Festival City on a busy day

Bendon Lingerie

The first Bendon boutique in Dubai is located on the ground floor at the Mall of The Emirates. The newest Bendon boutique on the second level of the recently opened Festival Waterfront Centre it's decorated as a lady's boudoar.
Bendon first started making quality intimate apparel in 1947. That’s when Ray Hurley, a demobilised naval officer, joined forces with his brother Des – a pattern cutter by profession. The name Bendon was a literal description of how the product of the new company, Hurley Bendon, worked. The Hurley brothers offered lingerie that could "bend on" to the body, marking a departure from the heavy wire, steel and bone foundation garments that were prevalent.
From then on, innovation became the key to Bendon’s success, with its revolutionary introduction of stretch strap bras and stretch bodyfashions in 1963 paving the way to its first million dollar sales figures, in 1964.
In 1977 the Bendon range was introduced to Australia and in 1982 the company was publicly floated on the New Zealand stock exchange. In 1987, Bendon merged with Ceramco Corporation. Pacific Retail Group is the current owner of Bendon Ltd, having acquired it in March 2002.

Bendon now has a considerable number of lingerie brands in its portfolio, including Bendon Lingerie, Hey Sister!, Fayreform, Bendon Men and Hickory, and the licensed Elle Macpherson intimates and Macpherson Men brands.

Sephora in the Festival Waterfront Centre

The so anxiously awaited opening of Sephora in Dubai actually happen it four days ago, on the 1st of March, at the Festival Waterfront Centre.

Finally, the store it's here and all fans can enjoy it.

I personally visited the store today and precisely investigated the well stocked displays: Dior, Lancome, Clinique and all the rest of all the luxurious cosmetic brands. Here you can see more pictures from the Sephora's insides.

All those it's a well decorated and generously stocked cosmetic store with a world wide reputation, still can't compare with Paris Gallery.

The Festival Waterfront Centre opens today

Dubai Festival City marks another key milestone with the opening of the next phase of its retail resort today (March 1st 2007) at 10 am.

Festival Waterfront Centre is located in the heart of Dubai Festival City. The project is owned by Al Futtaim Group and for the moment is the largest retail development in the city. The 2.1 million sq. ft. retail area comprises Festival Waterfront Centre and Festival Power Centre and over the coming year it will be home to 550 shops, 20 flagship and anchor stores, 90 restaurants and cafés. Additionally, a Skywalk Entertainment level will be home to a 12-screen Grand Cinema Complex, Electronics Collection, Bowling City, a Skywalk food court, Fitness First and Magrudy’s.

The Centre brings together an extensive array of international fashion boutiques, famous brands and an eclectic variety of shops and services. The Centre’s stunning architectural environment and location is the inspiration for many brands to open their first shops in Dubai, including: Anne Klein, ABS, Danier, Guru, JM Weston, Lancel, Lamarthe, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Marccain, Nougat of London, Sephora and Paul Frank. Over the coming months Dubai Festival City will be a ’must visit’ destination for guests who will see the progressive opening of distinct retail, entertainment and leisure areas including waterside dining and retail pavilions, Dubai Gold Marketplace, Canal Walk, Skywalk Entertainment level and Festival Marina. The complex will have the most diverse selection of retail brands, waterfront dining venues and entertainment in the Middle East at an exceptional Creek-side location.

The first retail district at Dubai Festival City, Festival Power Centre, introduced the ’big box’ retail concept to the Middleba East. Covering 650,000 sq. ft. it launched in November 2005 with the largest IKEA store in the UAE. Festival Power Centre was completed in May 2006 with the opening of Hyperpanda Hypermarket, Plug-ins ElectroniX, Ace Hardware and a variety of lifestyle and convenience stores.

Dubai Festival City is one of the most accessible destinations in Dubai. This will be further enhanced with the addition of the new Garhoud Bridge and ongoing improvements to Dubai’s infrastructure. With Dubai International Airport just 2 kilometres away, the new dining and entertainment resort is set to become the number one first-stop destination for the 15 million tourists anticipated to visit the Emirate by 2010. The unique waterfront setting of Dubai Festival City aims to deliver everything one could imagine in one place.