The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Sleeping beauties await prince’s kiss in Ukraine exhibition Posted: 11 Sep 2012 05:36 AM PDT KIEV, Sept 11 — It wasn't exactly Prince Charming but one of Ukraine's "Sleeping Beauties" finally got a kiss on the lips as she dozed on a dais filmed by cameras — though unlike the fairy tale she never woke up. "I'm not sure I would marry precisely this girl, I just was curious whether she would open her eyes," said the young woman who dared the embrace while male visitors shied away. The venue was Ukraine's National Art Museum and the stakes were — marriage. Visitors at a wacky performance called "Sleeping Beauty" were allowed to kiss a series of volunteer Sleeping Beauties — but only if they signed an undertaking to marry the woman if she "wakes up".  A visitor looks over a Sleeping Beauty at Ukraine's National Art Museum in Kiev. — AFP pic "I'm not ready to kiss a woman on the first date, and it's definitely the first time I've ever seen her," said Oleksandr Dankov, 43, after choosing not to steal a smooch. But "perhaps I'll come again", he told AFP. Yana Krasnokutska, 23, was more daring. "It's a fairy tale, so I was just curious to try it," she said, smiling after kissing the "Beauty" lightly on the lips. The performance was created by Ukrainian-Canadian artist Taras Polataiko, who said he had been working on this project for the past two years. He was inspired by the well-loved fairytale in which a young princess is put under a curse and sleeps for hundreds of years along with her kingdom. She is finally awoken by a kiss from a prince who loves her. The women in Kiev slept in public for two hour-long shifts each day, with a half-hour break in between. "The idea behind the project is patience," Polataiko told AFP. "Our people can be patient for a long time. While Beauty is sleeping, the entire kingdom is also sleeping. If the kingdom is to be woken, the Beauty must be woken." Polataiko said those he chose as his Sleeping Beauties were attractive women who were also looking for a steady partner. "All the five girls I've chosen are gorgeous, smart and waiting for a true love," he said, adding that he initially planned having only one Sleeping Beauty but ended giving the others a chance too. 'It's a fairy tale' "We have three or four visitors every day willing to awake the Sleeping Beauty, both men and women," he told AFP. "This isn't a marriage agency. It's magic, it's a fairy tale. No one knows how it will end," said Polataiko. Natalya Bakovskaya, 27, was the first sleeping beauty to do a three-day stint waiting for her prince after her sisters told her about the casting call on television. "When it started, I got really involved in it and felt as if I was in a fairy tale," she told AFP. "I could hardly sleep with all the cameras and visitors on the first day, but afterwards I enjoyed the two hours of the rest in the middle of the day and even felt a kind of drowsiness," Bakovskaya said. She said she did not open her eyes and so never did find her prince, although one of the kisses she received was "especially memorable". Later she tried watching a video of her kisses to identify the young man who kissed her on the first day, but was not able to. The fairy tale ended with a non-traditional twist as the fourth Sleeping Beauty opened her eyes after a kiss, to find not a prince, but a princess. "I was astonished when I opened my eyes and saw a girl," translator Yana Gurzhiy, 24, told AFP after she decided to open her eyes when she was kissed on the forehead. Ukraine does not allow gay marriage, making it impossible for Gurzhiy to tie the knot with her pursuer, but she said she had felt a connection with the woman who kissed her, whom she named only as Katya. "I believe it is not a coincidence we had to meet this way. She's a very interesting person, so I hope we'll have some kind of professional and creative partnership." Any man hopeful of waking his Sleeping Beauty, the fairy tale re-enactment ended on Sunday. — AFP/Relaxnews |
| Burberry warning sends shiver through luxury sector Posted: 11 Sep 2012 02:49 AM PDT LONDON, Sept 11 — British fashion brand Burberry issued a profit warning today, the clearest sign yet that slowing economic growth in China and Europe's debt crisis are bringing a halt to the boom in demand for luxury clothes and accessories. The company, famous for its raincoats lined with a distinctive camel, red and black-check pattern, said it expected underlying full-year profit to be around the lower end of market forecasts.
China has been one of the main drivers of a boom in luxury brands, with consumers eager to buy designer labels, including Burberry's raincoats and other high-end fashions. But shares in luxury goods firms have wobbled in the past few months over worries about Europe's sovereign debt crisis and slowing growth in China and other emerging markets, where demand for designer brands has offset weaker trends in the United States and Europe. Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note to clients today that Burberry's statement was the first major disappointment for European luxury companies. Shares in France's LVMH and PPR were both down 4 per cent, while Switzerland's Richemont was down 3 per cent. Burberry said comparable-store sales did not grow in the 10 weeks to September 8, the bulk of its financial second quarter, compared with a year earlier. Total sales rose 6 per cent, underpinned entirely by new-store openings. That represented a marked slowdown from first-quarter retail revenue growth of 14 per cent and comparable-store sales up 6 per cent. The company reported a fall in first-quarter sales growth in July, as China slowed. "Given this background, we are tightly managing discretionary costs and taking appropriate actions to protect short-term profitability," chief executive Angela Ahrendts said today. Analysts had expected Burberry to post pretax profit for the year to March 2013 of £407 million (RM2 billion) to £451 million, with a consensus of £433.21 million, according to a Reuters poll of 18 analysts. "Burberry's latest results show that even the top end of the market isn't functioning at full capacity in the current economic climate," said Jaana Jatyri, CEO of fashion forecasting company, Trendstop.com. "The global economic crisis is dragging on and the longer it drags on the less confident even wealthier individuals become. Unfortunately, people lacking confidence do not shop at Burberry." — Reuters |
That sent its shares down 19 per cent and dragged down rivals including LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods group.| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Features To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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