Dubai Mall is preparing to welcome the Vogue café and a GQ bar, both titles belonging to Condé Nast.
Diversification is the name of the game over at Condé Nast. The international publishing house responsible for Vogue , Vanity Fair , Glamour and GQ already has designs on a fashion college , and is now set to conquer the Middle East with a Vogue café and GQ bar.
A new Vogue Café (there is already one in Russia) is slated to launch in Dubai by the end of the year, but this being glossy fashion bible Vogue , it will be housed inside the world's largest shoe store.
Level Shoe District, a 96,000 sq ft luxury retail space, will stock more than 250 shoe brands and is situated in Dubai Mall at the foot of the world's tallest skyscraper - the 828 metre-high Burj Khalifa.
"The expatriate community and the local Emirati community are very conscious of brands," said Stuart Nielsen, director of Conde Nast's restaurant division, which was launched in 2010. "People always love to eat and drink, and we see an opportunity because they love fashion."
The Vogue Café will not serve alcohol, but a hotel-based bar inspired by its men's title, GQ , is being plotted for launch in Dubai early next year, would.
The company is planning to open another GQ Bar in Istanbul this year, and has signed deals for Condé Nast establishments in Bangkok and Singapore, Nielsen said. It is also considering opening cafés in Mideast cities closer to Dubai, including Kuwait City and the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi.