Founder and Creative Director of Jelena Bin Drai. Serbian living in Dubai.
What’s your morning routine before work?
I get up and it takes me 30 minutes to get ready and leave the house in the morning. I head straight to Milk & Honey cafe to get breakfast; they have the best avocado on toast, which I love at the moment.
How do you decide what to wear in the morning?
I first choose which top I’ll wear and then I work down.
Three items you can’t live without?
My eyebrow pencil, my wedding band (I feel really weird when I’m not wearing it) and my ‘Nude by Pencil’ stilettos.
Favourite place you like to go to in Dubai?
Palm Jumeirah; I don’t like to go far from my garden, which leads onto the beach.
What did you do last night?
Haha, sorry, I cannot tell you all my secrets.
Complete the sentence: My perfect holiday would be…
Five days in Switzerland, followed by Ibiza or Formentera for a week, and ending with Colorado for another week.
What book are you reading at the moment?
The Concubine of Shanghai by Hong Ying.
Tell us a fact about you that nobody knows.
There are no hidden facts; I am very transparent – black and white.
Your favourite designer at the moment?
I am my own favourite designer.
Your current style inspiration?
Sheikha Moza and Kate Middleton are my muses.
Who would you like to be stuck on a desert island with?
My husband. He’s the best company.
Three things you hate?
Arrogance, unreliable people, and those that use others and dispose of them after.
What’s your personal motto?
Never settle for less than what you deserve and work hard for.
How do you want the world to remember you?
As someone who raised three great children.
