As a magnet for the luxury goods trade in the middle east, Dubai has traditionally been regional location number one. Last week, however, nearby Abu Dhabi staked its claim to the title, anointing itself not just capital of the United Arab Emirates but capital of luxury consumption, via the first annual Masters of Excellence event, an orgy of 80 luxury brands and their products, held under the gilded domes of the Emirates Palace hotel over four days.
The T-shaped island capital of Abu Dhabi, which stretches like a cat's paw into the Persian Gulf, is the largest, richest and most populated of the seven emirates but it is still, relatively speaking, an emerging market - oil was only discovered in 1958. "Graff has had a presence in the Middle East since the 1970s and we've seen Abu Dhabi emerge from a small fishing village into a very important international capital city," says Francois Graff, managing director of his father Laurence's eponymous company. "Nowhere else in the world has seen such growth."
Large swathes of the city, predominantly flanking the broad boulevard of Palace Street, are taken up with the high-walled compounds belonging to the royal family. Each Sheikh is entitled to four Sheikhas, who may - and do - dress in haute couture in private. No wonder that, according to Jean-Philippe Richard of Belloir Jallot, decorators for the Masters of Excellence event, the Arab market is the biggest in the world for couturiers, accounting for 40 per cent of their business. One wedding alone can underwrite a house for a year. When this is combined with Abu Dhabi's status as the richest emirate and its 1 per cent crime rate and average 40°C temperature, it is no wonder it is such an attractive oasis for the international luxury caravan.
Opened in 2005, the pink marble Emirates Palace is the new city's architectural poster girl. It covers a similar acreage to Buckingham Palace with a wingspan comparable to the chateau of Versailles. Approached by tiers of verdant, palm-planted lawns, the 7-star palace stretches the length of Abu Dhabi's longest private beach. It is the kind of joint where your cappuccino froth is flecked with gold leaf, the gift shop sells stuffed peacocks and the ballroom seats 2,400 guests.
As the centrepiece of Masters of Excellence, high jewellers Bulgari, Harry Winston, Graff and Chopard showed catwalk presentations of their biggest gems on four consecutive nights, each time framed by nationally appropriate fashion: Valentino for Bulgari; Donna Karan and Calvin Klein for Winston; Vivienne Westwood, Giles and Matthew Williamson for Graff; and Christian Lacroix, Emanuel Ungaro and Givenchy for Chopard.
As well as the couturiers and jewellers, Masters of Excellence displayed yachts in the newly built marina, watches by Patek Philippe, Piaget, de Grisogono and Chanel to name a few plus tableware by Lalique, Hermès, Villeroy & Boch and Nymphenburg.
"The idea is to present the top brands in the world to Abu Dhabi," says Denis Muller, managing director of Emotion, the Dubai-based luxury events management company behind Masters of Excellence, who has also organised haute couture gala dinners in Egypt, Beirut, Istanbul, Qatar, Jordan and Bahrain. "In this part of the world it is vital to reach the palace and the way to enter the palace is not always easy." Masters of Excellence is hosted under the patronage of Sheikh Hamed and on the first day of the show Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed visited the static displays twice, giving the event the royal seal of approval and encouraging his court to shop.
"Do not underestimate the importance of bringing all these brands to the doorstep of the palace," says Muller, who also reports the palace had sent for the Valentino Couture, and a closed show for the benefit of the city's most important sheikhas was swiftly organised to present a selection of all the catwalk designers. Treasures sent for by the palace included a Graff 100-carat intense yellow cushion-cut diamond with a retail value of $10m.
As Graff says: "There is a huge amount of competition in the Middle East. Jewellery has been thrown at the sheikhs and sheikhas over the past 20 years and they've seen everything. There is a traditional appreciation here for the rarest, largest stones. It is treasure and they have a history of collecting treasure."
They do not, however, have much history with the more radical English designers, so the presence of the British contingent was an interesting test case. Wisely, Vivienne Westwood went easy on the "War on Propaganda" prints from recent collections, highlighting instead bitter chocolate satin siren dresses knotted over one shoulder and magnificent ball gowns such as a crystal encrusted corset and black satin-swagged ankle-length crinoline reminiscent of 1950s Dior, and Edwardian fishtail skirts in crystal or rustling taffeta complete with bustle.
Meanwhile, London "It" name Giles Deacon scored on many levels (he was also the only designer who actually showed up to front his own selling operation for made-to-measure pieces). "We have customers from the Middle East and we are definitely here to sell," says Deacon. "I think there's a perception that the Arab market is lagging behind Europe or the US. This is totally untrue. We find that our clients here have seen our show either on the internet or on television and they know which pieces they would like to see."
Those pieces included intricately pleated and gathered pink chiffon strapless mini dresses and cut cream silk empire line dresses tied with a silver bow as well as long sleeved, floor-length evening dresses and breezy coral-layered chiffon caftans with scalloped, crystal-encrusted edges. "I find it intriguing that behind the palace walls, the women probably dress like Queen Rania of Jordan," says Deacon. "We may not see them but I think this is a very sophisticated market that we're keen to cultivate."
Go Middle East, young man.
