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the Burj Khalifa, Dubai I have long been fascinated with the possibilities offered by certain Middle Eastern locations and it would seem that major brands both American and European are as well. Construction-crazy Dubai suffered some financial setbacks recently but there are already signs that it is bouncing back mere months after the crisis. Bloomingdale's opened two stores (one for fashion and one for home) in Dubai this February, the first outside of the USA. The 160-room Armani Hotel Dubai o pened this week in the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. The rooms are decorated in dark leather and zebra wood, with marble floors and furnishings from the Armani Casa collection. The hotel boasts three boutiques, which in addition to apparel and accessories, carry Armani-branded candy and flowers! There is also a spa, which features thermal baths and bespoke therapies using oils blended (and branded) by Armani. There are eight restaurants and lounges, including a sushi bar a

One more comment about how video saved the day during the volcanic disruption and I'm done. Just watched what I have always thought to be the best chat show on television, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross . His guests were scheduled to be Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jnr. promoting the new Ironman movie plus Demi Moore who also has a film out called The Joneses. None of them made it to London but all were interviewed over satellite instead. OK, it wasn't perfect but better than not at all and still fun to watch. I am going to miss this show when it goes off the air in June. 

There has been a great deal of fall-out from the Icelandic volcano with the totally unpronounceable name, Eyjafjallajökull, and I am not just talking about molten lava. It has been fascinating to see how creative people get when faced with a situation they have no control over, a veritable act of God. If there is one positive outcome from this unprecedented situation it is universal recognition of just how useful video communication can be. Yesterday EU transport ministers were forced to use video-conferencing in order to hold emergency talks on easing the air travel crisis . The New York Times published a great article yesterday on this topic. British Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Cisco Systems and Skype all reported big upswings in usage since the disruptions to travel began six days ago. In fact Cisco seems to have taken the lead in this area with catchy ads highlighting the benefits of video to the community, healthcare, public safety and education. Cisco even hired a movie st

Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, 1981 I was surprised to hear that Malcolm McLaren had died in a Swiss hospital on April 8th. First because I had no idea that he was sick and second because I knew that it was Vivienne Westwood's birthday (it's on the same day as my own). It was rumored that Viv was at his bedside but then that turned out not to be true. Those present however did include their son, Joe Corré (founder of coolest lingerie line on the planet, Agent Provocateur), and Vivienne's elder child from her first marriage, Ben Westwood. Ben Westwood She made a brief yet poignant statement, below taken from Vogue.co.uk "[He was] a very charismatic, special and talented person," Westwood told the BBC. "The thought of him dead is really something very sad." Corré on McLaren As a mere fan, nothing I can say about McClaren and his impact on music, fashion and culture can hold a candle to the words of his own son. Here is what Joe had

New artwork has been installed on The High Line since last year, a mixed-media piece by Valerie Hegarty entitled A utumn on the Hudson River with Branches. As Hegarty describes it, her piece will "appear as if nature has become the artist, altering the idealized image of the early American wilderness to be a more layered representation of the area and times today." Here is what the High Line website has to say, Valerie Hegarty's artwork often poses as artifacts of art history gone awry. Through the combination of real and fabricated components, Hegarty leaves the viewer to wonder at the veracity of the transformation. For the High Line, she will create and install a work that imagines a nineteenth century Hudson River School landscape painting that has been left outdoors, exposed to the elements. Hegarty’s painting is based on Jasper Francis Cropsey’s painting, a bucolic landscape that shows none of the affects of the Industrial Revo

New York City was blessed this Easter weekend with the kind of weather we always hope we'll have on Memorial Day and so often don't. Having found Universal Force unexpectedly closed in observance of Good Friday, My Naam yoga buddy Elise and I decided to take the opportunity to pay a first-time-this-year visit to the High Line . I don't know who first conceived of reclaiming this abandoned elevated railroad built in the 1930s and turning it into a mile-long promenade but it was sparked by genius. Our trip got me thinking about agri-tecture which means combining organic and industrial building materials. There is something so poignant about the way nature will reimpose itself on a post-industrial landscape and the High Line underscores the wild beauty found in any similarly abandoned urban area. Later, I checked out the website of architecture firm, Diller Scofidio + Renfro which had this to say about the project. The master plan for The High Line, an elevated railroad spu

Karl Lagerfeld has collaborated with Coca-Cola Light, not only designing the bottle but shooting the ad campaign too. The ad features the adorable Coco Rocha and Baptiste Giabiconi . I must confess that at first glance I wasn't altogether convinced that it was a fashion + match made in heaven. It's one thing to have his label in your H&M sweater (which I do) and another to have his skinny self adorning the bottle of your favorite fizzy beverage. The special aluminum bottle features an illustration of the designer in profile, in his iconic suit, high-collared shirt and jutting pony-tail. But then I realized that it is for the French market which makes perfect sense. It is being sold in a special presentation package complete with its own bottle opener and for a mere 60 euros it can be yours from the online store at Colette

The iPad l aunched today and these aerial images taken above the Apple store in the Meatpacking District of crowds waiting to buy one tell a convincing story; that this latest product is set to become just as popular and profitable as the iBook, iPhone and iPod.