 | | Qatari women set to launch fashion magazine |
 MAKING
a foray into the fashion and lifestyle world, three young Qatari
women have joined hands to launch an English magazine from Doha.
Named HauteMuse, the magazine will be published quarterly. Talking
to Qatar Tribune, Fatma Hamad al Thani and Noor Rashid al Thani,
both owners of the magazine, said that each issue would be theme-based
with an innovative layout. "We will... |
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|  |  | | UK Monarchy: How Relevant? |
 AMID
the flag-waving and the street parties to celebrate the marriage
of Prince William and Kate Middleton on Friday, bigger questions
about the relevance of the monarchy to modern Britain lurk like
uninvited guests. Extravagant living in a time of austerity
abrades public sensibilities; unearned privilege is resented,
while snobbery and elitism are seen as dangerously outmoded.
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| |  | | THE PRICE OF
DELUSION |
| COL Moamar Qadhafi is a vain man. Like
the other Arab dinosaurs he has his dyed hair, his designer
shades, his spoiled children and his compound full of sycophants.
He doesn´t want, one day, to be dragged from a rat hole
like Saddam Hussein or hauled from a bunker like the Ivory Coast´s
Laurent Gbagbo. So what´s his calculation? Does he have
one at all? Here in liberated eastern Libya, where the tricolour
Qadhafi banished now flies... |
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Underground fashion thrives in Philippines
AFP
MANILA IN a dark and hot pedestrian tunnel underneath Manila’s university district, shoemaker Julius Wilfredo Gregorio sweats as he sews rubber soles to a pair of hand-crafted leather boots.
The 37-year-old is aiming to make five pairs for the day and avoid getting buried under a pile of orders from his ever-growing list of cashstrapped fans of fashion.
Since taking over his father’s “Freddie’s Leather Haus” shop in 1991, Gregorio has gained a steady stream of both foreign and local clients who buy his designs that aim to rival those sold in trendy boutiques.
“You don’t have to be a rich action movie star to own topquality boots and be fashionable,” Gregorio said, his sweat dripping as the battered electric fan in the corner struggled to provide ventilation.
“I can make you shoes that will make you feel like one, all you have to add is a little attitude,” he said, pointing to a picture strategically tacked on his display wall of a local action movie star wearing one of his designs.
Gregorio is one of the movers of the Philippine capital’s underground fashion haven that operates semilegally in two pedestrian tunnels on Recto boulevard, where you can find many of the city’s universities.
Over the decades, their tiny stalls and cubicles have come to symbolise defiance of an industry obsessed with ultraexpensive signature labels favoured by Manila’s social elite.
The tunnels’ strategic location has helped clothiers and expert craftsmen gain a cult following among mostly college students short on cash but high on fashion sense.
Shops here sell anything from jeans, boots and leather garments, accessories such as beads and bracelets, to school and office uniforms and athletic gear at friendly prices.
Designs patterned after popular American brands are perennial top sellers, although those seeking a personal touch can bring their own designs while most retailers offer their own cutting- edge concepts.
Price tags range from 300 to 400 pesos (six to nine dollars) for a pair of denim jeans, while cowhide boots can cost up to 4,000 pesos (93 dollars).
This season’s hot tickets are colourful basketball jerseys to be worn in summer leagues organised by various athletic organisations in a country addicted to the sport.
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