lifestyle TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2015 FEATURES Italian designer duo slam Elton John in IVF babies row talian designers Dolce and Gabbana yes- expected better from a singer he once terday accused Elton John of being admired. “I didn’t expect this, coming from Iauthoritarian, ignorant and hypocritical someone whom I considered, and I stress in a row over IVF babies, escalating a spat ‘considered’, an intelligent person like Elton that has embroiled some of the world’s John. “I mean, you preach understanding, biggest stars. John, 67, stirred up a social tolerance and then you attack others? “Only media storm on Sunday when he called for because someone has a different opinion? a boycott of the designer label in reaction Is this a democratic or enlightened way of to comments in which Domenico Dolce thinking? This is ignorance, because he referred to babies conceived through IVF as ignores the fact that others might have a “synthetic”. different opinion and that theirs is as wor- In comments endorsed on social media thy of respect as his.” by celebrities including Victoria Beckham, He said he had not tried to contact the Ricky Martin, Courtney Love and Martina pop star. “That would be useless! It’s an Navratilova, the gay star accused the Italian authoritarian way of seeing the world: duo of “wagging your judgmental little fin- agree with me or, if you don’t, I’ll attack gers at IVF.” In a typically scathing post on you.” Gabbana added: “Domenico has his Instagram, he added: “Your archaic thinking ideas, he made some choices. Elton John is out of step with the times, just like your made different choices. Different choices, fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and different lives. Equal respect. What I see, Gabbana ever again. particularly online, is a lot of gay people #BoycottDolceGabbana.” The designers, who are homophobic: gay people who will who are also gay and were in a long-term attack other gay people who express ideas relationship with each other until a few that are different from theirs.” Fans of the British comedy group Monty Python perform their skills during the International Silly Walk Day on January 7, 2015 in Brno, Czech years ago, said it was the veteran British John has two young sons with his hus- Republic. — AFP photo rocker who was being judgmental. band David Furnish who were conceived Dolce said his comment that IVF was through IVF and born thanks to a surrogacy not for him should not have been interpret- arrangement. In the interview which ed as disapproval of anyone else’s choices. caused the storm, Gabbana said he would ‘World’s most beautiful “I’m Sicilian and I grew up in a traditional have a child tomorrow if he could, while family, made up of a mother, a father and Dolce explained why he did not feel he children,” he said in a statement. could go down that road. “This is the reality in which I grew up, “You are born and you have a father and but it does not imply that I don’t under- a mother,” he told Panorama magazine. “Or boulevard’ turns 150 stand different ones. I was talking about my at least that’s the way it should be, and personal view, without judging other peo- that’s why I’m not convinced by children n 1857, bushy-whiskered Emperor Franz Joseph complete with ripped Greek heroes and an impos- Ringstrasse but at the same time the masses had to ple’s choices and decisions.” from chemistry, synthetic babies, uteruses proclaimed that his rapidly growing imperial ing Diana statue. fight to survive, both Jews and non-Jews,” she told His business partner Gabbana revealed for rent, semen chosen from a catalogue.” capital Vienna needed a radical makeover befit- Others include the hallowed Burgtheater, the AFP. Most of the bricks for the Ringstrasse’s build- that he had been so infuriated by John’s Beckham weighed into the row yesterday I ting Austro-Hungary’s wealth, might and techno- mighty Natural History Museum and its twin the ings were made in vast factories where workers, statement that he had posted the com- by tweeting: “Sending love to Elton David logical prowess. This year, the centrepiece of the Museum of Art History, the Neue Burg extension to most of them Czech, would work in horrendous ments #fascist and #boycotteltonjohn on Zachary Elijah & all the beautiful IVF mammoth urban engineering project that ensued- the Hofburg palace and the Votivkirche church-all conditions for 15 hours a day, seven days a week, the Instagram page. babies.” Gay Latino star Ricky Martin, who the resplendent, five-kilometer (three-mile) in different styles, but still fitting together. “It is fan- paid in company tokens, not money. People living has five-year-old twins, on Sunday accused “Ringstrasse” boulevard ringing old Vienna-turns tastic, like a museum of architecture,” said Rainald in “catastrophic” conditions, and the lower middle This is ignorance the Italian duo of fuelling bigotry. “@dol- 150. Franz, art and architecture historian at the Museum classes left behind by the Industrial Revolution, Speaking to Italian daily Corriere della cegabbana ur voices R 2powerful 2B With its dizzying mix of palaces, museums and of Applied Arts (MAK), giving AFP a neck-cranking became “highly receptive” to anti-Semitism, sowing Sera’s web edition, Gabbana said he had spreading so much h8,” he tweeted. —AFP public buildings in a chocolate box of different tour on a public tram conveniently going round the seeds for the rise of the Nazis and the styles, the “Ring” is the “most beautiful boulevard in most of the Ring. “The aim was to say to the world Holocaust, Kohlbauer-Fritz said. the world”, the tourist board says. The Austrian cap- this is an international metropolis.” ital is marking this with special exhibitions, show- Hitler connection ing how this street beloved of tourist and architec- Superficial splendor The man behind that genocide first visited ture aficionados-including Hitler has played a cen- Indeed, the Ringstrasse became the main stage Vienna in around 1906 as a teenager, and was tral role in the city’s happiest and darkest days. for Vienna’s golden era, the boulevard’s glittering blown away by the Ringstrasse. “For hours and cafes a haven for the intellectual elite of the day hours I could stand in wonderment... The whole ‘Like a museum’ like composer Gustav Mahler, the father of psycho- Ringstrasse had a magic effect upon me, as if it Following Franz Joseph’s decree, the city walls analysis Sigmund Freud or artist Gustav Klimt. And were a scene from the Thousand And One Nights,” that had kept out two marauding Turkish armies- filling the gaps between the public buildings were Hitler later recalled in “Mein Kampf”. He later lived but not Napoleon-were torn down, opening up the plush palaces erected by a new, confident and in Vienna between 1908 and 1913, during which claustrophobic centre. Inspired by Baron ostentatious class of Viennese grown rich from the time he failed to get into the Academy of Fine Arts, Haussmann’s renovation of Paris and by Ludwig I’s vast empire’s rapid industrialization, many of them stayed in a homeless shelter and sold respectable transformation of his Bavarian capital Munich, Jews. paintings of the many buildings on the Ring. Vienna summoned the finest architects of the day- These included for example the Ephrussis, the And when the failed artist returned in triumph Gottfried Semper, Theophil Hansen and Heinrich banking family made famous by Edmund de Waal’s on March 12, 1938 as Nazi dictator, he knew the von Ferstel. bestselling 2010 family memoir “The Hare with best place to make a triumphant entrance and The theme chosen was “historicism”, giving the Amber Eyes”. Their former home still stands today- announce the “annexation” of his native country designers free rein to give it all they had with inhabited by Casinos Austria and next to a into the Reich-the Ringstrasse and the balcony of designs inspired by bygone epochs in architecture- McDonald’s. But according to Gabriele Kohlbauer- the Neue Burg palace. The same night, with the and with no expense spared either financially, or in Fritz, curator of an upcoming exhibition- streets of Vienna ringing with shouts of “Heil This file picture dated 23 June 2007 shows Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce scale. So what sprang up were the soaring ”Ringstrasse: A Jewish Boulevard”-at Vienna’s Hitler”! recounts de Waal in “The Hare with Amber and Stefano Gabbana acknowledging applause after presenting their Dolce & “Flemish-Gothic” city hall, a “neo-Renaissance” uni- Jewish Museum, this splendor was a facade, and Eyes”, the first brown shirts barge into and ransack Gabbana 2008 spring/summer men’s collection at Milan’s fashion week. — AFP versity, a “neo-Romantic” opera house and the not just for the city’s Jews. the Ephrussi Palace. It was a foretaste of the “neo-Classical” parliament, a Hellenist’s wet dream “On the one hand there was this wonderful tragedy to come. — AFP NIVEA collects four awards from the esteemed Eccentric millionaire arrested hours product of the Year 2015 Gulf Edition awards obert Durst, an eccentric millionaire from one many people who’ve investigated him have of America’s wealthiest families, was arrested dropped the ball, but I think that luck may be run- uilding on its strong product Hoven continues: “Out of love for on a murder warrant just before Sunday’s ning out,” said Former Galveston County District innovation and consumer skin; this motto is the engine that- R finale of a serial documentary about his links to Court Judge Susan Criss, who presided over the Bcarefocus across all its prod- powers our development of innova- three sensational killings. FBI agents arrested Durst Texas murder trial. uct categories, Beiersdorf tion. These awards recognize our at a New Orleans hotel Saturday on a warrant from MENAisdelightedto announce that constant aim to achieve the most Los Angeles for the murder of a mobster’s daughter Suicidal mother its NIVEA SUN Protect & Bronze cutting edge but also most caring 15 years ago, authorities said. The Durst family is worth at least $4 billion, Range, NIVEA MEN Sensitive Range, protection for our customers.” Durst was ordered held without bond pending according to the Forbes list of richest Americans. NIVEA Creme Care Shower and A carefully selected committee another hearing. His lawyer, Chip Lewis, said Durst The oldest son of the late real estate mogul NIVEA Cocoa Butter Body Lotion & made up of renowned experts from will agree to be taken to Los Angeles to face the Seymour Durst, whose Durst Corporation manages Body Cream have all won con- various fields including industrial, first-degree murder charge. Durst participated in 1 World Trade Center, Robert Durst became sumers’ hearts this year - and victo- marketing and mediaselect the the documentary, giving an extensive interview to estranged from his family when his brother ryat the esteemedProduct of the range of products which are entered filmmaker Andrew Jarecki for “The Jinx: The Life Douglas was chosen instead of him to run the fami- Year 2015 Gulf Edition awards. into the categories. A survey is then and Deaths of Robert Durst.” But Lewis said nothing ly business. Robert Durst had known tragedy from Commenting on the awards, sent out to a representative sample his client revealed changes his innocence. Durst’s an early age - when he was 7, his father called him Patrick Hoven, Marketing Director of consumers who provide detailed estranged and fearful relatives thanked authorities onto the roof of a building to try to persuade his Beiersdorf Middle East & North feedback and the products with the for tracking him down. Africa, said: “We are very proud to best comments and most votes from “We are relieved and also grateful to everyone have won the awards. It is a great which prove to be a winning formu- through an independent process. the public are the winners in each who assisted in the arrest of Robert Durst. We hope acknowledgment that NIVEA is the la to win consumer’s hearts.” The products must demonstrate category. The awards play a pivotal he will finally be held accountable for all he has preferred and most trusted skin care Founded in 1987, the ‘Product of innovation in design, function, and role in reinforcing the importance of done,” said his brother, Douglas Durst, in a state- brand. We stand by our values of the Year Awards’, recognises the best packaging and must have been competition among top brands in ment. Durst, 71, has always maintained his inno- closeness, trust and reliable care new products on the market launched within the last 18 months. the Middle East. cence in the 2000 murder of Susan Berman, whose father was an associate of Las Vegas mobsters Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky.

Additional evidence Centrepoint pledges its Berman, a writer who become Durst’s spokes- woman, was killed at her home with a bullet to the back of her head as New York investigators pre- pared to question her in the unsolved 1982 disap- support to women this March pearance of Durst’s wife, Kathleen. The climax of last week’s episode revealed a hand-written elebrating the significant sacrifices, effort have found that 73% of our sales are attributed upon these trends we found it important to cel- address on a letter, recovered by the slain woman’s and dedication that our mothers, wives, towards men’s, children’s and home products. ebrate women and put them at the centre of relative, that Durst had sent to Berman. The hand- daughters and sisters make every So while the woman within the family shops our attention and offerings for an entire month. C writing seems virtually identical to an anonymous moment of everyday is reduced to just two more often at Centrepoint, she is often found This is a modest effort on our behalf to encour- letter alerting Beverly Hills police to a “cadaver” in days of every year. Undoubtedly not nearly shopping for everyone else in her life. Based age everyone to participate in a month long Berman’s home. Even the word “Beverly” is mis- enough time to fully appreciate these heroes in appreciation of women.” spelled as “Beverley” on both documents. our lives. Centrepoint - the region’s largest fami- Through a social-media led campaign, cus- Durst observes in the documentary that only ly fashion retailer - has announced its pledge tomers will be encouraged to take the pledge Berman’s killer could have sent the letter to police. In this Aug 15, 2014 file photo, New York towards women in the region during the and share this pledge towards the special The Los Angeles Police said the arrest resulted from month of March. The retail giant has launched a women in their lives across social media City real estate heir Robert Durst leaves a “investigative leads and additional evidence that Houston courtroom. — AP series of contests, discounts and videos set to through #IPledgetoMom. Those who takes the has come to light in the last year.” Lewis said he has celebrate women for an entire month in order pledge stands the chance to win Centrepoint no doubt the arrest was orchestrated in coordina- suicidal mother not to jump. He left before seeing to encourage shoppers in the region to pledge gift vouchers. Further expanding upon activa- tion with HBO’s broadcast of the final episode. After her fall. In 1982, Robert Durst reported that his wife, their love, support and time to women that tions for the month, Talreja notes that “We hope Berman’s death, Durst moved to Texas, where he Kathie, had suddenly disappeared from their cot- make their lives special. to make this initiative viral and spread lived as a mute woman in a boarding house until tage in New York state. No one was ever charged. Starting from 15th March right upto 18th #IPledgetoMom in order to give back to the his arrest in 2001 after dismembered parts of the More recently, Douglas Durst has said he fears March, all children aged 8 -12 years are invited women who have made an impact on us. We body of his elderly neighbor, Morris Black, were his brother would kill him. Robert Durst has denied to all Centrepoint outlets across Kuwait to par- have also created two videos - one for Women’s found floating in Galveston Bay. that. But in 2012 and 2013, his family members had ticipate in a card marking competition. Cards and one for Mother’s March with the intention Durst then became a fugitive until he was restraining orders taken out against him. In 2013, will be available at the outlets from 5:00pm of spreading this message further to our fans. caught shoplifting in Pennsylvania, even though Durst tried unsuccessfully to claim $82,000 from his onwards daily and children can draw or paint We are proud to announce that we will be tying he had $500 cash in his pocket and $37,000 in his missing wife’s estate, even though his personal net their messages for their mothers. Three selected up with Kris Fade from the 15th to the 21st of rental car - along with two guns and marijuana. worth has been estimated at about $100 million. winners will be announced on 21st March from March, he will be motivating his fans to take the Lewis told the jury that Durst shot Black in self- “The story is so operatic,” Jarecki told the AP before 4:30pm - 7:00 pm at Centrepoint - The Avenues. pledge for Mother’s Day. Fans that take the defense and suffered from Asperger’s syndrome. his documentary aired. Jarecki told a fictionalized The winners of this competition will win special pledge also stand the chance to win plane tick- Despite admitting that he used a paring knife, two version of Durst’s story in “All Good Things,” a 2010 gift hampers for their mothers from Lifestyle. ets to fly their mothers to Dubai.” Take the saws and an axe to dismember Black’s body film starring Ryan Gosling. Then he got a call from Commenting upon this initiative, Vinod Talreja - pledge and share it with #IPledgetoMom this before dumping the remains, Durst was acquitted Durst himself, who wanted to see it and eventually the Director of Centrepoint - states that “while March for all the women that have impacted of murder. Durst “has been incredibly lucky that so agreed to talk on camera. — AP women make up 70% of our customer base we your life and continue to do so every day.