Magrabi Optical launches all-new collection from Trésor by Sama

Magrabi Optical's Chief Executive Officer, Amin El-Maghraby, and Designer and 

Chief Executive Officer for Sama Eyewear, Shiela Vance at the launch of the all-new 

Tresor by Sama for the Middle East

The Middle East and North Africa’s largest ophthalmic eyewear and sunglasses retail chain, Magrabi Optical launched today Trésor by Sama, an all-new luxury eyewear collection, created exclusively for, Magrabi Optical, at an event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
More than a year in the making, Sama Eyewear introduces a range designed with the Middle East consumer in mind. A favourite among superstars and international jet-setters, the world over, the latest range, Trésor by Sama, offers unparalleled elegance in a fashion eyewear collection for men and women that perfectly harmonizes opulent materials, innovative designs and sophisticated technologies.

Tresor by Sama's eyewear has been designed for the Middle East
 and will be distributed exclusively, by Magrabi Optical

The region’s leading optical brand, Magrabi Optical, has worked hand in hand with Sama Eyewear for over two decades and in taking their storied relationship to the next level, they have joined forces to create a fashionable, technologically advanced men’s and women’s eyewear collection, which will be available exclusively in all Magrabi Optical stores.
Amin El Magrabi, CEO of Magrabi Optical, shared his elation with the media and guests attending the launch. “It is my great pleasure to celebrate with Sama, our long-rooted partner, the introduction today of ‘Tresor,’ our new luxury fashion collection,” he said. I am proud that Magrabi Optical has become the 1st Middle East optical retailer to launch an International Brand in this region,” he then pointed out.

Tresor by Sama's eyewear has been designed for the Middle East
 and will be distributed exclusively, by Magrabi Optical

Commenting on the latest range, the President and Designer of Sama Eyewear, Sheila Vance, said “whether I am designing custom frames for Hollywood film stars or celebrities, or creating new styles for one of Sama Eyewear's exclusive collections, luxury fashion eyewear is my life. The Magrabi family shares my passion for eyewear and our relationship has brought me great personal joy and professional satisfaction for more than a decade.”
Magrabi Optical has over 160 locations in the most prestigious shopping malls and districts in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE and recently in Turkey. The launch
of the latest range follows their commitment to provide their customers with an unrivalled selection of the world’s finest spectacles and sunglasses.

AL GHURAIR CENTRE SIGNS UP MAJOR RETAIL GROUPS

Dubai’s first shopping mall has signed deals with Landmark Group, Al Futtaim Group and Azadea Group to open stores in its AED2 billion expansion project

Al Ghurair Centre in Dubai has signed up three of the region’s biggest retail conglomerates to its new AED2 billion expansion project.
Landmark Group, Al Futtaim Group and Azadea Group have all committed to bringing a wide mix of retail brands to the mall expansion of the existing Al Ghurair Centre. The expansion is scheduled to open end of summer 2013.
The shop line-up will include major brand names like Marks & Spencer, Mango and Iconic.
There will also be several brands making their UAE debut, including fashion lines George, Crazy 8 and Calzedonia, as well as accessories concept Iam.

“The thinking was to bring in a mixture of popular brands that are well known in this market and new brands that have a strong international track record,” said Ibrahim Al Ghurair, the Managing Director of Al Ghurair Properties.
“We see an opportunity to expand the mid to upper offering so we wanted to create a mix that targets affordable ‘edgy urban’ fashion – brands that are current and fashionable, but accessible to a wide range of shoppers.”
Azadea Group, a fashion and lifestyle retail company that manages 45 international brands in the MENA region is bringing seven brands to the expansion. These include Piazza Italia, George, Crazy 8, Iam, Calzedonia, Mango Touch and Mango.
While Azadea Group will make its debut in the Al Ghurair Centre, Landmark Group has for many years been a key retail partner of the existing mall and is now expanding its offering.
These include popular brands including Iconic, Max, Koton, Nose, Steve Madden, Carpisa, Stride Rite, Emax and Max Burger.
The company is among other major retail groups already o

perating at Al Ghurair Centre, such as Apparel Group, Al Futtaim Group, Rivoli Group, Al Shaya Retail and Jashanmal Group.
Manu Jeswani, Director - Landmark Group, said: “This location has a great heritage. The mall has a great offering for the community it serves and our retail concepts fit beautifully within that space.
“Our stores like Babyshop, Splash, Max, Shoexpress are already operating in the mall and we will be adding Iconic, Nose, Emax, Carpisa, Koton, Funky Fish, Steve Madden, Max Burger including others, in the new extension area. We are confident that this expansion will bring a new energy to the Union Square.”
The main offering from Al-Futtaim group is the UK retail giant Marks & Spencer. The outlet in the Al Ghurair Centre will offer a wide range of women and children’s clothing.
Scheduled to open in summer 2013, the Al Ghurair Centre mall expansion will boast an additional 375,000 sq ft of gross leasable retail space with 150 new stores, taking the total number to 350 stores and 855,000 sq ft of gross leasable area.
Family entertainment will come in the form of Sparky’s – the premium entertainment brand owned and operated by the Saudi-company Al Hokair Group.
The hotel management company Rotana kicked off the expansion in December with the opening of the Al Ghurair Rayhaan five-star luxury hotel and the Al Ghurair Arjaan serviced apartments.

End of Season Boat Trip (very limited Space) with Xventures

End of Season Boat Trip
Friday, 17 May 2013
2:00PM to 7:00PM

when the world prepares to welcome the summer and the joys of the heat and fun it brings,
Here in the middle east we prepare to hibernate, not from the cold but from the
HOT, HOT, HOT

Join us on this 5 hour unique experience Boat trip, As we shall promise you nothing but pure fun with your family, friends.
bring nothing except your super postive enthusiasm. 

Headings  towards the  Islands  for some Dolphin spotting, as we sail along to our destination for a 2  hour water sports stop filled with Swimming, Snorkeling, Donut Rides and Banana Boat.

This is an all inclusive trip that has got all you can eat - wide selection of salads, sandwiches, snacks and deserts. As much as you need to satisfy your thirst with bottomless selection of Spiritual drinks and shakes, don't forget to hydrate your bodies with the flow of water and soft drinks. 

Adults: AED 325/pax 
Children(below age of 10): AED 225/pax

VIEW FULL DETAILS

VIEW FROM YOUR MOBILE

www.x-ventures.ae

0555 404 500

Lebanese Designer Trunkshow on Moda Operandi

PREORDER FROM LEBANESE DESIGNER

NOOR FARES’S F/W 13 COLLECTION ON WWW.MODAOPERANDI.COM

Noor Fares's fall collection takes shape (and flight) in geometric motifs and winged creations. The finishing touch? The emerging jewelry designer engraves a protective eye on the inside of most pieces, an homage to her Lebanese heritage.

Available for preorder on www.modaoperandi.com until April 26th 2013, 11 PM EDT

ValleyDez SS'13 New RTW

SS’13 New RTW

Find colours and prints to suit your mood with collections from C’est Moi, Fyodor Golan, Prey of London, Leila Shams and many more available in store now.

JC DE CASTELBAJAC

   Prey of London                  SWASH              Tramp in Disguise

For more updates follow the ValleyDez Blog for the latest on fashion. www.valleydezblog.com

VICTORY FOR JULIUS BAER TEAM IN JULIUS BAER BEACH POLO CUP, DUBAI, 2013

  - Sold-out audiences enjoy a weekend of beach polo

The Julius Baer team won a thrilling 6-3 match over Maradiva team to secure the inaugural Julius Baer Beach Polo Cup, Dubai, 2013 at Mina A’Salam yesterday. 

The final was watched by a sell-out audience on the beautiful stretch of beach transformed into a beach polo field by mamemo productions. With the sun quickly setting on a stunning weekend of action, the pulsating grand finals was a fitting finale to Dubai’s exciting sporting event.

Julius Baer team captain and patron, Rashid Al Habtoor was awarded the Julius Baer Beach Polo Cup Dubai 2013 at the official prize giving ceremony.

Sam Katiela, ‘Beach Polo Cup’ Creator & Founder as well as mamemo productions’ Managing & Creative Director, said: “The final was a wonderful way to complete a memorable weekend for the return of the ‘Beach Polo Cup’ to the heart of Dubai. We are so proud of how the event went and we hope Dubai thoroughly enjoyed themselves at what was ‘something a little different’ for the events scene here.”

He added, “We could not have asked for a more entertaining final and along with the beach polo there was so much more for people to experience. Corporate hospitality was abuzz with activity throughout the weekend.”

Julius Baer Beach Polo Cup, Dubai, 2013 was played on a pitch a third smaller than a regular polo field, which meant the spectators were closer to the action. Each team had three players (Reduced from the usual four).

It was a unique take on the traditions of polo and proved to be a winning formula for spectators who flocked to the stunning venue.

A charity auction was held prior to the closing ceremony, showcasing modeled replicas of white horses which were built during the 2 day event and painted beautifully by attending children. All four horses were sold at the total price of AED 130,000. In addition, the Julius Baer management pledged a cheque of AED 50,000 bringing the total to AED180,000. All proceeds were donated to the Noor Dubai Foundation.

The successful realization of the Julius Baer Beach Polo Cup Dubai 2013 could not have been possible without the support and involvement of its sponsors for the four competing teams, Julius Baer Group, Aston Martin, Le Clos and Maradiva, as well as all the event partners involved.

City Centres promote a greener earth for Earth Day

Sharjah City Centre and Deira City Centre are doing their part to protect the earth in recognition of Earth Day, annual global event on April 22^nd celebrated in more than 192 countries with the aim to raise awareness of environmental issues.  

Educating shoppers about waste conservation and recycling, Sharjah City Centre is encouraging people to visit the mall on Earth Day and exchange their plastic bags for a re-usable jute bag. Durable and convenient, these jute bags are made from all natural materials and can be used for shopping and day trips, minimizing plastic bag waste. Over 1 trillion plastic bags are used every year worldwide, or 1 million bags used every minute*. A single plastic bag can take more than a year to degrade, resulting in a variety of threats to the environment.

Shoppers can also visit Deira City Centre’s LOVE Art gallery to view a unique photo exhibition displaying ‘trashion’ – a fusion of recycled goods and fashion.  The ‘trashion’ outfits were part of a school community project and fashion show hosted by Mirdif City Centre earlier this month, raising awareness of the importance of recycling amongst young children.

Peace and Sport Dubai Forum 2013

·         6 Ambassadors and Champions for Peace engage with the local Media

·         Sky Dive Dubai and UAE Armed Forces fly the Peace and Sport message sky high with a jump over The Palm

Hisham El Gerrouj

Today, Monday 22^nd of April, the Peace and Sport Dubai Forum 2013 Organising Committee is holding a press conference in anticipation of the first time this event for peace through sport takes place in the Middle East under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council. The Peace and Sport Dubai Forum 2013 will start tomorrow, Tuesday 23^rd and run through to Wednesday 24^th of April at the JW Marquis in Dubai.

The press conference will include an update on the Forum proceeding by Dr. Ahmad Al Sharif, Chairman of the Forum Organizing Committee as well as Mr. Joël Bouzou, President and Founder of the Peace and Sport “L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport”. The two will be followed by a Q&A session with 6 of the 11 attending Peace and Sport Ambassadors and Champions including Moroccan running star Hisham El Gerrouj, Rania Elwani Egyptian Swimming Champion, Honey Thalijeh, captain of the Palestinian Women’s National Team, Danish Sprinter, Wilson Kipketer, Iranian Badminton player Kaveh Mehrabi as well as Captain Fareed Lafta, from Iraq.

Mr. Joël Bouzou, President and Founder of the Peace and Sport

Themed, “Building Sustainable Peace through Sport, Together.”, the Forum program will offer a wide range of workshops and plenary discussions focusing on strategies to encourage Arab and global leaders to build sustainable peace through sport policies, and to showcase opportunities for sport-based initiatives to become active as a major factor in shaping societies and fostering the dialogue between nations in conflict.

The opening workshop, titled ‘Leading the way’, will define the basis and the format of the two-day Forum starting from leaders’ visions for global peace to create open and interactive discussions to foster sustainable solutions. All elements of the Forum are designed to offer a platform on which stakeholders can present their case studies as well as offer a unique networking opportunity between local, regional and global high-level decision-makers. The Opening Ceremony will be held on April 23^rd at 20:00.

One of the special sessions that will be run in the two day event will revolve on how sporting events can be used as soft diplomacy between conflicting parties. A recent example to the success of such discipline is the 2011 Qatar Peace and Sport Table Tennis Cup and ICC World Championship Semi Final between India and Pakistan.

Jump for Peace

Additionally, Members of Sky Dive Dubai and the UAE National Army jumped for Peace, carrying the flag of the United Arab Emirates along with the Peace and Sport Dubai Forum 2013 banner over the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai on April 20. The initial event was initially postponed for bad weather last month. The jump is one of over thirty accompanying activities that took place over the past 6 weeks around the UAE in support of the Peace and Sport Forum in order to spread the message of building sustainable Peace through the use of Sport.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.peace-sport.org

HGST HOSTS ‘FUTURE PULSE’ EVENTS ON OPTIMIZING STORAGE FOR DATACENTER AND MOBILE CUSTOMERS AND CHANNEL PARTNERS ACROSS EMEA

HGST (formerly Hitachi Global Storage Technologies and now a Western Digital company, NYSE: WDC), the preferred provider of leading OEMs in both HDD and SSD storage solutions for enterprise, will be hosting a series of nine ‘Future Pulse’ customer and channel events across Europe and the Middle East.

The roadshow events will address:

• The latest innovations and best practices for storage from HGST, the company that invented the hard disk drive (HDD) and routinely advises the largest cloud datacenter companies and notebook manufacturers
• The impact of storage on new market opportunities
• HGST’s insights on market trends and strategies that can help drive customer businesses forward over the next 12-18 months, including:
• By application and drive, how to deploy  SSDs and HDDs in tiered architectures for greatest total cost of ownership  (TCO)
• The latest innovations in performance and capacity drives,  including the use of helium
•  Emerging cold storage platforms that will revolutionize both the types and the amount of content that can be stored
• The latest on hybrid drives

HGST will share best practices regarding how its broad portfolio of products and services complement the demand for cloud storage, provide the most cost effective solutions for every environment and help customers run a more efficient storage solution. Press and analysts will also have the opportunity for one to one briefings with HGST spokespeople, including Nigel Edwards, Senior Director, EMEA Sales, and Nicolas Frapard, Director Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa at HGST.

The Dubai event will be held on Tuesday, 30 April from 9:00 am onwards at Radisson Blu, Dubai Media City. Presentations will be delivered at 9:30 – 11:30 by Nigel Edwards, Senior Director, EMEA Sales, and Nicolas Frapard, Director, Southern Europe, Middle East at HGST.

Additional roadshows will also take place at the following locations:

• Munich – 16 April
• Dusseldorf – 18 April
• Warsaw – 19 April
• Moscow – 23 April
• St. Petersburgh – 25 April
• Dubai – 30 April
• Utrecht – 2^nd May
• Paris – 21 May
• London – 23 May

HP Leads Workstation Industry with Solutions for Creative Professionals

Fusion-io’s Steve Wozniak selects HP workstations to advance computing architectures

DUBAI  — At the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show in Las Vegas, HP demonstrated its leadership and market expansion in the media and entertainment industry with solutions that drive innovation and performance for some of the world’s most demanding customers. 

Jeff Wood

HP Workstations deliver top performance to creative professionals in deadline-driven segments of media and entertainment enabling them to carry out anything from creating visual effects for the next epic blockbuster film, to the Oscar-winning editor who works from his basement.

“Our customers are continually pushing the limits of their creativity and requiring consistent technology performance improvements from one project to the next,” said Jeff Wood, vice president, Worldwide Product Management, Commercial Solutions Business Unit, HP.  “As the workstation industry leader,⁽¹⁾ HP continues to look for innovative partners, new solutions and demanding customers that drive results for the creative professional.”

 

HP is working with Fusion-io to integrate the Fusion ioFX memory tier into the award-winning line of HP Z Workstations. This is the latest example of HP’s commitment to developing innovative solutions and performance improvements specifically for the media and entertainment segment.

“I consider HP one of the best engineering companies in the world, so I’m thrilled to see HP and Fusion-io working together to advance workstation computing architectures,” said Steve Wozniak, chief scientist, Fusion-io. “The Fusion ioFX brings the intelligence of the Fusion-io approach to HP’s incredible workstations, adding even more powerful application performance to the precision engineering HP is known for around the world.”

Additional information about HP Workstations is available at www.hp.com/zworkstations.