LUXURY LIVING: Underscoring the fizzy market for branded residences, Karl Lagerfeld said it formed a partnership with upstart UAE real estate company Taraf Holding to create luxury villas in Dubai.
Details about the project — Karl Lagerfeld’s third branded residential project and the first in the Middle East — are to be revealed in the coming months.
“We are not merely building villas; we are crafting unique lifestyle habitats,” according to Karl Lagerfeld, chief executive officer Pier Paolo Righi, who vowed to “bring Karl’s very unique idea of exclusive living to Dubai. By blending the artistry of design with the art of real estate, we look forward to offering an unparalleled experience.”
The fashion house, headquartered in Amsterdam and Paris, launched its first luxury residences in Marbella, Spain, in 2021, and recently revealed plans for branded residences in a hotel tower in Malaysia.
Lagerfeld, who died in 2019 after an unprecedented fashion career, dabbled in a range of interiors and hotel projects during his lifetime. Over the summer, a lavish 271-room luxury Karl Lagerfeld hotel opened in Macao that had been years in the making. It was entirely designed by the late German designer, who blended classic Chinese designs with contemporary Western aesthetics.
No stranger to the Middle East, Lagerfeld staged a cruise show for Chanel in 2014 on an island less than half a mile off the coast of Dubai.
Taraf, which launched earlier this year as a new company under Yas Holding, recently broke ground on a residential development on Palm Jumeirah dubbed Luce.
“We’re proud to announce this partnership with a globally recognized brand that will not only add incomparable value to Taraf’s next residential property, but also elevate what Taraf stands for in this competitive sector in the UAE,” commented Low Ping, group CEO of Yas Holding.
She noted that Karl Lagerfeld’s signature design touches would create “aesthetically distinctive and visually striking exclusive villas.”
