May it be special….

Eid Mubarak Symphony Stylers! We hope that you have a wonderful time with your loved ones at this special time of year
♥

Symphony, Fashion Avenue at The Dubai Mall will be serving delicious complimentary Eid Mubarak cupcakes from our favourite bakery, Sweet Stuff starting from tomorrow (Monday 15th Nov)

Have a great holiday all.
Much love
xxx

The 10th Annual International Herald Tribune Heritage Luxury Conference, Nov 9-10 2010: London

For the 10th Annual International Herald Tribune (IHT) Luxury Conference, the IHT chose a theme that captures the mood of the moment; heritage. As the IHT Fashion Editor for the past 22 years (a.k.a the legend that is Suzy Menkes) asked: must a luxury brand have a history to have a future? In a world of fast-paced fashion, how are craftsmanship and quality important and relevant? Does the millennial generation care about the past? Speakers included Lanvin Artistic Director Alber Elbaz, Karl Lagerfeld, Burberry’s Christopher Bailey, Rosita and Angela Missoni and a surprise speaker in the shape of Ms. Victoria Beckham.

Given the “man-of-moment” – Alber Elbaz’s - recent dabble with high street chain H&M, we were very intrigued to hear what he had to say about heritage and the future of fashion. There is no doubt that Alber is a an incredible man of great talent, but why did he decide to “lower” his heritage by catering to fast-paced, affordable high-street fashion?

Suzy Menkes talks with Lanvin’s artistic director, Alber Elbaz, about how he incorporates the spirit of Jeanne Lanvin into his designs and what his collaboration with H&M has taught him about fashion…

Video Courtesy of NYT

There are a few things that come to mind when watching this interview. First of all, of course, we must gush about how much of a legend Suzy and Alber really are. Suzy with her plum British accent, roller-induced quiff and mischievous twinkling eye (note: “Why didn’t I go as Suzy Menkes for Halloween” also sprang to mind!), Alber with his school-boy posture (note: seat back to front, sat like a naughty rebel), exotic french accent and passion. Phew. It is all so entrancing. But when Alber speaks of his “sudden Internet fame” one can’t help but feel disheartened. Do you feel it too? He is right to say that he has been working in this industry for a very long time with little applaud from those outside “the fashion ring”; he is absolutely a pioneering force in fashion, a creative genius - but it is only when he decides to collaborate with high-street giant H&M ….that… BAM! He’s famous. It feels so depressing, so contrived. Have we become a nation that only discover or “love” things when the “big guns” and Internet tell us we need to?

Alber & Suzy

But, I digress. When Alber says that, “I think that what we learned is, that maybe we need newness, but we still have to know where we are coming from”. Interesting. What is so appealing about these designer x high-street collaborations? Is it that you can get a piece of luxury, or HERITAGE, for a fraction of the price? But what really drives the want, crazy-crave and queue-inducing phenomena? Surely, it is that a great creative mind (like Alber) has created something and we want to own that? To obtain that little dream for ourselves. What I find interesting about Alber’s comment is: how can the high-street make us feel like that all the time? Alber or no Alber? Choo or no Choo? Elbaz’s final comments really ring true, fat and skinny is so the way to be. No? LOL. Okay: “Be big in work but small in life” – be humble and be simple and modest in your life, but be BIG in your work. And what a great motto that is!

Uncle Karl

From one legend to another, Karl Lagerfeld uttered some very compelling words: “I am a cocktail”. No, just kidding (although, he did say that). Karl dished out his usual witty, nonchalant adages which probably had everyone thinking “Why didn’t I think of that”. What is Karl Lagerfeld heritage? Well it almost makes you giggle to entertain the question. Lagerfeld is heritage and here is why:

From one legend to another, Karl Lagerfeld uttered some very compelling words: “I am a cocktail”. No, just kidding (although, he did say that). Karl dished out his usual witty, nonchalant adages which probably had everyone thinking “Why didn’t I think of that”. What is Karl Lagerfeld heritage? Well it almost makes you giggle to entertain the question. Lagerfeld is heritage and here is why:

“Coco Chanel did a lot for fashion but not as much as she said she did. She was a woman of her times and in the 30’s and 40’s there were only two fashion options: Chanel or Balenciaga. But she made two crucial mistakes at the end of her career. In the 1960’s she tried to give lessons in elegance. She said she had asked a lot of men and not a single one said they liked the mini skirt (in my opinion no man dared tell this old lady what he really thought). And she said jeans were horrible. So she lost her power” – KL

There really are not many Creative Director’s / Heads of Design etc who would challenge their forebearer. Not that we are implying that there is any sort of ”beef” between Mademoiselle and KL – for sure, they are “married”, just like Jeanne and Alber are. But here is the difference: Lagerfeld speaks the truth without censorship. He is one step ahead of everyone, every single time. He proclaims that he is not an artist, “I am a dress maker” (which is arguable given that he is head of numerous BIG fashion houses, shoots and directs all of his campaigns, is involved with every little teeny tiny detail and generally puppeteers the luxury fashion industry), but in the same breath he is able to pronounce, with confidence, “Buying couture is no worse than collecting expensive cars. People are rich enough to buy them. Others make a living from that. I have no fake guilt about couture”. It is his honesty which is so endearing and inspiring. His no-holds-barred, free-stream conscience which spills out of his every pore.

“If you want to really re-invent something you need to lose respect for it. You can only re-build if you destroy. Respect belongs in the funeral parlour”. This is so true, and it is exactly why Karl Lagerfeld is one of the most iconic and celebrated designers of our time. He does not want to settle with his excellence, he wants to keep striving, keep pushing, keep learning; but he is also not afraid of his talent and not afraid to be BIG in his work. In the ’Lagerfeld Confidential’ documentary there is a beautiful scene where Karl is in his apartment, stepping over mounds of books & magazines and showing off his 300,000,000 ipods. When he is asked if he collects books and such, he replies with utter disdain that collecting is for losers. He simply wants to take all he can from said book, magazine, CD, DVD etc and then discard it. Because what is the use for material things? We are all gathering jewels for our coffins. The lesson here is that life is about experience, about knowledge – working big and living small! But then you wonder how the clothes fit into that…? How can such a key fashion player see material things as useless? Well, maybe it is because it’s all about the experience of those clothes. The memories you had in that beautiful dress and the feeling you had when you first wore red. It is about beauty: inside and out. And I guess, when you are wearing a heritage brand – for example, the likes of Chanel, Burberry, J. Mendel and Hermes – you feel that history too. There is that wonderful feeling that you own a part of something, and that you can continue that history and reinvent that idea with your own little idea, event or action.

Speaking at the IHT Luxury Conference in London, Fashion Editor Suzy Menkes sits down with designer Karl Lagerfeld to discuss his career and the the history of Chanel…

“I am there to be used. I like to be used but only in the way I think I should be used” Karl Lagerfeld

Victoria Beckham, Suzy Menkes and Karl Lagerfeld

Burberry Creative Director, Christopher Bailey, acknowledged the British brands heritage by saying that the “trench coat is really the beginning and the end of everything that we do”. The conference also shed light on the infamous Buberry check and how it was born: it originally came from listening to a customer who had requested it. So here we have a Heritage example of customer focused innovation – this example is not unlike how brands are currently tuning into the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Blogs etc to understand their client base. This is innovation sans Internet. Burberry was also the first brand to live stream its runway show for AW10 across the globe via the WWW (with many other houses now following suit); the event even came to our sandy city :)

CEO of Buberry Angela Ahrendts and Chief Creative Officer of Burberry Christopher Bailey

Ralph Lauren’s son, David Lauren stated that he is not techno savvy but he asks questions and surrounds himself with people who are. Another example of a Heritage brand not ignoring the move toward a more fast-paced, online, immediate society; appreciating that great Bob Dylan lyric ”the times they are’ a changin’”

David Lauren, Senior Vice President of Ralph Lauren

But what of the new emerging designers? How do these young brands such as Jason Wu, Prabal Gurung and Willow fit into Heritage? As Alber asked, “Why are business still buying old brands & not investing in new designers & the future of the industry?”. It is also interesting to question how the new designers are incorporating Heritage into their concept to compete with these big players? If Chanel, Burberry and Ralph Lauren (amongst many others) are competing with their Internet savviness and quirky messages how are the new brands counter attacking? Acne comes to mind instantly. The brands emblem looks like an old school badge, very decadent and regal – connoting Heritage. Acne also have The Acne Paper – which evolved as a visual form of enhancing the ACNE collection, including sources of inspiration. The Independent Newspaper describes it as “pointing to the future of fashion publishing”.

The Acne Paper

Elbaz commented “tradition is great but it can become a formula; Heritage is like having a wonderful last name that can open doors”. And sometimes this can become stuffy and “uncool” – this translation is worlds apart from Acne’s quirky approach to creating and cementing a lifestyle brand offering highly coveted products. However, on the other side of the coin; these younger brands do not have the expertise and history that the Heritage brands possess. Or not yet anyway….

All and all, like all good things, we leave this feeling more full of questions that answers. But we are inspired by this topic and this evolution which is happening in the fashion industry right before our eyes. What is Heritage to you Symphony Stylers? Would you rather spend your pocket money with one of the old Heritage brands, or would you rather invest in a young, emerging brand? Answers on a post card please!

Ps. And what is the BIG news that we see coming out of this inspiring, intelligent and legendary conference? Karl Lagerfeld made Victoria Beckham laugh. Well done media. You did it again: you focused your attention on the most important part.

Hurray for Heritage!

xxx

Fashion Moment: Kanye West

“I really liked the shape of the Horus character, its face and eyes are so beautiful. I’m into graphics, just like a little kid. To me, wearing that chain was like a little kid wearing a fire helmet or bright yellow rubber ducky boots, because they’re super cool and graphic. Imagine if all people dressed like five-year-olds. I believe in myself like a five-year-old believes in himself. When they’re about to do something cool, a five-year-old says “Watch me! Watch me! Watch me! Are you watching? Is everybody gonna watch?” They get everyone at the family reunion to watch them, and then they do a flip in the grass. It won’t be that amazing, but everybody is clapping for them. That’s exactly who I am. That’s the explanation.”

Kanye West interview with Austin Scaggs, Rolling Stone

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Whitney x FACE Africa x Symphony x Harper’s Bazaar Arabia

We told you last month that we were sponsoring Whitney Port’s trip to Liberia for FACE Africa, in order to continue the work we did for the charity back in October for our official Launch Event ; where we raised 40,000dhs through a charity auction in association with Bonham’s.
This month Harper’s Bazaar Arabia unveil an exclusive diary piece that Whitney did for them whilst visiting Liberia under Symphony’s sponsorship. It is such a touching, inspiring story and we are so happy to have been able to help in the small way that we did. Please make sure you pick up a copy of this month’s Harper’s and turn straight to page 200 for the full story…

Click an image to enlarge.

If you feel inspired to help this beautiful cause, DONATE NOW by visiting http://www.faceafrica.org/donate/
We will be blogging about how the funds we rasied for FACE Africa and Liberia will be used in the coming weeks. Props to FACE Africa Founder Saran Kaba Jones for all of the amazing work she is doing…

xxx

The Symphony Cruise Report

Cruise… Pre-Spring… Resort… Whatever your call it, the flirty, fun season is upon us and our Cruise 2011 selection will be arriving at Symphony any day now …just in time for Eid, yay!

The History of Cruise
Originally meant for wealthy customers or more seasoned jet-setters going on cruises or vacationing in the warm Mediterranean area during the winter months, cruise collections offer light spring or summer clothing when the weather at the points of sale actually calls for winter apparel. These days, they are targeted at customers who have finished buying their fall wardrobes and are looking ahead to vacations. These warm-weather designs arrive in the shops in November after the autumn/winter collections and before the spring/summer collections, or generally between November/December and February in the Northern hemisphere. They offer a glimpse at the next seasons trends and styles and are a warm welcome (do you like what I did there?) to us Dubaian’s – who, lets face it, do not necessarily jump for joy when the Autumn/Winter fur and wool arrives into our hot sandpit!

Take a look at the NEW Cruise Collections coming to Symphony, The Dubai Mall SOON…

Chris Benz
A new addition to the Symphony family, Chris Benz channelled mid century ceramist Sascha Brastoff, whose Los Angeles milieu included another of the collection’s muses, Carmen Miranda for Cruise 2011. (Note: if you were paying attention to the SS11 post you will have seen that Charlotte Olympia’s SS11 collection was inspired by Carmen Miranda = Trend Alert). Unlike Olympia, Benz shied away from Miranda’s iconic fruit hats and, instead, focused on the 1940s tomboy Miranda. Little shrunken jackets, city shorts, full-length summer gowns and twee knits mean that this is a collection for the Tomboy-who-lunches. Very Gossip Girl meets Mademoiselle Chanel = very covetable.

Jonathan Saunders
Another newbie to Symphony, British designer Jonathan Saunders’ Resort 2011 collection was a challenge as he claims he was working with two elements he has no compatibility with: femininity and floral prints. This collection is based on “”traditional beauty demolished”, as prints of English roses, found in an old Victorian textile archive, are mutated, cutting away the flowers and blending them with a geometric grid borrowed from an Art Deco building in London. Prints are engineered onto day wear separates, signature evening dresses in layered chiffon, sportier A-Line dresses and silk blouses. We think Saunders is more compatible with flowers and femininity than he’s giving himself credit for!

Jason Wu
For his Resort 2011 collection, Wu looked to iconic 1960s French actress Anna Karina for inspiration. He admired her refined take on Parisian chic, including jabot dresses, nautical pullovers, and buttoned-up cardigans—the same sort of pieces that define Wu’s vision of polished sophistication. For resort, the designer dreamt up striped jackets, shrunken shorts, and airy dresses that echo the gamine actress’ signature style. Jason also studied the bold, colorful vintage vinyls typical of the yé-yé movement. The female-driven musical genre, marked by album art as bright and cheerful as the pop tunes it popularized, proved another source of creative cues. Persimmon pink and vivid violet appear in ethereal pressed-daffodil prints on chiffon frocks and structured shifts, while a color-flecked grid work pattern covers softly draped blouses.

J. Mendel
For Resort 2011, designer Gilles Mendel channelled the rebellious attitude and glamorous allure of 1940s fashion and updated it with refined modern touches. Influenced by the New York City Ballet’s recent production of Call Me Ben, for which Mendel created the costumes, each look focuses on detailed seaming and precise draping to compliment to the sinewy curves of a woman’s body, like those of an experienced dancer. “These dresses have many details in the cut and construction, but they don’t overpower; it’s about sophistication, fluidity and lightness”, explains Mendel.

Ports 1961
Inspired by paradox and contradiction, Tia Cibani takes Cruise 2011 to a state of fragile poetry enhanced by the rocker’s edge, where masculine and feminine boundaries are blurred, resulting in a unique and modern androgyny. Blending a rock vibe with easy practicality, Tia applies metal snaps in a vivid serpentine arrangement resembling bolted metal. Basic t-shirts are reworked through innovative seaming, eliminating shoulder seams while achieving structure through folding, tucking, and padding. The classic white shirt is rendered new with plunging break lines and tilted lapels. Tuxedo tailoring takes a confident lead, incorporating masculine shapes with contrasting panels of tonal shine and deconstructed formal dressing. Unexpectedly, sporty parkas become evening wear worthy in sheer organza, as tailored Crombie coats take a feminine turn in crushed taffeta piped with patent shine.

Thakoon
Thakoon described his Cruise 2011 offering as “a Parisian going to Africa”, which translates as chic and simple basics with a safari twist. The designer uses the concept of mixing classically chic separates with artisanal, African-printed fabrics throughout this collection. Malik Sibide’s 1960′s African photographs inspired the bold backgammon and ethnic needlepoint prints which compliment the sophisticated silhouettes found throughout Panichgul’s collection. Curtain pleated trenches and embroidered linens give the illusion of a sophisticated traveler while the solid silks in bright corals and indigo blues indicate an ease of movement and bold use of color. Long wave and backgammon printed dresses and solid silk sarong-inspired skirts offer new longer lengths for day. Thakoon’s subtle details such as chiffon/jersey combinations and chiffon back knits offer an element of surprise when least expected.

The Cruise Collections will be in-store at Symphony very soon! Follow us on twitter for up-to-the-minute news and updates, www.twitter.com/SymphonyTweets

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

xxx

www.style.com launch a reality TV show?

This is possibly the oddest news we’ve read all week, but Style.com have confirmed that they are launching their own reality TV show called “North of Madison“ …

In an official statement, Style.com announced

Generate Productions, United Entertainment Group and Doron Ofir Casting, in conjunction with Style.com, officially confirm and announce the search for the next big voice in fashion.

North of Madison will offer the unprecedented opportunity to document your life and personal world as one of NY’s most creative voices, minds and points of view.

Working with the online destination for all things style in an authentic TV series, you will define to audiences what it really means to be “en vogue.”