RPM reported net profit of Dh49.39 million during 2023
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It’s no secret that Lebanon —a land mentioned some 70 times in the Bible —has thousands of years of fascinating and diverse history to its name. And yet, when you think of Beirut, you think of, what?War? Hezbollah? Hummus? Bling? The country’s subpar tourism infrastructure hasn’t exactly helped the city market its history or traditions —this is hardly Marrakech we’re talking about. Still, while the terms handicraft or designer may never have figured prominently in the country’s mythology— or into coffeetable books about its capital, which usually focus on war and destruction —Lebanon has been a home to thriving artisan traditions for centuries.
These are methods of production that have been passed down through generations inside the quiet homes of rural villages and the hidden courtyards of urban apartment blocks. They have been obscured and stunted for years by civil war, poverty and political instability, but they have never died.
From here, I venture several blocks away to Saifi Village’s Quartier des Arts, where fashion designer Rabih Kayrouz and colleague Tala Hajjar have established the STARCH foundation. Each season, the duo picks a group of up-and-coming designers to showcase and promote, with the intention of grooming future stars of Lebanon’s growing fashion and design industry. While browsing around STARCH’s shop, I get talking to one of these next big things, Nadine Mneimneh (www.nadine-mneimneh.com). Svelte and 28, Nadine is in the middle of brainstorming for her winter collection. “I always like looseness, comfort, a hint of femininity,” she tells me, “and an artisanal touch — along with menswear fabrics.”
I’m whisked away a few blocks away to the much older district of Achrafieh—brand new neighbourhoods are juxtaposed with those holding hundreds of years of history here. Rue Sursock takes its name from one of Beirut’s most prominent families, and accordingly holds a number of gorgeous 18th and 19th century mansions. We weave down an alleyway towards one of the city’s hidden gems: a boutique known, quite simply, as Sarah’s Bag. The shop began as a tiny operation that has blossomed into a coveted, worldwide fashion phenomenon of bags and accessories.
Sarah initially began her design group to teach imprisoned women valuable traditional embroidery, crochet and hand-stitching skills as a means of rehabilitating them on their journey back to society. Now these women —along with a team of designers and artisans —conceive of and produce some of the most inspired and gorgeous wallets and handbags you have ever seen.
Encounters with other masters of their craft follow: Nada Le Cavelier’s unique, one-off jewellery pieces featuring miniature, hand-laid mosaic pieces; Sandra Sahyoun’s beautiful paintings and furniture pieces; and American-born Alice Eddé, who makes elegant, feminine and luxurious leather products in nearby Byblos, an ancient town whose souk spans several millennia. It’s a place you would never think to look for such gorgeous modern designs; as one of the designers explained to me, “Beirut is a place where you kind of really need to know someone.”
As a refuge from the Babel of sound out on the streets, I step into Plan BEY, a small boutique that creates and sells a range of artistic goodies, many of them in limited quantities. Its location, Mar Mikhael, is rapidly transforming from an industrial zone to Beirut’s new arts district. The shop is run by Tony Sfeir, a man whose business card reads “Serial Entrepreneur” and who is about as friendly and welcoming as you could imagine a shopkeeper-musician-producer-illustrator to be.
The Creative Lebanon tour ($1,635 inclusive of taxes) includes three nights in an Executive Suite at Le Gray with breakfast for two, dinner at the Indigo roof terrace restaurant, plus beverages, airport transfers and a private car during the tour. For details, contact Le Gray at +961 196 28 28 or www.legray.com.
Emirates Airlines (www.emirates.com; 600 55 55 55) fly direct daily from Dubai to Beirut, with return flights from Dh1,705.
RPM reported net profit of Dh49.39 million during 2023
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