid-1990s, Carole Hochman was renowned for her cotton knitwear and was approached by global fashion houses, including Esprit and Ralph Lauren, to design their sleepwear collections. She was one of the first designers to embrace the concept of QVC, recognizing the power of the home shopper, a customer who has proved loyal to her from the start.

To view the latest collection with prices, see our Facebook Album here now.