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    How Villa Aumédan is redefining the concept store experience in Dubai

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    Life by Sarah Joseph 56 mins ago How the multifaceted home of Ahmad Almuhassin, Villa Aumédan, has become a part villa, part concept store, floral boutique and the secret neighbourhood coffee shop. What do the first 30 minutes of your day look like, your morning routine? I wake up early every day, my day doesn’t start without praying, having my cup of coffee and my lactose intolerance pills. I am an early riser, I wake up at 6 and aim to be quite fast in my morning routine. I always make sure, I avoid checking my phone directly when I am in bed and mostly begin to do that when I get into my car. My mornings define my whole day, so it’s those 30 minutes in the morning that matter to me. I also have a quick catch-up with my loved ones in the morning and make sure they are in good health. Talk us through your background? I grew up regionally between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. My childhood was mostly around my family, travelling around the world with my father, all the way to Australia, London, Thailand, France, Costa Rica, Italy and more. This is what shaped me within my formative years, as I was getting exposed to different cultures at a young age. I also studied Mass Communications and PR, while minoring in photography. Yet, I have always been passionate about lifestyle, food, flowers and specific brands and the creative directors behind them. My creative process depends on the city I am in, the surroundings and especially my friends who are around me. I would say that this plays a huge role in my life and it does affects the final outcome of the product design that I would be working on, whether it’s a campaign, or a new brand that I am launching at Villa Aumèdan or even a new flavour of coffee that we will be introducing in the secret “If you know, you know Cafe” at Villa Aumèdan. What inspired you to launch Villa Aumèdan? My inspiration behind Villa Aumèdan comes from many different aspects honestly. My first drive when I got Villa Aumèdan was to live in it, and guess what, I actually did. I was always amazed by the houses in the south of France when my family and I used to travel in summer and spend our time in those simple villas in Côte d’Azur yet they have always inspired me to have something similar in Dubai, such as a one story villa with a private pool and a small garden – this is heaven for me. But a few months later, I thought of opening the flower studio which my sister Noura AlMuhassin who is the Managing director at Villa Aumèdan right now, is the brainchild behind. I surprised her by building up a whole studio complemented by a big fridge in the transformed Garage. She never expected that surprise and I handed it over to her right away. Yet I was still living in the villa and always wanted to have my own coffee bar and always wanted to call it “If you know, you know Cafe” and that is the whole point why it is hidden in the villa. This concept has several components including a concept store, coffee shop and floral boutique – how do you balance all the elements? Every section in the villa complements the other, and I believe that is the magic that the place holds. If you like to be surrounded with beautiful art pieces and nature, this is the zen place that you want to be in. It’s a 33-year-old one-story space – talk us through the interiors. I am not sure if you can imagine what a 33-year-old villa would look like, but I am sure you can tell how beautiful the architecture is of it. The design of Villa Aumèdan and it’s structure is exceptional, but it was not painted, not elevated, and it needed so much work and I would say I have done some things from scratch and all by my own. I have kept the old elements but I have uplifted and added some architectural elements. I had to keep the DNA of the villa its so beautiful and the texture of the walls that the villa holds is so special that no one does nowadays. It’s like getting a classic Rolls-Royce and taking care of it all over again, not just that but also driving it around in Jumeirah! The minute you walk in, your mood is totally changed and you are instantly transported to another destination – tell us more. The white pebbles, the greenery and landscaping, and the angle of the villa, makes you feel welcomed from the moment you enter. Overall, I have never seen in Dubai a place like Villa Aumèdan – which makes me so happy. Letting my audience and clients experience the feeling and the mood, is so close to my heart as this is the place I call home, yet it is a home for all creatives, content creators, designers, artists, and that’s the community we have built within those years. It makes me so happy and proud to say that I have attracted the right people at the right place. Villa Aumèdan has been converted into a space of prominent brands along with bouquets being provided for names such as Level Shoes, Christian Louboutin and Dolce & Gabbana – tell us more. We aim to set high standards in all types of arrangements whether it’s flower bouquets or vase arrangements, or customised orders. We have achieved a prominent name in the market, as designers continue to approach us, and we are always more than happy to be part of the fashion world. As a Creative Director, we get inspired on a daily basis from designer pieces that we come across during our day while running errands, and we cannot neglect the fact that some pieces get stuck in our minds for some time. Our creative process starts from here. We get the brand requests, we study the brand and its latest collections and the mood of the season, and based on it we create our florals. Overall, you always have to trust the process. Trust me, it might not work the first time, but you have to keep your eye on the goal to always be able to achieve it. The cosy coffee shop playfully called ‘If you know, you know’, is also attached to the home – what are some of the key dishes offered? We offer all types of specialty coffee, soft serve that we are super famous for, cookies and fortune cookies. “If you know, you know” cafes have expanded in the last year and we have opened branches in Abu Dhabi and one branch in Fujairah and will soon do so in other emirates as well. What piece of advice would you give to your younger self? Ideally,I would say to be patient, but no – if I was patient, I would not have achieved what I have achieved in the past three years. So, chase you dreams and keep learning throughout the process. What ahead lies for the future of Villa Aumédan? Villa Aumédan will always remain in the heart of Jumeirah as a hidden gem that is based in Dubai but the plan is to definitely elevate and bring the experience to the whole world through e-commerce and expanding globally in the Gulf region and of courses internationally where we have already managed to do that in the UK in collaboration with Harrods department store as we took over the penthouse during summer where we had all the khaleejis and audience from the UK and Europe who came to visit. How would you best describe your style? I am the person who would get two pairs of Adidas Sambas in different coloursand mix the two pairs together. I love collecting watches, on my wishlist right now is the Patek Philippe Ellipse. Yayoi Kusama is one of my favourite artists and I always buy pieces of her collaborations with other brands. I usually dress up in a smart casual look but I always like to add a twist to the outfit.My recent favourite brands are, le 17 September, Nanushka,N.peal (my favourite cashmeres) and my travelmleather goods only include Hermès, as I think it just reflects my personality. I am an extrovert but at the same time I also like to have my own quality time with myself and get into my Derek Rose pajamas and stay home for the whole day. Travelling is my remedy and whenever I feel something hasn’t gone the way I wanted or as planned I always take a step back, book my Emirates airlines ticket , pack up my Rimowa trunks and fly. London is my second home, Dubai is where the heart is, “IYKYK”. – For more on luxury lifestyle, news, fashion and beauty follow Emirates Woman on Facebook and Instagram March’s – The Authenticity Issue with Mouawad – Download Now Images: Supplied More

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      How I got the job as… Founder of a luxe Dubai-based floral boutique

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      Lifestyle

      by Sarah Joseph
      54 mins ago

      Welcome to the Emirates Woman weekly series ‘How I got my job as…’ where we speak to some incredible entrepreneurs and businesswomen both based in the UAE and globally to find out about their career paths that led them to where they are now; what their daily routines look like; the advice they’d give to those starting out; and the hurdles they’ve had to overcome.
      This week we chat with Aastha Parekh, founder of Butter DXB, a luxurious floral boutique that delivers varied arrangements for any occasion. Without limiting to bouquets, the brand also caters to lavish setups for events and exquisite tablespaces to make any décor special.
      As a firm believer in learning on the job, Parekh believes in taking baby steps on a daily basis to achieve her goals and hence, took the plunge in 2021 to launch her own brand where she continually takes inspiration from the world of fashion.
      Emirates Woman sat down with the brand’s founder to find out more about her career.
      What was your favourite subject at school?
      I always loved Business Studies. From a very young age, I knew that I wanted to start a business from scratch and create a brand of my own so it truly felt like the building blocks for my future.
      What was your first job?
      My first job was a marketing trainee for Farfetch at Chalhoub.

      What brought you to Dubai?
      Back in 2000, my parents settled in Dubai and I’ve been here ever since. I thoroughly enjoyed my years of education here. The UAE’s cultural diversity has always amazed me and has been a huge inspiration for everything I do. I did my undergraduate studies in London and moved back to Dubai to work straight after.
      What inspired you to enter the flower space and launch Butter DXB?
      Over the years, I used to love creating tablescapes for all my family members’ birthdays. The setups I’dcreate with flowers would get more elaborate and grand as the occasions kept coming around every year. That’s when I discovered how passionate I am about creating beautiful and aesthetic moments and thought, why not turn this into a business? Butter DXB is a flower company that creates all types of floral concepts. I always knew – no matter what business I start, it really needs to have a soul and flowers have a way of spreading joy. The flower arrangements we create and the events we cater to are so full of love and meaning that each smile inspires us a bit more, to do what we do.
      Talk us through the inspiration for your pieces.
      Butter DXB’s most vital premise of design inspiration is luxury fashion. I’ve studied Fashion Business and it’s at the core of everything I create whether that’s event decor or a simple bouquet. We have an edit on our Instagram called “The everlasting love affair of Florals and luxury fashion”. For example, our best-seller which is the red rose wall was inspired by the MetGala décor of 2022, our love for blush pink roses stems from Giambattista Valli’s candle campaigns and most recently we’ve added the exotic anthuriums to our new collection when we saw them in all its glory at Loewe’s show at Paris Fashion Week, a few days ago.
      What are the key elements of your role?
      As the founder of the brand, I’ve got to be super hands-on and get involved with everything. My best days are definitely when I have the time to work on Butter’s product development or business expansion although, recently I’ve been brushing up my skills on accounts too. As a founder with a small team, every day is a new day and I must cater to the most important task at hand for everything to run smoothly.
      Talk us through your daily routine.
      I think flexibility is what’s most important on our work days as there are lots of events on weekends and late evenings. I’m not a fan of early mornings and I prefer to get the job done with the highest level of productivity. The week usually starts with going through orders and events from the weekend, updating accounts, finalising our social media calendars and creating our to-do lists. I prefer going to meetings earlier in the day and then heading to the office in the afternoon to get all my work done. In the evenings, I’ll go to the flower shop to design some new products or check out the packaging. At night, I love to spend time with my family and then just before I sleep, I need an hour to myself to unwind from the day.
      What advice do you have for anyone looking to follow in the same footsteps?
      I’d say – just start. I think it’s all about taking those baby steps to reach your goals and turn your ideas into reality. I remember how excited I was, even when I had just finalised my logo and got my first few samples of the packaging and to now having a fully functioning business having worked with some amazing luxury brands that I could have only dreamt of. It’s okay if you don’t have all the skills you need. I’m a firm believer in learning on the job.

      What is the best piece of advice you ever received?
      Automation and delegation. It’s so important for a business to be able to run smoothly without you needing to be part of each and everything. If you put in the effort to create the processes and a strong foundation, over time it should be able to run itself and you’ll have time to focus on the development and expansion of your brand.
      And what is the worst?
      The worst piece of advice I ever received is that you don’t need to love what you do. I think it’s self-explanatory.
      What has been the biggest challenge you had to overcome?
      When we started off, we had a different idea for Butter DXB. We were focused more on hospitality partners but we soon noticed that once we put our brand out there, it was gaining traction from an audience that was not our initial target. Our biggest challenge was to move away from what we had planned and listen more to how the market was responding. We overcame it by being flexible as a brand and giving our customers what they want and continue learning along the way about what works and what doesn’t.
      What are the future plans for your brand?
      We are currently in our second year, and relatively young. So the aim is to hire more staff and set up a store to become a hybrid e-tailer. Our focus is also on doing more events for high fashion brands that we resonate with and increasing hospitality partners as that has always been an area we want to expand in.
      – For more on luxury lifestyle, news, fashion and beauty follow Emirates Woman on Facebook and Instagram
      Images: Supplied  More