Harper's Bazaar Arabia

September 2014|Harper’s BAZAAR| 255

As she lives in South Kensington, Noor now calls London

her home, but she continues to travel extensively for work

and inspiration, and has just returned from a trip to Japan,

“I felt like I was travelling into the future.” She also spends

time in India (past collections have been infl uenced by the

country’s grand events, such as Holi, the festival of colours)

and visits Beirut at least once a year, “It’s where I’m from at

heart, even though I’ve never lived there,” she says. She

describes her taste as eclectic, and says that at any one time,

her collections may be inspired by infl uences as diverse as

the curves of Niemeyer’s designs, the geometrics and

experimentation with light in the work of the Danish artist

Olafur Eliasson, the minimalism of the American artist

Donald Judd, the Greek designer Mary Katrantzou’s abstract

prints and the fi gurative art of the Iraqi Ahmed Alsoudani.

Yet it is her Middle Eastern heritage that has had the most

profound effect on Noor’s work. “I tend to make pieces that

convey a feeling of the talisman,” she says. “It’s an integral

part of Lebanese culture, that concept of luck and

superstition, so most of my designs have a little evil eye

(usually with a blue sapphire at its centre) hidden somewhere.

Jewellery is so much more than decoration – it’s a wonderful

form of self-expression and it also provides protection.

That’s why it means so much to me.”

Clockwise from left: the

pool. A painting by Kristin

Baker in the dining room.

Noor wearing lace playsuit,

Dhs21,240, Valentino at

Stylebop. Gold, diamond

and rhodium earrings,

Dhs10,575; gold and

diamond studs, Dhs6,099;

gold and diamond earrings

(right ear), Dhs11,554: gold,

diamond and rhodium ring,

Dhs19,800, all Noor Fares

NOOR’S WOR LD

Above: Noor’s wardrobe.

Below: a work by

Ahmed Alsoudani in

the living room

Suitcase, Dhs5,700,

Globe-Trotter at

Harvey Nichols

Swing chair,

Dhs12,200,

The Conran

Shop

Féminité

du Bois,

Dhs415

for 50ml,

Serge

Lutens at

Harvey

Nichols

Sunglasses, Dhs7803,

Spektre at Aï Zone