Name Dr. Naif Al Mutawa
Domain Business
Naif al-Mutawa loved comics as a boy and developed a passion for story telling but, like many Kuwaiti men, was pushed towards an academic career. He studied psychology in the US, gaining a number of degrees, including a PhD - later applying his skills as a doctor of clinical psychology. Through it all, however, he still thought about his desire to do something else. From that, The 99 was born – a now hugely successful comic book series focused on heroes displaying attributes that are revered in the Islamic world. The proprietary rights of The 99 are held by Al Mutawa’s Teshkeel Media Group, which specialises in creating, re-engineering and exploiting all forms of children’s media based on or infused with localised Arab culture. With plans afoot to create several theme parks as well as an animated television series, Al Mutawa has shown that the only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys. Cool.
Name Reem Al Khalifa
Domain Business
Putting paid to the adage ‘pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work’, Bahraini national Reem Al Khalifa turned her passion into an original and thriving business. Back in 2006, after becoming a certified perfumer in the US, she set up Green Bar Inc. in Manama with the ambition to produce natural oils and moisturizers using only local ingredients. The idea came about thanks to Al Khalifa’s exposure to yoga and ayurveda via which she was exposed to the fragrance, flavour and therapeutic powers of plants and herbs. Nowadays Al Khalifa, who likes to call herself the “Witch of the East”, can be found in her garden lab blending ever more concoctions. Her job lands on our cool list, as it’s thoroughly refreshing to see a young Arab lady, especially one that descends from a royal family, venture so far from the beaten track and successfully pursue such a distinct and environmentally friendly career.
Name Karim Jaber
Domain Business
Lebanese businessman, Karim Jaber is a founding partner at Addmind, a regional hospitality concept creation and management company. While he may only be 30-years-old, Jaber can already say he has made a mark in the Middle East having established some of the hottest nightclubs, restaurants and lounges in Beirut, Damascus and Abu Dhabi. It all started for Jaber when he opened a small bar called Pulse in the newly renovated Downtown Beirut area. With the success of his first venture under his belt he has gone on to create and manage such venues as Eight, White, Gem, Dome, Brut and Jet. His job by day consists of finance management, staffing, concept creations and consolidations but its at night that the fun kicks in: “doing the rounds, checking up on venues, entertaining guests and clients”, this job is certainly a cool one. Oh and let’s just say that the money isn’t so bad either.
Name Zaha Hadid
Domain Fashion/Art
Women traditionally don't rise to the top in architecture - not on an international level. So just imagine how extraordinary it must be to actually be the first woman to actually break through that glass ceiling. Now imagine you’re an Arab woman too. So amazing is Iraqi-born Zaha Hadid’s work that when she won the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 2004, the judges said she would have been famous even if she'd never built a thing. Nevertheless, she will go down in history for such landmarks as the Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre and the Guggenheim Museum in Taiwan among others. Nowadays Hadid has become so influential that she is asked to lend her hand to just about everything from tables, to sofas, lights, taps even kitchenware. Impressive for a notoriously short-fused, allegedly tyrannical, hugely imaginative yet sweetly charming Arab woman isn’t it? Hadid has redefined cool altogether.
Name Sheikh Saud Al Thani
Domain Fashion/Art
For a while, 43-year-old Sheikh Saud Al Thani had the greatest job known to man. As chairman of Qatar's National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage (NCCAH), Sheikh Saud (who’s also the second cousin of Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the ruling Emir of Qatar) spent eight years buying almost 2 billion USD worth of art. Al-Thani bought feverishly across the board: Islamic art, vintage photography, rare jewels, objets d'art, 18th century French furniture, natural history books and specimens, vintage cars, textiles, Egyptian and Roman antiquities, Art Deco furniture - even sweeping up entire libraries in his wake. The fruits of his labours sit in air-conditioned warehouses around Qatar, awaiting display in the new museums that will run along the Bay of Doha’s corniche. Unfortunately for Sheikh Saud he has remained under house arrest since 2005 when he was charged with misusing public funds. As they say ‘All good things come to an end.’
Name Loai Naseem and Mona Al-Haddad
Domain Fashion/Art
This husband and wife combination has taken the Saudi fashion scene by storm in recent years. The creative team behind Lomar, a maker of stylish, unconventional thobes, are dressing their clientele in an inventive manner while distinctively allowing individuality to be brought to the forefront. Naseem had previously worked for several large advertising agencies before he decided to step into the world of fashion. Despite the lack of a formal training, he took the plunge in order to correct a market of its conventionality. Five years on he’s having a blast and making a handsome profit while working day-in and day-out with his wife at his side. The Lomar focus is detail-centric, stressing simple, clean lines with edgy touches such as hidden zips. Initially there was opposition to this modernisation, but over time the brand came to be recognised for its pioneering ability to bring about progress in Saudi fashion.
Name Remy Munasifi
Domain Entertainment
With more than a million viewers of his YouTube channel, thousands of Facebook friends, a CD of his ‘16 most tolerable songs’, and a t-shirt of his alter ego “guaranteeing you an additional screening at the airport” on sale, Remy Munasifi, an American comedian of Lebanese origin, has undoubtedly and unconventionally made it big. But then again, the day the now 30-year-old informed his parents that he was dropping out of law school to start his GoRemy YouTube channel must have been awkward to say the least. All the same, Munasifi has become so popular that one of his sketches, which involved a question regarding taxation that he set to music, was played during a televised 2008 United States Democratic Presidential Candidates debate. He has demonstrated that success in the 21st century can be achieved from the comfort of your living room: is that cool or what?
Name Sanaa Hamri
Domain Entertainment
Hamri was born in Tangier to the late Moroccan painter and author Mohammed Hamri. After winning a scholarship to attend Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, Hamri was able to study theatre with the hope of becoming an actress. Upon graduating Hamri never had much success in auditions so she decided to try her luck at directing. Without a single filmmaking course, she managed to teach herself the ropes even perfecting the craft of using an Avid-editing machine. Realising she had a talent Hamri approached the music industry, where she has succeeded to the point of working with such superstars as Usher, Mariah Carey and Jay-Z. One of the few famous Arab directors to make it so big, Hamri did not stop there, she managed to make the transition from music videos to features while also directing television with credits for multiple episodes of Desperate Housewives, Greys Anatomy, and Men in Trees. Cool? Hell yes.
Name Mohammed Saeed Harib
Domain Entertainment
Originally created as a six-page study book in 1998, Harib’s pet-project Freej only fully materialised in 2003 once it was aided by funding from the Sheikh Mohammed Establishment for Young Business Leaders. Harib, who received his degree in art from the North Eastern University of Boston, in the States wished to use humour wrapped in the form of a cartoon as a platform on which to discuss and spotlight topics that would normally cause a stir in a region more used to censoring such discussion. With 816,000 USD Harib was able to set up Lammantra Pictures and his 3D animated series finally premiered across the GCC in September 2006 becoming an overnight success. Portraying four Dubai-based women trying to live a peaceful life in the midst of the ever-expanding city around them, it became not only the GCC's first, but its biggest, animated series to date. Harib’s outlet for expressing his views and thoughts without leading to conflict is positively cool.
