Contrary to the norm in Dubai, where bigger is better, Nadine Khoury, Dania Atallah and Mimi Shakhashir combined their passions for bohemian chic, floral patterns, diva paintings, and quirky East-Asian meets Middle Eastern art deco, to introduce a more authentic touch to their new shop.
As a result, O’ de Rose, a store dedicated to art, furniture and fashion, is not your typical boutique that you may frequent at the mall or even come across on the street. Rather, it is a very special old villa adorned with traditional arches, old marble tiles, a spacious interior and high ceilings making it just the right home for their one-off clothing and furnishings.
As you enter the shop through its laser-cut Phoenix on metal doors you are welcomed in a unique manner and immediately made to feel at home. Shakhashir handed me an Indian u-shaped silver cup filled to the brim with rose water. Khoury, the furniture guru of the three then steps in and offered refreshing rose scented towel. Lastly, the flowery Atallah chatted to me about the pink staircase in her home as I sip on rose water. This is the O’ de Rose owners philosophy- they welcome you into their own home, not their shop.
Without a doubt, these ladies not only know how to entertain, but have tried to think of everyone in their wide array of products with universal appeal ranging from clothes for all ages whether infants or adults, to furniture and even collectibles. There is linen-wear by famous St. Tropez designer Sunday, Gaïa & Gino designs commissioned to Karim Rachid and Andrée Puttman as well as mixed media pop art paintings by Sol of divas like Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. The personality of O’ de Rose is so varied that you’re bound to love something or everything about it. “I believe in timelessness,” smiles Shakhashir.
The displays are fashioned in a very homely manner with a pleasant mélange of modern meets traditional on the shop floor. Living room tables by Lebanese designer Karen Chekerdjian are placed in front of Sol’s pop art paintings of Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. Right across, Nada Zeineh’s stylized orchid shaped tables are arbitrarily placed under a floral painting by Racha Nawar. “It’s important that the authentic meets traditional standards,” Atallah shares.
Another section of the villa was filled with authentic furniture by Bokja, two Lebanese designers that use a patchwork of old and new fabrics, from such areas as Kazakhstan, Turkestan, and the Caucasus. Often peeling fabrics in good shape from old pieces of furniture, they revamp a motif and apply it onto a modern design. “Everyone that walks in, be they Russian, Iranian, Turkish, Kurdish, or Pakistani tell us that Bokja’s textures look just like their native designs. This is probably because Persian, Caucasian and Turkish motifs are historically intertwined,” explains Shakhashir.
As she is speaking I notice an old Indian intricately carved wooden shelf placed about half a meter from the ground. It has been painted white to look like an extension of the villa’s walls; a practical thing to put your memorabilia on.
Perhaps my favourite piece in the shop was a Stocking Floor Lamp by French designers Cai, made up of three plexi-glass bubbles placed one over the other and then camouflaged with beige crochet lace. When lit, the lamp’s crocheted embroidery reflects onto the walls of the villa akin to a chandelier’s prisms reflecting sunlight. But my decisiveness didn’t last long as I became taken by other awe-inspiring pieces. And then all bets were off as I discovered what some of the regular clienteles call the ‘Wow Room.’
This is a dimly lit room filled with glamorously antiquated jewellery boxes housing ornamented accessories that overflow from their drawers. Another Cai crochet lamp – this time in red – reflects burgundy light onto the anthracitic walls of the room. It actually feels like you’re walking into an enchanted treasure trove, with gemstones set in silver rather than platinum so as to keep up an antique-like understated effect.
O’ de Rose is an entirely new retail experience, offering clients a space to escape. You could call it a style haven, fusing Arabic, Asian and Western sensibilities and mixing contemporary chic with ethnic tradition.
