m i l LI o n a i r E PA S S I O N & P O W E R

Sheikh Majed Al Sabah and Villa Moda

Souq-ing up
fashion
Three things characterise business in the Middle East, according
to Sheikh Majed Al Sabah, scion of Kuwait’s royal family and
founder of the Villa Moda chain of fashion stores. One: the
fragrance of oil. Two: money is never a limitation. Three:
everyone and the skyline is in a hurry. Millionaire meets the
Sheikh of Chic for a leisurely chat

text Shalini Seth

cover photo Alia Al Shamsi

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“We develop a destination that people really want to come to, go through the
streets where there are lots of containers passing by, with a very industrial
appeal and we build a very romantic building there…”

S heikh Majed Al Sabah, whose family has ruled

Kuwait for more than 40 years, agrees, like others
whose visions are converting blueprints into
fast-evolving skylines across the Middle East,
that financial investment not being a limitation is perhaps
characteristic of business in the region. He adds another
identifying trait: everyone is in a hurry.
At home, he battled
criticism for being a royal
retailer, and once likened
it, hypothetically, to Prince
“I think everybody in the Middle East is always worried about
time. They want to have everything yesterday. Money is no Charles starting Agent
problem. They want to impress people. They want to develop.
Money doesn’t become an issue. With the [high] oil prices,
Provocateur
wealth is in excess. Even our financial institutions are filled with
money. They are now running after people, asking them taking
loans from them. And if you have a good idea…”
Sheikh Majed’s success story is boxed in the socialite pages
of British society newspapers as much as it claims space in the
10,000 square feet of his fashion store in Kuwait, Villa Moda.
At Moutamarat, the International Design Forum in Dubai, of
which he is a board member, you see him ensconced on a shiny

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Swarovski sofa, long legs wrapped around each other, running

his empire long-distance, wearing the austere white dishdasha
that is the signature outfit of the region.
As a prominent buyer occupying the choice seats in the front
rows in Milan or Paris, he began to be noticed in early 2003,
turning up in identifiable designer wear that could be anything
from a $7,500 Bottega Veneta coat, a Yohji Yamamoto sweater,
or a Gucci peacoat over embroidered Maharishi trousers and
Gucci slip-ons.

LOCAL TALENT
Seated comfortably in an alcove in Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah
hotel, we advertently touch upon a topic that has caused some
controversy at a press conference earlier. Asked whether he is
planning to encourage local designers at Villa Moda, he replies:
“No. Because I don’t see the local talent. Local talent is nurtured
by schools and there are no fashion schools here. The local talent,
you mainly see them working at home doing specific garments.
They don’t follow the rules of the fashion industry.”
Maybe Moutamarat, which was a gathering of some of the
biggest names in the world of design, including Dutch designer
Rem Koolhas, the multi-disciplinary Karim Rashid and members

“I wear a lot of Gucci and Prada, D&G and YSL.

These are the brands that I wear the most”

“I am a big traveller, I like to explore things. I am

passionate about visiting souqs and bazaars and
markets around the world.” Villa Moda, Mubarakiya

of the Sharjah royal family, will mark a beginning of sorts.

Sheikh Majed is known for these inspired start-ups.
And for getting his way, eventually. When he started his
first store in 1991, he admits to have been kept waiting
at Giorgio Armani headquarters for one hour before
being told the fashion house was not interested in doing
business with him.
“When we started, there were misconceptions. There
is a lot of ignorance out there – whether the Middle East
market will understand those brands; whether the lifestyle
of the region is conductive to such trends. There were a lot
of people that looked down on the Middle East in the past
– I am talking about 16, 17 years ago, But not anymore.”
At home, he battled criticism for being a royal retailer,
and once likened it, hypothetically, to Prince Charles
starting Agent Provocateur. “The fashion business is seen
in this part of the world as a sort of disgrace for a member
of the royal family. You can’t imagine someone from a royal
family opening a fashion store.”
Criticism notwithstanding, he managed to get American
brands such as Tods, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, >

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“The design of the souqs in Damascus is one you will see

in most of our stores – the shop in the front and the
workshop at the back”

Calvin Klein and Michael Kors, which were at the peak of By early 2003, Sheikh Majed
their popularity then. Villa Moda posted sales of $25 million in
2005. Today, Sheikh Majed can pick and choose – and the New was one of fashion’s
York Fashion Week is not on his list. “I always go to the fashion
weeks in Milan and in Paris. Most of our business is dominated
opinion-makers in the
by the Italian and the French,” he says, nodding at Domenico
de Sole, Gucci’s chief executive, who was the first to open a
United Kingdom, as the
store in partnership with him in 1997. “Most of the ignorance fashion editor of ‘Tatler’, a
comes from America. Europe is easier to manage but the
American people sometimes can’t even locate Kuwait or Dubai magazine that calls itself
on the map.”
‘Britain’s most stylish and
PARTY OF THE DECADE indispensable society guide’
So what did the first royal retailer do when faced with
prejudice and criticism? He threw a party. This was way back in
2002 – and it is still being talked about.

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 “It was our tenth anniversary in the fashion business. We had
this frustration of people not knowing about us, the ignorance
in the West. So we made sure that the designers and press came
over. It was over a long weekend. Before they got to the store,
right at the end, we made sure that we took all the press and
designers to the desert so they could see that we are Bedouins.
We built an entire camp for them; we held the party in a souq,”
Sheikh Majed says.
And is there a lot of the Bedouin influence in his life? “Yes,
there is. Throughout our lives, we have been going into the
desert every winter. We have a semi-Bedouin lifestyle – in
what we eat, the way we sit. All of this influences us. I did not
study abroad. I graduated in Kuwait. I have been in Kuwait
all my life.”
The three-day, $500,000 party coincided with the opening
of his second store in Kuwait City. Guests included Stella
McCartney, Dominico de Sole, Carla Fendi and fashion
journalists from all over the world.
“We had a mandatory dress code. Both ladies and gents had to
wear our traditional dress. That way, we got them to respect our
culture – like when they send you an invitation that says ‘black
tie’ and you respect that. I turned it around.” Sheikh Majed says,
THE FRAGRANCE OF OIL
with more than a little pride. Did the guests get complimentary
In April this year, Milan Design Week saw Rock Royal by Sheikh
clothes? “No, we gave them access [to the clothes],” he says. Majed Al Sabah & Stoique mixing icons and pieces that represent his
By early 2003, Sheikh Majed was one of fashion’s opinion- life, in layers of multiple rock-star tiaras, crowns and peace symbols.
makers in the United Kingdom, as the fashion editor of ‘Tatler’, a “I designed a chandelier for Swarovski. I was invited by Swarovski.
magazine that calls itself ‘Britain’s most stylish and indispensable The philosophy behind the chandelier was the fact that everybody
society guide’. In February 2003, ‘Time’ magazine ran a story – again, this is the build-up from my past – everybody looks at the
Middle East negatively. So I wanted to make an object that is ironic.
about him, conferring upon him the title ‘Sheikh of Chic’.
We are from the royal family, but that object had all the different
Sheikh Majed was determined to bring kaftans to the world. elements from royal families from all around the world. It is made
One of the shoots for ‘Tatler’ involved mixing British blue out of dark silver, the colour of oil and petrol. I want that influence.
blood, such as Daphne Guinness, with Kuwait’s blue blood, all At the same time, that piece also had the fragrance of oil. So we are
wearing kaftans. Close on the heels of his party, Sheikh Majed from the royal family, and the colour is oil, the colour of Kuwait. At the
approached designers with the idea of commissioning a kaftan same time, it brings up a nice fragrance and also it has a lot of peace
symbols. I wanted to show the world that we are a peaceful world.
collection. The first to accept was Prada. And Villa Moda
We are not terrorists.”
kaftans became a brand in their own right. Each year, a different
designer is commissioned to make them. Missoni, Cavalli,
Antonio Maras, Etro and Marni have all stuck their labels on
the flowing garment for Villa Moda.
“We are exceptional because the other retailers promote
international brands. We are the opposite. We promote our
own brand. Villa Moda is made in the Middle East, made in
the Gulf. It is a Kuwaiti brand. We house in that brand a lot of
international brands – it is a sort of Harrods of the Middle East.”

BY INVITATION
Soon, however, Villa Moda of Kuwait is going to be in London.
By invitation. “We were invited to make a store in London. It is
not something that we intended to do. It all happened because >

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“Neither my wife nor my four sisters are interested doing business

with me. So now I am relying on my daughters to take over”

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we were invited. They’ve seen a different fashion concept and a
retail concept that they want to integrate,” says Sheikh Majed.
The London store is scheduled for 2010, and will be a part of the
landmark Battersea Power Station development.
But that is not the next hotspot, according to Sheikh Majed.
“We are opening a bigger project in Qatar; we are opening a
bigger project in the UAE designed by Spanish designer Jaime
Hayon; we are doing another project in Bahrain now, designed
by the Dutch designer Marcel Wanders.”
But no matter where it goes, Villa Moda will take the souq
with it, like the one in the middle of the spice markets of
Damascus, and another in Kuwait called Mubarakiya. “There
are a lot of elements from our part of the world that can be
modernised. We always use the idea of accessibility to products.
In souqs and bazaars you can touch everything, you can feel
everything. We always pick signature architects, young and
talented. And we give them a challenge – if you were to design a
souq, how would you do it?” The most talked about Villa Moda
is in Kuwait. It cost $53 million and is a glass-cube emporium
So what did the first royal retailer do when faced with
prejudice and criticism? He threw a party. This was way back
in 2002 – and it is still being talked about
“If we pick out a place which is near the seaport, it is not a
place where people are used to going to shop…”
in the Shuwaikh area on the outskirts of Kuwait City next to
the container seaport, overlooking a series of burnt-out warships
destroyed by the Iraqis in the first Gulf War and now home to a
colony of flamingos. Designed by Italian architect Pierfrancesco
Cravel, with interiors by the British design firm Eldridge
Smerin, the building is a glass box divided internally into 11
fashion ‘aquariums’.
The giant glass shell of Villa Moda mimics shipping containers,
while 39-foot-high steel poles in front represent ship’s masts.
Sails are used in the parking lot to protect vehicles from the
sun. Customers get concierge service and a personal shopping
companion. They’re also given access to a health spa, restaurant
and business centre. Younger ones can use a bus service to the
university every two hours.
“Being in this part of the world, we have a lot of spoilt and
demanding customers, so whenever they come to the store
they like to see something new, something different. You
have to always develop something different from the norm,”
Sheikh Majed says. >
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Close on the heels of his party, Sheikh Majed approached
designers with the idea of commissioning a kaftan
collection. The first to accept was Prada
TRADITION OF HOSPITALITY
Treating customers and guests like royalty is not a problem. His
mother Sheikha Amthal Al Ahmed Al Sabah was the favourite
sister of the late Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah,
Kuwait’s Emir from December 1977 to January 2006. And
Sheikh Majed values relationships and the Arabian tradition
of hospitality. So, what do the guests go back with, apart from
lessons in the region? “Dates and pistachios, and nuts – I like to
give foods,” says Sheikh Majed without hesitation.
“I think food and children’s clothes always make you happy.
If you end up in a kidswear section in a shop and look at baby
clothes, it will put a smile on your face. Gifts are about emotions.
So when you offer them interesting things from your part of the
world, mainly food, it gives pleasure. I gift plain dates from Saudi
Arabia and Oman.”
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“I am passionate about big gatherings. I like to entertain.
I am a social person so I have a big group of friends”
The Bedouin lifestyle shows in other ways too. “Normally, I
shop for vintage clothing with some cultural influence culled
from different tribes around the world. And I like to buy
contemporary pottery and glass,” Sheikh Majed says. But asked
whether his home shows the effect of his international lifestyle,
he says: “It’s funny to say this: I still live with my family. I live
with my mothers, with my wife, with my three daughters – in my
family house. I don’t have my own house to express what I like. I
am now furnishing a new beach house that we are developing.”
But it does not take much to make a home for the Sheikh
of Shopping. He confesses to buying a new car – “a basic
Mercedes or Audi” – only once every three or four years. He
says: “I can be at home wherever I am. The only thing is, I have
to carry my prayer mat and my Quran and I need to know the
direction for praying.”