A Fashion Visit to Dubai
2004 and updated August 2008
Dubai, for those not in the know, is in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East. It is known as “the shopping capital of the world” and it might very well be. It is a modern city built in the middle of desert. Sheik Mohammed and his family have run it as a kingdom for many generations. They have created an incredible green modern city with the newest forms of technology, especially in the ways of irrigation. No money has been spared. The city is a cross between Miami Beach and Las Vegas. It has the look of a beach resort combined with a modern city of huge skyscrapers.
All of the famous international hotel chains already have huge hotel complexes here. The Ritz Carlton, The Mandarin, Intercontinental are among a few of the hotels. These are deluxe hotels with all the bells and whistles. You can choose a hotel to stay in either in the city or at the beach, which is less than a half an hour away. I chose the city but went to the beach several times, for either lunch or water sports. It is a beautiful city and immaculate. Literally you can eat off the sidewalk, I mean the actual sidewalk. This city is also known for its safety. Most people do not lock their cars or houses. One reason for this criminal free city is they are very strict on crime and the government has placed the prison near the center of the city …I think just to remind all that they mean business.
The population is multi national. Many foreigners come here to work for several years, as there are no income taxes, or sales tax, only a 4% tax on some imports. Usually a firm makes a worker sign a three-year contract and they will provide housing. Rents on apartments are generally inexpensive. Previously, foreigners could not purchase property, but this year that has changed and it is allowable.
Every brand of clothing or cosmetics is here or about to be launched. Each hotel has large shopping arcades and there are at least 6 large independent shopping centers. These are so beautifully organized with valet service everywhere. There are also some centers that are located in large office complexes, but all centers are within half an hour’s drive.
If you visit and do the tourist thing, which is not much, as the city is so young …please skip the desert ride…. Trust me it is not pleasant. You can not visit any of the mosques, if you are a woman, but you can hear the call to prayers five times a day no matter where you are. The calls are somewhat eerie. There are prayer rooms wherever you go, so people do not have to go to a mosque when the prayer call comes.
Most people that live there and are Arabic wear traditional robes. The men are in crisp white robes and the women are in black. The men’s head gear range from the traditional wrap to a baseball cap. The man that we pictured is proud of his NY Yankees cap.
All the men’s robes have pockets, as everyone owns a cell phone. The women’s heads are covered either by the traditional scarf or some of the women are still totally covered except for eye slits. It seems incongruous for the city to be so modern and that the population is still wearing the dress that their grandmothers wore centuries ago. Though what’s underneath I am sure are the latest outfits from the European designers since the main preoccupation is to shop…so let’s shop!
***Villa Moda, the world famous store from Kuwait has just opened a branch here. It is located in a large office complex. It is huge. All on one floor with separate stores for contemporary and men, but all are connected. A beautiful café and bar will be used for entertaining and also for a daily place to drop in to. There is a large glass enclosed area off the café that is empty except if they are having a trunk show and then that becomes a separate selling area. The day that I visited they were setting up for a Chloe show. Lots of young good looking sales people wander the store and are very willing to take you for a tour. The store is mainly filled with European designer brands with a few casual American brands like Seven Jeans. Some cosmetics and shoes complement each area. I was there in January when the temperature was about 80 degrees every day and they had lots of heavy fall clothes, not to be worn there but for those clients that travel. I am sure they know what they are doing, but it was the largest specialty store that I have every seen with lots of designer clothes very scantily spaced around. I do not think rent is that inexpensive anywhere in this city but the location seems a little off the beaten track. One thing is that he has made that building’s other retail space very valuable.
Tel: 04 330 4555 and at The Emirates Tower
Also at Emirates Towers the fabulous Lebanese restaurant called Al-Nafoora.
City Center is the most popular shopping center. It is anchored by Carrefour and Ikea with a local department store named Studio R. There is a vast variety of fast food and movies in the center, 11 screens. Everything makes you feel that you are in the United States, except there are some shops that are so foreign to our eyes. Their Arab robes are usually custom made and there are shops that make them which look like The Custom Shop with bolts of fabric to choose your robe from. They have similar stores that showcase women’s robes. It is so strange to walk into women’s store with everything on the rack in black and the sales people are all men. Another category of stores that are very foreign to us, is the Arabian perfume stores. Everywhere you look there is another store of essences and oils in order to mix your own custom fragrance. The bottles are just beautiful. These stores are very upscale and posh and their fragrances are very, very expensive. However, most of the western higher end cosmetics are sold through a group of stores called Paris Gallery and they have bought a lot of the American brands. However, they do not have individually manned counters, so I think sales are not optimized.
Some of the stores in the center are: Zara, Mothercare, Mac, Debenham’s, Docker’s, 9 West, Top Shop, Calvin Klein Jeans, Mango, Polo Jeans Company, Mexx, Aldo Shoes, Diesel, Next, Giordano, Esprit, Sketchers, Levi Store, DKNY, and many others. Most of the U.S. brands are the lower priced or the jeans segment of the collections.
While I was there the top English music titles were In The Zone by Britany Spears, Blue by Guilty, Life for Rent by Dido, Seven by Enrique Iglesias and Turn Around by Westlife. The Arabic top 5 were Jalsa 6 by Mehad Hammad, Fadel Shaker by Sidi Rohi, Another One Thousand and One Nights by Said Mrad, Now Dance by Arabiaa, and Myriam. All available at one of the many Virgin stores.
***XVA Gallery-att: Mona Hauser-in the 97 150 624 0722
The one unique store that I visited is this gallery/boutique/hotel/café and clothing boutique. It was just opened by a woman from Arkansas who came for a visit with her husband that was a veterinarian and attending the Sheik’s horse team and never left. She picked the old section of town called Bastakiya, where other galleries and restaurants were also opening. Pictured are some of the restaurants in the area that are popping up. It has the feel of a Soho. But her good taste and worldly fashion sense has made this gallery the place to go. She works with young artists and designers to make unusual one-of-a-kind art and fashions. It is also the only chic boutique hotel in town, so the 8 rooms are already booked for several months. Each of the eight rooms are decorated differently and have either a whimsical or modern Arabian look.. If you visit please try to meet Mona as she is very kind and knows everything about the city.
She invited me to a wedding that night at my hotel’s ballroom. Picture 500 women all dressed in black robes drinking juices, eating and dancing till dawn. Wedding parties are either for men or women but never mixed.
The Third Line Gallery in Al Quoz industrial park
The Gold Souk
Even though there are other souks, each devoted to a single product
( i.e. technology, fabrics,spices etc.), the Gold Souk is the one to visit. The old souk is about a city block long with the new gold souk attached. There are hundreds of small shops that sell only jewelry. I went thinking that I could buy some inexpensive copies of brand name pieces, but it was not there. Their copies are interpretations and are all in gold that is a different color than what Americans are used to seeing. The traditional pieces are very tempting but my life style back here does not beckon for this look. I am glad I went but did not buy anything.
Speaking of jewelry this is a category that is very well developed here. Each hotel has the well-known stores and each international brand has a major collection of high-end looks on display. They tend to show the showier pieces. Sean John would have a ball here. Lots of bling-bling. The local chain here is called Damas, who sells most of the prominent global designers.
Dining:
Each hotel has a multitude of restaurants that showcase different International cuisine. They demonstrate modern ethnic richness, but the main hotel to dine in is the Burj Al Arab.This hotel has become the symbol of Dubai, and its image is on all the license plates. It is a giant hotel built to resemble a sailing ship and placed in the middle of a body of water. Rooms are all suites and start at $750.00 U.S. a night. I chose to dine instead of staying there, which turned out to be a wise decision. At the time I was there, the hotel was totally filled and 95% were Russian. The Russians are the ones that are traveling these days and have so much money that they fill most of the grand hotels in the Middle East. The shopping and the beautiful weather are very inviting to them. As this is such a large part of the tourists in Dubai, a lot of restaurants have staff that are Russian or speak the language.
The hotel is exquisitely luxurious. It is the most opulent hotel I have ever seen. Everything is in gold. It is a little over-the-top but it works here. The restaurants are also always booked very far in advance so if you are planning on a trip, book before you go. I chose the Al Mahara Seafood Restaurant on the top floor. The owners of this hotel are the people behind the Armani venture.
Fax: 971 4 3016076 or 301 7601 Telephone: 971 4 301 7777
Whats in the future:
Prestige is the trades show organization for the upper to high-end fashion and lifestyle brands. I think this is a great show to have your first exposure to the Middle East. You would not be looking to sell stores directly but to find a distributor. It is organized by Planet Fair Dubai LLC. They can be reached by fax 971 50 659 0074 or email ashraf.sharaf@planetfair.com or www.planetfair.com/dubai
Dubai Festival City, the 2.5 million square feet retail and entertainment center planned for the banks of the Dubai Creek
The world’s largest shopping center with over 1000 retailers expected.
And many more Americans will be tempted to visit this fabulous city.
Updates:
2006
Etoile by Jacques Garcia- in the mall of the emirates- new couture store
2008 updates
Park Hyatt Dubai- new hotel with Amara Spa
Brownbook- a publication of what’s doing in arts and life style- Publisher Rashid bin Shabid
S*uce-independent boutique
Essa- top fashion designer-owned by Zayan Ghandour
50 degrees C- high end gift store-owner Shahi Hamad
Five Green-avant garde fashion and art store
Traffic- huge gallery-designs- -7000 ft of one of a kind- in Al Barsha
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Seawings Seaplanes- www.seawings.ae-best way to see Dubai-about $200- @ Jebel Ali- about 45 minutes from downtown
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Raffles Hotel- has Fire and Ice and China Moon restaurants
Special Ostadi Restaurant on Al Mussalla Road, Bur Dubai-old part-small and old
The Palace Hotel- Thiptara Royal Thai-Thai food- in the Old Town
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Mall Shopping:
Dubai Mall- ice skating, large aquariums
Burjuman Mall-
Dubai Festival City Mall
The Mall of Arabia – coming