ELLE (Canada)

GUEST LIST

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metastasiz­ing metropolis of multi-lane highways flanked by hotels, cranes and four-storey billboards advertisin­g Wendy’s Portabella burger. Chanel’s task was to create a spectacle that captured the city’s ultra-modern quality in all its seductive strangenes­s. As Pavlovsky put it, “We wanted to do something you could only do in Dubai.”

The night of the show, the journey began by abra, a traditiona­l wooden boat, from the shore to an island, which until eight weeks previously had neither electricit­y nor running water. Now it had a massive metal hangar with a lattice made of interlocki­ng Cs. Candles in the sand lit the path to the structure, past Bedouin-style tents stocked with hookahs, while gentlemen offered guests coffee served in delicate silver cups. Clients in hijabs and red lipstick posed for street-style pix with their Chanel 2.55s.

The collection itself was a knockout: an Eastmeets-West sartorial mix of textural tweed suits, harem pants and gorgeous patterned dresses and coats. “It was exactly what I hoped it would be: a Marisa Berenson mash-up,” said Tilda Swinton on the sand after the show. Torchlight illuminate­d the skyline, including the coveted real estate on Palm Jumeirah—the man-made islands created in the shape of a palm tree—which is almost twice as large as Central Park.

Later, Karl Lagerfeld and Paradis sat together on a raised structure, bobbing their heads as Monáe sang “ABC” by the Jackson 5 and megamodels Grace Mahary and Lindsey Wixson busted a move on the dance floor. Outside, the first guests lined up to catch an abra back to the mainland, drifting from the lovely fashion bubble into something slicker and grittier: a consumeris­t Shangri-La rising in the desert, its hour come round at last. ■

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Pearls and patterns added exotic glamour to accessorie­s.
SURE SHOT Pearls and patterns added exotic glamour to accessorie­s.
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