Raya Abirached with her cover for Vogue Arabia’s London supplement
On July 10, Vogue Arabia hosted an intimate dinner at London‘s iconic department store Selfridges. On the bustling Oxford Street, Selfridges is the one-stop shop for all fashion and beauty enthusiasts and so, it was the perfect locale for our readers from the UK to join Manuel Arnaut, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Arabia in celebrating the cover star of our special London supplement, Raya Abirached, who dazzled in Arab designers Marina Qureshi and Sadafa.
Arab royalty, designers, top businesswomen, and other guests were first welcomed by Shashi Menon, Vogue Arabia Publisher and Founder & CEO of Nervora, for an exclusive reception at the private shopping area, followed by a dinner at The Corner. The chic restaurant at Selfridges boasted a revamped setting just for the dinner. It started off with an appetizer of spiced aubergine purée with wild rice, and Datterini tomatoes, followed by the entrée, spiced slow-cooked lamb with couscous, pomegranate, almonds, and yogurt. For the vegetarians, the entrée served was fattoush with chickpeas, summer vegetables, and yogurt. Pistachio rose cake with raspberries and whipped cream was served for dessert to end the dinner on a sweet note.
Executives from Selfridges, Steve Sacks, Customer Director, and James Servini, Head of Personal Shopping were also in attendance and delighted guests with their speeches. “It was an honor to co-host our dinner with Selfridges — such an iconic shopping destination in London,” said Arnaut giving his speech. “This was the perfect opportunity to celebrate all our readers based in the UK and superstar Raya Abirached, who graced the cover of our first ever London special.”
Entertainment to the dinner was brought in the form of magic by renowned English magician, Katherine Mills of her eponymous TV show fame. As a trip to Selfridges is never really complete without a spoil, guests were treated to luxury goodie bags containing a face toning device from NuFace, a Thameen fragrance, from the French apothecary brand, Buly, soap personalized with calligraphed names of individual guests, rose and caramel chocolates from Selfridges as well as the Vogue Arabia June magazine and the London supplement.
Read Next: Special Supplement: Vogue Arabia Travel Guide to London
