Dubai has long been a stopover for untaxed jewelry purchases, but the United Arab Emirates capital city isn’t exactly known as a fashion-forward shopping destination. Sauce*, a lifestyle shopping haven set to open next month in The Village Mall on Jumeirah Beach Road is aiming to change the reputation of this Middle Eastern city of more than 400 nightclubs. Owners Zayan Ghandour and Fatima Al-Mazrui Ghobash have been spotted this fall in showrooms, at fashion shows, and feverishly trolling hip city streets seeking brands to stock in their 1200-square-foot “sleek modern meets shabby chic” retail mecca — Tord Boontje‘s award-winning lights, Madame de Pompadour chairs, and Philip Starck stools are only a few examples of the store’s interior design mix. For merchandise, the ladies have already come up with a formidable blend of labels, including Taka Naka, La Petite Salope, Antoni and Alison, Vanessa Bruno, See by Chloe, Jean Charles de Castelbajac, Citizens of Humanity jeans, Third Millennium, Lesage handbags, Dyptique candles, Tatty Devine, Karen Walker, and Karim Rachid. “We only carry the nicest and brightest items from any collection,” says Ghandour. “Bold colors and vivid prints, and all other cool stuff that require a sense of humor and a taste for a vibrant lifestyle is what you will find at Sauce*. This shop is not for the faint-hearted. Look up sauce in the dictionary and you will find the definition as something that adds zest, flavor, and piquancy… and that’s what our shop is all about, she opines.” Aye caliente!

- Jason Campbell
Photo: Illustration of Sauce*’s interior