The Bowery Company’s new showroom in Dubai’s Al Quoz district.
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
Prior to moving to the UAE, Nasr lived in Geneva, Switzerland for eight years, and decided to make the move to Dubai to continue her banking role as a regional director for investments in the GCC. In January 2018, Nasr had a change of heart, handling a career with long working hours while handling her start-up was one of the most challenging feats hence Nasr decided to leave her banking career of 12 years and solely focus on The Bowery Company, motivated by overwhelming responses from clients, double-digit growth, regional awards, and her passion for interiors.
Do you have any tips for people when they’re buying furniture?
Nowadays I would say logistics and the disruption of the supply chain, as shipping is going through its worst crisis in 60 years, a surge of demand at the end of 2020 has led to delays, port traffic jams fuelled by a shortage of supply which has driven shipping rates to skyrocket as retailers and exporters are outbidding one another for a limited amount of space aboard cargo vessels from and to Asia. This has driven shipping rates to rise fivefold on a year-to-year basis. Given that we import from Europe we are facing a challenging time to get a booking aboard vessels en-route to Asia via the UAE and we have to plan our restocking of furniture 6 months in advance vs less than 45 days previously.
DESIGN MIDDLE EAST
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DECEMBER 2021
21
Start to conceptualise how you want your space to look and what you expect it to bring you, do some research, pin some Pinterest boards for inspiration and trust your instincts! As you build up your home, certain pieces will just want to be next to one another, to stand out on their own but also to interact and be part of a bigger whole. You would have succeeded in your curation process when your collection fosters a conversation between two pieces that at first had nothing in common. Also look for raw unfinished pieces and imperfection, you will learn to love them with time, your interior will feel more authentic, less “polished”, in the aesthetic of the wabi-sabi.
How has the idea of furniture changed during the COVID era? Since COVID-19, people have shifted their vision of their home, many have overlooked decorating or investing in it, being busy at work or travelling, and since the surge of COVID-19, deep lifestyle changes have happened which had a profound effect on the way we work and shop which have led people to seek for an upgrade in comfort and style and improve functionality at home and thus investing more into new furniture. >>>
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