I can't honestly say that I know Misha Daoud terribly well – we've met once and then only for a couple of hours - but judging by the frequency with which she uses it, 'Rock Star' may well be her favourite adjective. Ever.
Over the course of a rather genial interview - during which we are repeatedly interrupted by customers who, to judge by the air-kissing and cries of "Habibti" and casual compliments, obviously think of Daoud as a friend - she refers to 'Rock Star chic', 'Rock Star glamour', 'Rock Star style' and yes, just plain 'Rock Star' as well.
You would be forgiven, at this point, for thinking that Misha Daoud runs a promotion agency or failing that, what many years ago used to be called a record store.
She doesn't.
Misha Daoud is the owner of a fashion boutique in Muscat's Jawharat al-Shatti shopping centre, so when she says 'Rock Star', she isn't referring to Hendrix or Joplin, she is referring to something that is creative, edgy, that has attitude.
As a label, it could easily apply to Misha herself. Anglo-Lebanese-Omani (Lebanese by birth and temperament, English by upbringing, Omani by marriage), her boutique, the ably-named Eye Candy, has been bringing a soupcon of glamour into the lives of Muscat's more discerning women for the last two years.
Stocked with a range of clothing and accessories that she describes as "very, very girly”, Eye Candy - like its owner - is a bit of cross-cultural mix, where labels like See by Chloé, Paul and Jo and Jeans by Victoria Beckham share rack space with regional designers like Dinz, Bil Arabi and Essa.
"It's very particular, I'm careful about what I stock," she says, adjusting the volume on the desktop stereo, which usually plays a mixture of '80s music, Soul and R'n'B. "I wanted to cater to girls like me, who (otherwise) had to go to Dubai to get what they wanted."
Intimate and inviting, with its prominent chandelier, black and white fleur-de-lys flock and massive gilt edged mirrors, Eye Candy feels a little like the boudoir of some pre-guillotine chatelaine. Aesthetically, it couldn't be further removed from the bold but mistaken Neo(n) Pharaonisms of the mall and its unfortunate echoes of the interior design travesty that is Dubai Duty Free.
Embroidered keffiyahs, sequined dresses, Ghutra tops, frills and froufrou, it's all a lot of frothy fun but it isn't the reason - or at least it isn't the only reason - that I have flown all the way from Beirut to Oman. No, the eye candy I have come to see is of an entirely different stripe.
Say hello to Funky Maharani, a line of fun, functional and yes, even slightly frivolous jewellery that Daoud has produced locally in Oman.
The collection includes bracelets and rings but most popular of all are Daoud's necklaces. These long, looping strings can be worn on their own, or layered with other pieces of jewellery, transformed from single strand to multi-strand pieces and vice versa by the judicious manipulation of clasps and even turned into bracelets. The idea is that each piece be as versatile as possible.
The designs are all Daoud's own and while she says that she is aware of current trends and the desire of her customers to look as up-to-date as possible, she always designs in a way that ensures her pieces live longer than one season. She also designs pieces that she would wear herself.
"There is a lot of me in this," she says, unlatching the clasps on one of her necklaces, an elegant chain of flat, slender, oversized gold circles, to show me how easy it is to reshape and resize it, "so I'm humbled by how well it has all been received."
So well-received, in fact, that in addition to selling at Eye Candy, and Dubai's Boutique 1 and ex-Villa Moda, Funky Maharani will soon be available at boutiques elsewhere in the Gulf and, by the beginning of next year, in London as well.
It won't be the first time Daoud has sold to the United Kingdom. Her very first collection, marketed years ago under the label Misha D, was sold, lock, stock and bangle to Harrods. Quite a coup for someone who had until then just been making jewellery for herself.
"It all happened so easily," she says rather coolly, "but I couldn't keep up with Harrods' demands and as I wasn't doing it to put a roof over my head, I went back to doing things locally instead."
While most designers would probably sell their grandmothers to have a shot at a spot in one of the world's most famous department stores, Daoud says that for her, family came first and that anyway, mass production was not something that appealed.
If there's no telling where Misha D might have been had Daoud decided to keep going, there's no doubt where she is today. While her operation may still be relatively small scale, it is just as highly prized and it isn't unusual for Funky Maharani to be sold before it even hits the stores.
In particular demand is a rather eye catching necklace that comes laden with trinkets and Monopoly-sized talismans such as shamrocks, Om signs and Eyes of Fatima. Visually, it falls somewhere between a lucky charm bracelet and Coco Chanel's single, iconic strand of pearls.
Think Bling. Or more accurately, think Bling that has grown up, toned down, gone to Finishing School and developed sufficient sophistication to look as much at home on a t-shirt as it does on a cocktail dress.
"More is definitely more at the moment," Daoud says with a grin. "It's all about big statement jewellery."
It's also all about skulls. Or rather about small, grinning replicas of skulls, at least one of which appears to adorn most Funky Maharani pieces, including the necklace Daoud is holding.
"I'm a huge fan," she says, fingering one of them, a particularly cheeky chappie with a manic grin. "They're a bit naughty, so I tend to put them everywhere. They're just so…."
Rock Star?
Daoud laughs.
"Well, people are always telling me that when they wear one of my pieces, they tend to get noticed."
Somehow, that doesn't come as a surprise.
