Photo: Ziga Mihelcic
Saying that the last few months in the region have been eventful is an understatement. In Doha, Fifa successfully wrapped up its World Cup, with the Moroccan team making history. In Saudi, the sparkling Red Sea Film Festival brought international names to the Kingdom. In Cairo, framed by the Great Pyramids of Giza, Dior presented Kim Jones’s latest collection. And in Dubai, we celebrated with pomp and circumstance our annual Ball of Arabia, in our most successful edition to date honoring divas Nabila Ebeed, Georgina Rizk, and Latifa. Let’s also not forget that post Covid, and due to clever leadership, the Middle East fashion market saw this challenging time as an opportunity, resulting in a booming state of affairs with consumers engaged and happy to spend locally. Who can resist shopping in the fabulous Dubai Mall, or the recently opened Place Vendôme Qatar?
As we write on this month’s cover, Arabia is definitely winning, with our market at the epicenter of now. This naturally inspired us to start 2023 by profiling people who embody this glorious moment for the region. And who else besides cover star Ons Jabeur? The Tunisian athlete is currently number two in the tennis world ranking, and is the first and only Muslim and Arab tennis player – male or female – to reach a grand slam final in singles at both 2022 Wimbledon and the 2022 US Open. As we enter a new year, we applaud Jabeur’s drive, confident that she will rise to the top spot in the world ranking.
This month, we are also dedicating a full inside section to the rise of Egypt, as the country is currently undergoing an economical and cultural transformation with endless opportunities and potential. As we all know, Egypt has been inspiring the world since antiquity, and present times are no different. On page 103, French designer Olivier Rousteing penned a very personal letter to the North African country, as Egypt was the main inspiration for his latest resort collection and one of his obsessions since childhood. Photographed by Bassam Allam and modeled by actress Salma Abu Deif, the images we produced focusing on his exquisite designs are some of my favorites in this issue, taking me to a future that respects the region’s past, but lays the path for an incredibly exciting time ahead. Also part of this special section, we celebrate the style and music icon Dalida, who would have turned 90 this month, and we question when various Western countries will return to Egypt some of the artifacts that have been stolen and smuggled illegally from the country in the past. A new year is a blank page, and it’s never late to start doing the right thing.
