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The people who make the things, the places and the arguments worth reading about.
Sometimes there comes a story of someone overcoming adversity such as war, poverty, and displacement – to achieve beyond expectation. The story of Mark Haidar is one of those. In 2011, Mark Haidar and his business partner Scott Harper pooled their combined savings of just 50 USD to foun…
CEO Sami Khoreibi sheds light on how solar power is taking over the grid. His company, Enviromena, is spearheading the way for this hot technology in the Middle East. The future is now, according to Sami Khoreibi, CEO of Abu Dhabi-based Enviromena. With a growing list of large-scale sol…
War, terror, people smugglers, storms, nothing could get between Syrian swimmer Rami Anis and his dream of sporting glory. Meet one of the athletes who competed in the Refugee Olympic Team in Rio 2016. Rami Anis rolled to one side of his single, carelessly made bed, then to the other. H…
Unbelievably, it has already been 20 years since one of the world’s greatest fashion powerhouses, Milanese duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, ventured into the world of menswear. In honour of their one-fifth century, Bespoke was granted access to the industrious pair. “It’s the end…
James Clar emerged in Dubai as a prominent figure in the contemporary art scene, building his reputation as a creative master of neon light and technology. Now based in Brooklyn, New York, the artists’ star is rising as he capitalises on a generalised hunger for conceptual works that me…
With so many social media stars turning fashion designer it’s hard to filter the good from the bad. Dubai-based Mariam Yehia caught our attention for all the right reasons. Wearing a fitted purple Lakers tank and little makeup, Mariam Yehia at first doesn’t look anything like the colour…
Gabriel & Guillaume is an ephemeral gallery of decorative arts that’s got eclecticism at its very core. Started by a Lebanese woman and a Frenchman, neither of whom are trained designers, it’s an unconventional business that has found success among a cultured customer base. Standing…
When architect Nabil Gholam first saw Villa Z, an old abandoned house damaged by years of civil war and military occupation, it was far from love at first sight. From an architectural perspective, it was no gem, with a façade covered in rough stone coursing and a red tile roof that seem…
Founded in 1950, Vitra has made an art form of collaborating with the world’s best designers to create groundbreaking, iconic furniture and now they have a new gabled brick structure to house their 7,000-plus furniture portfolio. Clearly, this creative incubator is in better shape than …
Looking at Marc Quinn’s most recent work in the Middle East, as part of an inaugural ‘The World Meets Here’ group show in Dubai’s Custot Gallery, it’s difficult not to reflect on what a far cry it is from that which first brought him to fame. If “blood head” doesn’t sound familiar, then…
Donatella Versace has confronted death and addiction and come out the other side. Still staying true to the baroque-inspired sexualised and glamorous aesthetic established by her late brother, Gianni, she is staging the ultimate comeback, one that is totally Donatella. Donatella Versace…
As Wikipedia – the free, open content digital encyclopaedia created through the collaborative effort of a community of online users – celebrates its 15th anniversary, its co-founder, Jimmy Wales, says his dream is that every single person on the planet has free access to knowledge. Acco…