Style Icons - The Sehnaoui Debate: Eyebrow or Eyebrows and playing with Rhinos

BEIRUTSTATEofMIND does not know all that much about Lebanese telecommunications minister Nicolas Sehnaoui. Sure, his participation in a political playing field so endemically defined by corruption means he occasionally needs to get his hands dirty. But not to do so would be tantamount to political suicide in Lebanon. The rules of the game dictate how the players play and wow Sehnaoui has some game.

Lebanese pop-singer Najwa Karam supposedly refers to
Sahnoui as "The Smoulderer".

Sehnaoui in a suit is something special but it is in the "smart-casual" department, that grey area that has been the downfall of many a seasoned politician, that he comes into his own.

His eyebrow(s), glasses, starched ralph-lauren polo-shirt combo are said to have wooed many an admirer whilst simultaneously sending a plethora of style advisers into early retirement. Coupled with the je ne sais crois, laissez faire, ruminations of his arm hair, juxtaposed by the faux-formalism of his permanently tucked-in shirt, jeans and assics-trainers, the combination places Sehnaoui amongst Lebanon's best-dressed politicians.

An artist's impression of the man.

What is particularly refreshing about Sehnaoui's style is that despite his sui-generic stylistic disposition he manages to maintain a touch of humility enabling him to relate to the common man. Moves such as Sehnaoui's decision to open up Beirut's old train station in Mar Mikhael for the Champions League final this weekend illustrate the man's awareness of what the people really desire.

The Champ is here.

And Sehnaoui is also a lover of animals. Not just simple, easy to get along with type animals like gerbils and hamsters, but also creatures from the more misunderstood side of the  animal spectrum like wombats, duck-billed platypuses, and wildebeest. Indeed, Sehnaoui has even been known to spend the occasional weekend shooting the shit with rhinoceroses. Moves that could potentially be dismissed as cringe-worthy Putin-esque publicity stunts if it wasn't for the natural ebullience of the be-eyebrowed Lebanese Telecommunications Minister obliterating such close-minded pre-suppositions.

Not sure what the fuck is going on here.