MOHAMED YOUSUF NAGHI MOTORS (MYNM), the sole dealer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has announced the arrival of exclusive and unique Bespoke collection of Ghost family cars, inspired by the incredible tales of The Arabian Nights.
A series of two-tone paint schemes, with shades inspired by the warm color palette of dusk and dawn, have been specially created by the Bespoke team at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, England, and serve as the perfect backdrop for hand-painted coachlines. These intricately applied detail touches, expressing the Arabic words ‘1000 & 1 Nights’ culminate in an elaborate design that elegantly frames the car’s door handles.
Regarded as one of the region’s most famous works of literature, the epic tales told by Scheherazade to Shahryar have captivated readers and storytellers for centuries.
Toni Yazbeck, brand manager for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars at MYNM, said: “A Rolls-Royce is the perfect canvas from which to commission highly individual motoring masterpieces. The Thousand and One Nights collection is a testament to the ability of the Bespoke progras designers to take inspiration from a rich array of cultures.”
Welcoming One Thousand One Nights Ghost Collection
Welcoming One Thousand One Nights Ghost Collection
Queen Rania celebrates Crown Prince Hussein’s birthday with a portrait featuring Princess Rajwa
DUBAI: Jordan’s Queen Rania celebrated her son Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah’s birthday on Instagram with a newly released portrait of him and his wife, Princess Rajwa.
In the photo, the pregnant Princess Rajwa, who is Saudi, is seen wearing a light, creamy yellow midi dress from the Spanish brand Rabanne. The dress features short sleeves, a round neckline and a gathered detail along one side, adorned with a row of buttons.
The crown prince was wearing a navy blue shirt and matching trousers.
“Happy birthday my dearest Hussein. Can’t wait to see you and Rajwa as parents,” the queen captioned the post.
The royal couple, who announced their pregnancy in April, are expecting their first child this summer.
The hottest music festivals of 2024
- Make your summer travel plans with music in mind
Rock Werchter
Where: Werchter, Belgium
When: July 4-7
What: It might be staged in a quiet village, but Rock Werchter is making a lot of noise on the European festival circuit. It’s been running since 1976, and this year’s eclectic four-day lineup — spread over four stages — shows how respected it has become. Main stage headliners include US rocker Lenny Kravitz, Eurovision winners Måneskin, UK indie legend PJ Harvey, pop princess Dua Lipa, rock giants Foo Fighters (pictured), the genre-bending Khruangbin, and Mercury-prize winner Arlo Parks.
Other must-see acts: Michael Kiwanuka, Jungle, Snow Patrol, Black Pumas, The Breeders, Idles, Royal Blood, Yungblud, Tom Odell
NOS Alive Lisbon
Where: Passeio Marítimo de Algés, Portugal
When: July 11-13
What: With headliners including Arcade Fire, Smashing Pumpkins, and Pearl Jam, NOS Alive will be one of the top picks for ageing alt-rock fans this year. But if that’s not your thing, this festival — tagline “Beach by day, music by night” — still has plenty to offer. Dua Lipa (pictured), again, for one, as well as South African singer-songwriter Tyla, whose blend of pop and amapiano has already won her a slew of awards and nominations at just 22.
Other must-see acts: Jessie Ware, Black Pumas, Sofi Tukker, The Breeders, Michael Kiwanuka, Kenya Grace
Wireless
Where: Finsbury Park, London
When: July 12-14
What: One of Europe’s top hip-hop (and associated genres) get-togethers, this year’s lineup boasts headliners including Nicki Minaj, US-based British rapper 21 Savage, Afroswing pioneer J Hus, three-time Grammy winner Future, pop/rap superstar Doja Cat (pictured), and one of last year’s breakout stars, Ice Spice, over the course of its three days.
Other must-see acts: Sean Paul, Destroy Lonely, Tyla, Uncle Waffles, OsamaSon, Vanessa Bling
Minnesota Yacht Club
Where: St. Paul, Minnesota
When: July 19-20
What: For a festival in its first year, the inaugural edition of the Minnesota Yacht Club event has an impressive, though relatively small, lineup of 20 artists over its two days on the banks of the Mississippi. One of the festival’s USPs is that none of the performances overlap, meaning you’ll be able to catch them all. Don’t expect any cutting-edge underground acts here; the vast majority of the lineup consists of veterans, including headliners Gwen Stefani, Alanis Morissette, and Red Hot Chili Peppers (pictured).
Other must-see acts: The Black Crowes, The Head and The Heart, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, The Offspring, Gary Clark Jr., The Hold Steady
Electric Castle
Where: Cluj, Romania
When: July 17-21
What: In 2019, Electric Castle was named Best Medium-Sized Festival at the European Festival Awards. Its stunning location — in the grounds of Bánffy Castle, the architectural mishmash of which reflects the open-minded approach the festival organizers take to genres — helps, but its also the mix of 10 stages of great acts, art installations, and round-the-clock activities that make this such a rewarding experience for attendees. This year’s headliners include UK trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack, Seattle rockers Queens of the Stone Age, British rock band Bring Me the Horizon, and electronic duo Chase & Status.
Other must-see acts: Paolo Nutini, Nina Kraviz, Rema, Ricardo Villalobos, Sleaford Mods, DJ Shadow
Lollapalooza
Where: Chicago, US
When: Aug 1-4
What: It may not be the haven for outsiders that it originally was, for audience or performers, but Lollapalooza remains an enormously significant event for both. This year’s lineup is a typical blend of acclaimed indie acts and commercial big-hitters. And, often, a combination of the two. Headliners include Megan Thee Stallion, SZA, The Killers, Blink-182, Melanie Martinez (pictured), Hozier, Stray Kids, and Future & Metro Boomin.
Other must-see acts: Deftones, Killer Mike, Conan Grey, Two Door Cinema Club, Nico Vega, Lizzy McAlpine, Jungle, Kesha, Tyla, Renée Rapp
Flow Festival
Where: Helsinki, Finland
When: Aug 9-11
What: Billed as the world’s “first carbon-neutral festival,” Flow is a festival of both music and visual arts (and some pretty great food options). Music-wise, the line-up mostly covers pop and indie, alongside DJ sets and some more experimental acts. This year’s 20th anniversary edition will see around 150 acts performing, with headliners including UK downtempo pop producer Fred again, US singer-songwriter Halsey, English alt-folk/alt-rock legend PJ Harvey (pictured), Jessie Ware, Britpop stars Pulp, and UK singer-songwriter RAYE, whose debut LP “My 21st Century Blues” won the most-recent BRIT Awards’ Album of the Year. There’s some regional representation further down the bill from Palestinian-Jordanian ‘Shamstep’ pioneers 47Soul.
Other must-see acts: Janelle Monáe, Idles, Aurora, The Smile, Alvvays, Barry Can’t Swim
Creamfields
Where: Daresbury, UK
When: August 22-25
What: Arguably the biggest dance-music festival on the calendar, Creamfields is only getting bigger. This year sees the debut of its new indoor stage, APEX, which has a capacity of 30,000. And it continues to deliver lineups packed with the world’s most-popular DJs. This year’s includes Calvin Harris, Tiësto, Jamie Jones, Sub Focus, Peggy Gou (pictured), Fatboy Slim, Pete Tong, and Eric Prydz, among many others.
Other must-see acts: Dimension, Charlie Sparks, Solomun, Charlotte de Witte, Martin Garrix, Chase & Status, Hannah Laing
Fool in Love
Where: Inglewood, California
When: Aug 31
What: Another brand-new festival, but this one is looking back for its future. It’s a one-day event to start with, but has a crazy roster of music legends lined up harking back to the heydays of Motown, disco, funk, and smooth Eighties pop. The headliners across three stages are Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson (pictured), Durand Jones & The Indications, George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic, and Kool & The Gang, but many more icons appear further down the bill.
Other must-see acts: Al Green, Rose Royce, The Chi-Lites, The Isley Brothers, Santana, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, The Jacksons, Dionne Warwick
3 highlights from HIPA’s recent Instagram contests
DUBAI: Here are some highlights from HIPA’s recent Instagram contests.
Heigen G. Villacarlos
The UAE-based Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award has revealed the winners of its recent Instagram competitions — “Culture,” “Contrast,” and “High Key.” Filipino photographer Villacarlos was one of the winners in the latter for this shot taken at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Station, capturing its “beautiful interior structure.”
Mohammed Suliman Alfaleh
The Saudi photographer topped the “Culture” category for this photo of a Kara tribesman in southern Ethiopia’s Omo Valley. “The man’s body is decorated with carvings for the purpose of expelling demons, in accordance with their beliefs,” Alfaleh explained in a statement. It’s his third HIPA win. “Each victory inspires me to seek out new stories,” he said.
Abdelkader Said Allam
For his winning image in the “Contrast” category, the Egyptian photographer returned to a favorite spot: the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. “While I have photographed this structure many times, this particular image captures the perfect interplay of sunlight and shadow, allowing me to realize my vision of the building’s aesthetic,” Allam said in a statement.
Recipes for Success: Chef Javier Arrebola shares advice and a brioche avocado recipe
JEDDAH: Chef Javier Arrebola — a Barcelona native who is currently executive chef at The Ritz-Carlton Jeddah — was all of seven years old when his uncle told him he was old enough to bake his own birthday cake.
“Everything I am comes from my family,” Arrebola tells Arab News. “My uncle is a pastry chef. I remember going to spend weekends with him in my childhood. I’d go inside the kitchen and spend time around the oven and the burners to see how everything works. So, when I was getting to the age where I needed to choose what I wanted to do in life, I always said that I wanted to become a chef and work in the kitchen.”
Having lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for more than two years now, Arrebola says life in the Kingdom was almost instantly familiar. “When I moved to Jeddah, I was shocked to see the coffee shops full of guests at two in the morning. This is exactly like back home in Spain — just exchange the coffee or tea for wine, but the concept is the same: Going out to spend time with friends and family,” he says. “The people here are so warm and welcoming.”
Here, Arrebola discusses his enduring love for all things rice, his favorite ingredient, and his management style.
When you started out, what was the most common mistake you made?
This is kind of silly, but when I was at culinary school, every time I put something in the oven, when I needed to take it out again, I’d put it on the tabletop then turn back to close the oven. When I went back to the tray, I’d forget to use the mitts, so, I would burn myself every single time. It took me quite a few burns before I learned.
What’s your top tip for amateur chefs?
Always try and find the best produce. The higher the quality of produce you have, the better the chance that you’ll make a good meal. If you do anything simple with high-quality ingredients, it can turn into something really good.
What one ingredient can instantly improve any dish? (And why?)
It’s a cliché, but I really believe that it’s love. Cooking and eating has everything to do with memory. It’s about what you grew up eating at home, what your mom, your family, your grandma fed you from the moment you were born. And your favorite dishes, for a long time, will be either the dish that your grandma used to cook or simple comfort food. Even if you go to a three-Michelin-star restaurant, you’d change everything just to have that meal one more time. And what makes the difference between this and another meal is the love that that person poured into their cooking.
What’s your favorite cuisine?
I really like all different kinds of cuisine. I love Indian, Thai, pan-Asian, Japanese... Even here in Saudi they have really good traditional dishes that, even after working in Dubai for a long time, I didn't know about. I'm pretty much open to everything.
What’s your go-to dish if you have to cook something quickly at home?
I’d just go for one meat — like any kind of steak or any fresh fish that I have — then just pan sear with the right seasoning, and some vegetables. In 10-15 minutes, you can get that ready. If the ingredients are fresh, it’ll be a really good meal.
What customer behavior most annoys you?
At the end of the day, our guests are our boss. We can only work in hospitality because we have customers; they pay our salary. The only thing that sometimes can be challenging is the short turnaround time, especially here in Saudi. Everything is last-minute. But, at the same time, that makes it fun. The surprise is exciting.
What’s your favorite dish to cook?
I really enjoy cooking rice dishes. Back home, we have a kind of rice called bomba rice. It's famous and is used in dishes like paella. I worked for three years with one chef that was really passionate about rice and he taught me a lot.
What is the most difficult dish for you to get right?
I think with every single dish that that you make, even if it’s something you’ve cooked for the last 10 years, you can always find ways to improve it. That’s the evolution of the chef. It’s what makes our job. It’s lovely that every single day is a new day.
As a head chef, what are you like?
Hospitality in general is changing. I remember when I started out, you could still find these chefs who would send dishes flying around the kitchen, and they’d be shouting and loud. That’s the old-school kitchen and I think it’s a thing of the past. Everything is moving to a more logical and well-behaved environment. But still, a kitchen without discipline cannot be a kitchen. At the end of the day, we work with fire and machines, so I don't think you want a kitchen without discipline.
Chef Javier’s brioche avocado
INGREDIENTS
For the pine nut tarator:
20g toasted pine nuts; 10g chopped parsley; 1 chopped garlic clove; 3g lemon juice; 50g olive oil; 1g sumac; salt
For the caramelized onions:
100g white onion, thinly chopped; 15g oilve oil; 5g balsamic vinegar
For the rest:
3 quail eggs, poached; 1 radish, sliced; 1 avocado, sliced; 1 brioche bread
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Mix all the pine nut tarator ingredients in a bowl. At the same time, add the olive oil and onions to a pot and cook them on medium heat until soft, then reduce the heat and caramelize slowly until they get a dark brown color. Deglaze with the balsamic vinegar at the very last minute.
2. Poach three quail eggs for 1 min (or longer, as you most enjoy them).
3. Sear the brioche with olive oil and salt, and toast in a hot pan.
4. Spread a spoonful of tarator sauce on top of the brioche and add the sliced avocado. Top with the caramelized onion.
5. Add the poached quail egg on top and garnish with flaky salt. Serve.
High fashion: Saudi label Ashi Studio unveils Riyadh Air cabin crew uniforms in Paris
PARIS: Saudi designer Mohammed Ashi, founder of the Paris-based label Ashi Studio, has unveiled the inaugural cabin crew uniforms for the Kingdom’s new airline, Riyadh Air, which is on track to make its maiden flight in 2025.
The glittering event took place after the couturier’s Haute Couture Week show in the French capital on Thursday.
“What we’ve done is, we’ve taken the golden age of aviation and we are representing it in the current day; it’s a relevant collection,” Ashi said at the grand reveal of his collaboration with Riyadh Air on Thursday evening.
“It’s not cabin crew ‘uniforms,’ it’s cabin crew fashion,” Tony Douglas, the CEO of Riyadh Air, told the crowd at the runway show.
The luxury line is comprised of timeless cashmere outerwear, elegant dresses and trousers made of fine wools, custom leather footwear, amethyst earrings, and pillbox hats, all of which were inspired by 1950s airline fashion, widely considered the “golden age” in aviation - but with an Ashi twist.
For the uniforms, Ashi created an entirely new color tone — Electric Amethyst for womenswear and Dark Amethyst for menswear. The unique amethyst shades pay homage to Saudi Arabia’s lavender fields and are rooted within Riyadh Air’s bold color scheme. The process of creating the color alone took six months, according to show notes.
The fashion collection will be worn by Riyadh Air cabin crew, pilots, concierge agents and airport staff. They will be changed seasonally to keep the looks fresh.
“We feel that he has actually done an incredible job of connecting back to those halcyon days of commercial aviation, the kind of Pan Ams the TWA used (from the 1950s), the “Catch Me If You Can” — with a real modern twist,” Douglas shared, referring to the hit 2002 film.
“What Ashi and his studio have created brings back glamor,” Douglas added.
Ten womenswear looks were shown on the Paris runway, each of which were accompanied by accessories such as shoes, purses and hats. Five menswear looks were also unveiled, with the rest being kept under wraps.
Ashi included distinctive Riyadh Air elements within the concepts, such as adding the canopy twist found in the Riyadh Air brand logo into the silhouettes of some of the pieces.
There were some modest options, including a turban for women, as well as trousers. The skirts were below the knee and embodied a sleek clean design with some high collars on show.
“For a start-up airline to be showcasing our new fashion collection during Haute Couture Week in Paris shows what an impact Riyadh Air is having globally,” Douglas told the crowd to mark the launch. “Working with Ashi on these designs has been a tremendous experience for all of us and we’re all very proud to be able to show off the creations and the full range early next year.”
He was quick to point out that the elegant and chic designs will soon be recognizable in airports around the world.
“The designs will leave a lasting impression on our guests by the proud team members that wear them. When you get up close to the garments you can see the level of detail and intricacy that Ashi has included, which is in complete alignment of our values and attention to detail at Riyadh Air,” Douglas added.
“Designing for the new national airline from Saudi Arabia has had a big impact on me knowing that we are making a mark in history,” Ashi said. “Fashion and aviation have seen collaborations in the past, but its pinnacle was over 50 years ago, and I was keen to be inspired by that time. This is an amazing collaboration where fashion is helping to make an airline modern with completely unique looks. It shows that Riyadh Air has no limits and that luxury and attention to detail is key across every aspect of the experience.”
Riyadh Air will take its maiden flight in mid-2025, connecting the Saudi capital to more than 100 destinations by 2030. Ashi — or at least his creations — will be along for the ride.
