Category: Fashion

Last month I posted about a new multibrand store that’s opening in Hawalli called eFashion. What grabbed my attention was their teaser image on Facebook which had multiple brands that weren’t officially available in Kuwait yet like A&F, Hollister and Under Armor. I didn’t really understand how they were getting all these brands but I assumed it was just old stock. That comment irked the team behind the project which is why they invited me to pass by the store and get a sneak peek.

eFashion is a new project by Eureka electronics and it’s going to be located in their new eMall building located in Hawalli opposite Sultan Center. eMall is what Eureka are calling the building which houses Eureka electronics, eToy family amusement center, eFashion which I am going to talk about now and a bunch of restaurants including Zaatar w Zeit, Cafe Supreme, Nestle Cafe, Mrs Fields, Chiquita Fruit Bar and opening soon the popular Turkish bakery Simit Sarayi and the Lebanese restaurant Villa Fayrouz. There’s also an eSocial Cafe that is opening in a couple of months where all the tables will consist of Microsoft Surface multimedia tables.

eFashion is located on the second mezzanine floor of eMall. Once you step out of the elevator you will walk out into the cosmetics department which separates the sports wear on the left hand side and casual wear on the right. We walked into the sportswear section first where I was met with the familiar Nike section followed by other sections like Puma, Adidas, Umbro, Speedo and more.

What I wanted to pass by was the Under Armor section since it’s a brand everyone wants but nobody had carried until now. I asked them how they were able to get the brand to Kuwait and turns out that Under Armor will officially be coming to Kuwait in around 10 months time but until they do, eFashion will be stocking up on their gear.

Once we were done with the sportswear section we headed into the casual wear section which was divided into three parts, men, women and kids. I walked around the whole area which was still being put together and noticed many brands including A&F, Hollister, Tommy Hilfiger, Polo Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren RLX‎, Lacoste and more. Thats when I brought up the question on how they were able to bring these brands to Kuwait when some of the brands don’t exist at all or even when some of them already do. Specifically I wanted to know how they were able to get A&F and Hollister. According to the person I spoke, the A&F and Hollister clothing is brought in from the US with some strict restrictions by the company which I am guessing is a very limited range of products. You won’t find everything on the A&F website in their store for example and the section is fairly small consisting of one corner and a few tables in front of it. But they’re official A&F products which is all some people will care about. Other brands like Lacoste for example, the line they’re importing is different from what you will find at the Lacoste store in Kuwait.

We started talking about prices and I mentioned Sears which I had also mentioned in my previous post on eFashion. According to them, unlike Sears all their products are current to the season and they also have full size runs of all the items they’re stocking. Price-wise they will also be similar to US prices, so if you find something on the A&F website for example that’s $40, it should cost you around $40 at the store as well.

eMall is currently open but the eFashion floor will be opening in ten days time on August 15th. If you don’t know where eMall is located, here it is on [Google Maps]

Yesterday while on the Eureka Facebook page I noticed they posted about a new store opening called eFashion. My guess it belongs to them but what caught my attention was the graphic above showing the various brands they are planning on carrying.

A lot of the brands are already available in Kuwait but then you have ones like A&F, Hollister and Under Armor that aren’t. Also the combination of luxury brands like Burberry and Givenchy being sold along with brands like Old Navy and Columbia is a bit odd.

The store is opening in around a months time across from Sultan Center Hawalli and once it does things will be a lot clearer. Most likely it’s probably going to be similar to Sears selling really old stock for cheap prices.

Until late last year, my hair cut was pretty simple, I’d just get it shaved with a machine at the small barbershop under my building and that was it. Then one day, I decided I wanted to grow my hair, I didn’t have a plan or anything in mind, I just hadn’t changed my haircut in 14 years and decided I would grow it. A few months passed by and I was in Lebanon with a friend and he decided to take me to his barber called Bob. Bob was really talented and worked on my hair as if it was a sculpture. I hadn’t seen anyone work in the same way he did and by the time he was done I couldn’t believe my hair could look that good. Fast forward a few weeks and I’m in Kuwait, my hair has grown and I’m looking for someone to cut it. I considered flying to Lebanon for a weekend but didn’t think it would be feasible to fly out twice a month for a haircut, I needed someone locally.

I asked my friends and got two recommendations, the first guy I called was on his annual leave so I ended up going to the second barber who ended up butchering my hair. He cut it too short and killed any style that my hair had, it was depressing but the worst part is, a month later I headed back to the same friggin’ guy! Even though he sucked at least I knew what to expect and to me that was a safer bet then going to someone else and possibly ending up with something even worse. My second hair cut sucked even more than the first one since he ended up cutting my hair even shorter. So when one of my contacts called me and told me about a new barbershop she was helping launch, I thought maybe its time I try someone else.

The new barbershop is called His Essentials and is located on the ground floor of Dar Al Awadi. When I got there I was contemplating if I should take my camera inside with me or leave it in the car. I wasn’t expecting much of the place honestly so didn’t think I would take any pictures but in the end decided I would take it in just in case. Once I walked in the place looked pretty cool. It wasn’t very big but the curvy design of the store gives you the impression of a very long hallway that would lead you somewhere, a cool illusion that makes the place look bigger than it actually is. I told the receptionist I had an appointment and he lead me to my barber and his station. I explained to the barber the story of my hair, how the other barber messed it up twice and also showed him photos of when I had first gotten it cut in Lebanon. He told me not worry about it and that he would get my hair looking good again. Right away my barber started noticing where the other barber went wrong. He highlighted the areas the previous barber had cut too short and he then proceeded to tell me how he would fix my hair by not cutting some parts at all and letting them grow. Thats when I started feeling comfortable and I knew I was in good hands. Once he was done I looked at my hair, it was still long and it was starting to get its style back and I loved it. Although not as good as Bob I was happy I had found a good barber locally that would at least not butcher Bob’s work.

Before I left the shop I got a small tour of all the various brands they sold which they’re importing to Kuwait themselves including: Baxter of California, Eshave, Balla Powder, Brooklyn Grooming, Beardition, Emerald Bay Tan and California Tan.

I know from my friends that it’s very difficult to find beard products locally and they had a whole bunch including beard shampoos, conditioners, oils and even little cool beard combs. I ended up paying around KD32 for a royal haircut, a beard trim, a Baxter deodorant and an Emerald Bay tanning lotion. When it comes to haircuts and shaves they have two options for each. The royal haircut costs KD15 and includes washing your hair twice, a head massage, a hair mask and oil while the classic haircut is your regular haircut and costs KD8. The regular beard trim/shave costs KD5 but they also have a royal shave for KD10 and that involves 8 various stages of products as well as cold and hot towels. I’d personally get a classic haircut next time since I think KD15 is just too much to pay for a haircut.

If you’re interested to check out the place their phone number is 22322336 and you can check their instagram account for their opening hours [Here]

Weekly roundup from 248AM Fashion:

Nike X Roundel by London Underground
Rad Hourani Unisex Couture Collection #11
The Fashion Dose
When I Wore Sacoor Brothers
White Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver
All that is Balenciaga
Ann Demeulemeester In Book Deal With Rizzoli

For more fashion related news check out 248AM Fashion

Weekly roundup from 248AM Fashion:

Map Tote at Pink Moon
The Importance of a Tshirt
Roberto Coin: From Italy with Love
Bricolage At Pink Moon
Pearly Moschino
4 + Athnain

Weekly roundup from 248AM Fashion:

For the love of… Grace Kelly
Glamorous Grannies
A Teaser
Al-Ostoura Events
Online Shopping
Toogood Showroom Visit, Paris
Fatma Al Safi on the Cover
Yohji Yamamoto Paris Fashion Week & Marais Showroom
Etro? Yes, please!
Choose the Perfect Choo’s

One of my plans for 2014 is to provide you guys with more content. I already have 248PM where I post random things not related to Kuwait, I also recently launched the Events and the Market section and now I’m introducing another section, one that will focus on fashion and lifestyle.

Last year after not being able to find someone to help me run the fashion section (I obviously can’t run it myself), I gave up on the idea completely until a few months back. Through a series of events I came up with the idea of creating a community driven fashion section in which I would invite various brands and people to participate in it. The brands would get exposure and I would get content, a win win situation.

After spending a few months meeting various people and trying to coordinate a synchronized launched, the fashion section is finally officially up. Currently the following brands have already started participating in the section: Al Ostoura, Al Yasra Fashion, 4, Pink Moon, Violet Concept as well as local fashion photographer Jalil Marvin and fashion blogger Joumana Soufi. There are a few more brands and people who will also be joining soon but I couldn’t wait any longer to launch the section.

So check out the section either by clicking on the “Fashion” button in the top navigation strip or by clicking [Here]

If you’re a fashion brand and you’re interested in being part of that section [Email Me]

On Sixth Street has been extended for one more today, so if you missed it yesterday you can pass by today. I passed by yesterday and thought it was pretty cool and today they’ve supposedly got more vendors taking part as well. For more information, click [Here]

There’s a cool event taking place today in Shuwaikh called ON SIXTH STREET. It’s kinda like Qout Market meets street festival meets fashion week. For more details click [Here]

Saw the tshirts above in my instagram feed and loved them. They’re designed by the doghouse collective and will be available for sale tomorrow evening at Q Cafe in Kuwait City.

via @kookeejeejoh

Lanvin started a 60% sale yesterday on menswear and only on menswear. Turns out they’re closing down the mens section permanently so they’re getting rid of their stock. I picked up a wallet but they also had some good tshirts and you can’t go wrong with their sneakers (although 60% off on KD300+ shoes is still KD100+). Lanvin is located in Prestige section of Avenues between Ralph Lauren and Tod’s.

Friday night I passed by with a friend to the Alshaya Staff Shop in Shuwaikh. The shop is located inside the Alshaya headquarters and its only for Alshaya employees, their family and friends. The store sells heavily discounted leftover stock from previous Alshaya sales, and my friend told me there were a ton of items left over from Harvey Nichols which is why I HAD to pass by.

For those of you who’ve been to the Villa Moda discount store when they were open, you’ll feel right at home at the Alshaya Staff Shop. The place is packed with luxury items but packed on top of each other and you basically need to flip through the items one by one to find anything. The first section I tackled was the shoes and for some reason it felt like Black Friday, so I started flipping through everything as if there was a crowd behind me fighting over the shoes. In reality though, the shop was empty except for me and my friends but I kept getting the feeling that if I didn’t go through the shoes fast enough they would quickly disappear. I panicked, I was all over the place and I was in heaven.

Once I was done with the shoes section I started flipping through the clothes. According to the employee there, the last time the mens section got restocked was three months ago and I was flipping through the leftover of the leftover. That didn’t make sense because I found a bunch of gorgeous Alexander McQueen shirts just sitting there, three of which I had my eyes on when they were still displayed at Harvey Nichols. How those shirts were still available at the Alshaya Staff Shop I have no clue but better for me. Not only were most of these items being sold at 70% at Harvey Nichols when they were on sale, but once they get moved to the Alshaya Staff Shop they get discounted even further and then on top of that discount there is an additional 30% off if you’re an Alshaya employee or you’re with an Alshaya employee.

I ended up leaving with a couple of sneakers and shirts. Just to give you an idea of how ridiculously cheap the prices were, I got the pair of hightop sneakers pictured above for just KD17.5 after discount. KD17.5 for really soft leather sneakers that are more comfortable and look better than my Loubs. Their original price at Harvey Nichols was KD220 and they’re still selling for nearly KD200 online. So if you have a friend that works at Alshaya, force them to take you to their shop. Women are supposedly getting a restock this week.

Kuwaiti designer Tata Botata is back with a new tshirt design, this time it’s the Majed character from our childhood schoolbooks giving the middle finger. It’s priced at $69 but you can get 20% off by using the discount code ‘tatathanks’. [Link]

The ad above appeared in the newspaper a few days ago saying that Abercrombie & Fitch had opened up a store in Olympia Tower so I passed by to check it out. I knew A&F hadn’t opened there and figured it might be just a store selling A&F clothing but I figured I would check it out anyway. To my surprise when I got there I realized the store was actually called Abercrombie & Fitch although they had sneakingly snuck the word “stores” into the name because obviously that makes it ok and somehow magically bypasses any trademark infringement.

The store sells both A&F and Hollister clothing and even though I couldn’t tell if they were authentic or not it really didn’t matter since by checking out the prices of some of the items I realized it would be cheaper to just order directly from A&F online.

On a side note I haven’t heard anything new recently on the rumor that the Chalhoub Group was acquiring A&F.

This is my attempt at a fashion post. I spotted the sneakers above at Harvey Nichols last night and I think they look super cool. I would have gotten them myself if I didn’t already have three pairs of sneakers that look exactly the same. They’re Jimmy Choo and they cost around KD90 after their 50% discount.