https://arab.news/pcffu
RIYADH: Saudi designer Shahd Al-Shehail’s sustainable luxury label Abadia stormed the Riyadh Fashion Week runway with a new collection that married style with comfort.
The label — which earlier this month secured international investment at a roadshow hosted by the Saudi Fashion Commission in New York City — played with form and fabrics as models showcased elegant ready-to-wear pieces that reflected Saudi identity.
From satin abayas to flowy cotton skirts and structured shirt dresses, each ensemble was a covetable piece.
The show kicked off with models walking the winding runway in monochromatic looks. From elegant sleeveless coats that swept the floor to panel skirts paired with stylish fitted tops and cropped jackets, it was a diverse showing.
Another piece that caught the eye saw a model wearing a form-fitting black silk dress with a brown leather harness.
The label’s signature mouj ruching technique — an intricate wave-like ruching that fits and adjusts to the wearer’s body — also made several appearances on dresses and tops.
Abadia, which gets its name from the melding of the Arabic words for timelessness (abadi) and desert (badiah), debuted its first collection on the sidelines of Paris Fashion Week back in 2018 and has been worn by the likes of Jordan’s Queen Rania and US singer-songwriter Alicia Keys.
The family-owned brand, co-founded by Shahd Al-Shehail and her aunt Naeema Al-Shehail, aims to empower and support Saudi female artisans by integrating traditional crafts such as sadu, a weaving technique, and naqda, a technique of pulling thin metallic threads through cloth, in their designs.
The brand works with luxury deadstock material and end of roll remnant fabric from garment manufacturing and uses real leather only when the designers are able to trace where it comes from and how it was tanned and processed, according to the label.
“Any fabric that is leftover from the cutting process is repurposed into creative accessories, packaging and toys,” they add on their website.
DUBAI: Indian actress and producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas turned heads on the red carpet of the newly returned Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI) in a glittering gown by Lebanese couturier Tony Ward.
She chose a twilight-embroidered white and gold tulle dress, paired with a pure white taffeta cape.
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The 41-year-old Hollywood and Bollywood star – who lives in Los Angeles with her husband Nick Jonas – took to Instagram to share photos of her look, captioning the post, “opening night. Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival @mumbaifilmfestival.”
On the opening night, Chopra Jonas, the chairperson of MAMI, presented the Excellence in Cinema Award (International) to Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, who will also deliver a master class at the festival.
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Guadagnino is best known for films such as “Bones and All,” “Suspiria,” and “Challengers.”
The ceremony took place at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Center, marking a long-awaited return of an event that went online during the coronavirus pandemic. The festival’s organizing committee, the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image, announced in February that it would be returning as an in-person event with backing from telecommunications firm Reliance Jio.
In her opening speech, Chopra Jonas highlighted the festival’s role in supporting new talent as well as championing female filmmakers. She said: “We’d like to acknowledge the pivotal role of women in front of the camera and behind – we have some of the most amazing women, some of them here tonight, whose contribution to cinema is unparalleled.”
Chopra Jonas will share screen space with John Cena and Idris Elba in the upcoming film “Heads of State.” “Nobody” filmmaker Ilya Naishuller is directing off a script by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, with an initial draft by Harrison Query based on Query’s original idea.
Chopra Jonas was last seen on screen appearing with Sam Heughan in “Love Again,” a remake of the 2016 German film “SMS fur Dich,” based on a novel by Sofie Cramer.
Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival is screening more than 250 films in a 10-day run until Nov. 5.
DUBAI: Following reports that US actor Matthew Perry was found dead at age 54 on Saturday at his Los Angeles home, the show that catapulted him to stardom paid tribute to the beloved actor.
The official “Friends” and Warner Bros. accounts posted about the news on Instagram, writing: “We are devastated to learn of Matthew Perry’s passing. He was a true gift to us all. Our heart goes out to his family, loved ones, and all of his fans.”
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who went to Rockcliffe Park Public School alongside Perry, said he would “never forget the schoolyard games we used to play.”
Maggie Wheeler, who played Chandler Bing’s on-and-off-again girlfriend Janice on “Friends,” wrote on Instagram: “What a loss. The world will miss you Mathew Perry. The joy you brought to so many in your too short lifetime will live on. I feel so very blessed by every creative moment we shared.”
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In his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” Perry talked in length about his struggles with substance abuse and noted while he was promoting the book that he had been clean for 18 months but had “probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober.”
Following appearances on “Boys Will Be Boys” and “Growing Pains” in the 1980s, Perry’s big break came when he landed the part of the sarcastic Chandler Bing on the NBC sitcom about a group of 20-something pals living in New York City alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer.
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After premiering in 1994, the hit series went on for 10 seasons and found new viewers in recent years thanks to streaming platforms.
The cast reunited in 2021 for a well-received reunion special on HBO Max. During the special, Perry grew emotional while speaking with his former costars about their special bond.
“The best way that I can describe it is after the show was over, at a party or any kind of social gathering, if one of us bumped into each other, that was it,” he shared. “That was the end of the night. You just sat with the person all night long and that was it.”
He continued: “You apologized to the people you were with, but they had to understand you had met somebody special to you and you were going to talk to that person for the rest of the night. And that’s the way it worked.” As some of his costars began to tear up, he finished: “It’s certainly the way it worked with all of us. It’s just the way it is.”
At the time of writing, none of Perry’s “Friends” co-stars had shared tributes of their own.
LOS ANGELES: Actor Matthew Perry, who gained fame in the 1990s as the wise-cracking Chandler Bing in the top-rated US television comedy “Friends” and chronicled his decades-long battle with substance abuse in a memoir last year, died on Saturday at age 54.
His death was confirmed in a statement posted by NBC, the broadcast network that aired “Friends” for 10 years, on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
“We are incredibly saddened by the too soon passing of Matthew Perry,” NBC Entertainment said. “He brought so much joy to hundreds of millions of people around the world with his pitch perfect comedic timing and wry wit. His legacy will live on through countless generations.”
The Los Angeles Times and TMZ.com, both citing unnamed law enforcement sources, reported that the American-Canadian performer was found dead in a hot tub or jacuzzi.
NBC News, citing an unnamed representative of Perry and a law enforcement source, reported the actor was found dead of an apparent drowning at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Ironically, Perry’s last post on Instagram, on Oct. 23, was a photo of him sitting by a pool or jacuzzi at night, with him writing, “Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I’m Mattman.”
Perry was best known for his longtime role as Chandler in the hugely successful “Friends,” which ran for 10 seasons on the NBC network from 1994 to 2004, co-starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow.
The series made international celebrities out of all six castmates, playing a close-knit group of young adults who shared space in one another’s apartments and met for coffee at the “Central Perk,” a fictional Manhattan cafe.
One of the major storylines involved a clandestine romance between Chandler and Monica Geller, the character played by Cox, which the four other friends — Rachel, Joey, Phoebe and Ross — each discovered one by one. The two characters eventually marry.
The entire group came back together 17 years after the series finale for a much-ballyhooed reunion special that aired on HBO Max in 2021.
But none ever managed to rekindle quite the level of individual stardom and commercial success they garnered as the ensemble cast of what was for a time the most watched US television program in prime time. Each reportedly earned $1 million per episode at the height of the show’s popularity.
Hidden from the public’s view during much of the original run was Perry’s prolonged struggle with addiction to prescription drugs and alcohol, which he detailed in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.”
“Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead,” Perry wrote in the opening of the book.
In a New York Times interview published in October 2022, Perry said he had been clean for 18 months, telling the newspaper: “I’ve probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober.”
Perry recounted in his book that he had to be driven back to rehab right after shooting the episode of Chandler and Monica’s wedding.
Following “Friends,” Perry went on to star in three more network television ventures that proved short-lived — “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” “Mr. Sunshine” and “Go On.”
Through his career, he also logged guest appearances or recurring roles in other hit TV shows, including “The West Wing,” “Ally McBeal,” “Scrubs” and “Beverly Hills, 90210.” His motion picture credits included “Fools Rush In,” “The Whole Nine Yards,” “Almost Heroes” and “Three to Tango.”
The Massachusetts-born actor grew up in Ottawa after his mother, a Canadian journalist who once served as press secretary to former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, divorced Perry’s father and married a Canadian broadcast personality.
Trudeau’s son and incumbent Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute to his boyhood friend, calling Perry’s death “shocking and saddening.”
“I’ll never forget the schoolyard games we used to play, and I know people around the world are never going to forget the joy he brought them,” Trudeau wrote on X.
As a youngster, Perry became a top-ranked junior tennis player before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting and improvizational comedy.
CAIRO: Egyptian tourism authorities are expecting a 20 percent boost to revenue during this year’s winter tourist season.
Starting in November each year, tourism traffic gradually picks up, reaching its peak during December and January.
Tourism expert Abu Al-Hajjaj Al-Amari told Arab News: “The Tourism Promotion Authority has made great efforts. This year, as part of its plan, it will host 44 exhibitions and has added 18 new tourist markets, including Brazil, India, Jordan, South Korea and Kuwait.”
He said: “The winter season is thriving in the cities along the Nile, and this summer’s performance was good for Egyptian tourism.”
Luxor in the southernmost part of Egypt is the most popular destination for winter tourists.
Experts believe that hotel occupancy rates will reach up to 90 percent.
Osama Abdel Ghani, head of a tourism firm in Luxor, told Arab News: “This winter tourist season is expected to be the best in Luxor’s history since the 1990s, thanks to the government’s concerted efforts. Their support for the tourism sector was evident in the increased number of tourist visits during the summer.”
He added: “The majority of tourism companies and hotels in Luxor already have reservations from countries around the globe. The new tourist season is expected to surpass previous years by more than 20 percent. Preparations are underway to provide excellent services to tourist groups during their stay in Luxor.
“With increasing tourist demand, Luxor and Aswan stand as the most suitable cities to welcome visitors from various European countries.”
The Cultural Tourism Marketing Committee said that the season looks “promising” in the context of Egypt’s stability.
Its chairman, Mohamed Othman, told Arab News: “The tourism sector has been actively preparing for the upcoming winter season by participating in archaeological and tourism exhibitions, most recently the Russian exhibition, where participation increased by 60 percent compared to 2022.
“Joint trips between Hurghada and Luxor, which offer diverse tourist experiences, are among the attractions that the sector is focusing on for the next winter season.
“The English market is expected to increase the number of its flights to four per week. The Chinese market is also expected to make a strong comeback, particularly in the cities of Luxor and Aswan, along with other attractions along the banks of the Nile.”
Othman said that these inflows “are projected to raise the average tourist expenditure by approximately 20 percent compared to 2022.”
DUBAI: British Moroccan model Nora Attal this week shared images of her latest shoot with Italian fashion house Prada for the label’s Fall/Winter 2023 campaign.
The catwalk star wore a black figure-hugging dress with a collared neckline and pocket detailing on the chest.
Attal posed for the pictures against breathtaking scenery while holding the luxury label’s Arqué re-nylon and brushed leather shoulder bag.
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The Fall/Winter 2023 collection was first presented during Milan Fashion Week in February.
French Algerian model Loli Bahia walked the Milan show alongside Gigi Hadid. Bahia sported a black cropped duffle coat with a structured hood and a calf-length pencil skirt. She wore black heels to match and added a pop of color by wearing yellow false lashes.
Hadid stepped on the runway in a long tailored grey coat layered over a black jumper. She also wore a pair of matching grey shorts, adorned with delicate white three-dimensional flowers, while her look was elevated with a pair of pale blue high heels.
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This week, the brand also released their holiday campaign that featured Prada ambassadors US actress and singer Maya Hawke, British actors Damson Idris and Louis Partridge and South Korean actress Kim Tae-Ri.
Attal was first discovered by Jonathan Anderson, founder of the JW Anderson label, and shot a campaign for the British fashion house in 2014 before she had even taken her first steps down a catwalk.
She would go on to become a runway fixture. Based in London and signed to Viva Model Management, Attal has worked with a number of renowned designers and stylists. She has walked the runway for major fashion houses, including Fendi, Chanel, Tod’s and Valentino, to name a few.
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In September, Attal walked the runway for British luxury label Burberry, led by creative director Daniel Lee, at London Fashion Week.
The catwalk star wore low-waist tailored pants, a cropped printed blouse and a blazer with fur detailing around the sleeves.
Her outfit was part of the brand’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection that was showcased at London Fashion Week.
