On Wednesday, young Lebanese fashion designers gathered and participated in a yearly Beirut exhibition. The exhibition was held to encourage local talents to grow their business opposed to the economic difficulties in the country.
The exhibition named ‘Bhebbak ya Lebnan’ which means ‘I love you Lebanon’ promoted over 30 young designers in the fields including clothing, accessories, jewelry, and household products to display their handmade products.
A new designer named Sara Goul said that she has been designing handbags for just the last six months and has already gotten calls from Jordan, Kuwait, and the United States asking for her handmade products produced from Plexi material. She further added that Customers like her new concept of handbags with the Plexi Material including the colors and the quotes that convey messages mainly aimed at empowering women. Also, social media played an important role in developing her reach not only to clients in Lebanon but also abroad.
Moreover, she explained that she doesn’t have to rent a space or store to showcase her product. She just presents her products online which is a great place for marketing.
Jinane Merhebi who is an owner of a clothing workshop and a clothing and accessories store in Tripoli said that young local designers have been successful in attracting customers from Lebanon as well as other countries with the help of their wonderful and unique designs in the last few years. She further said that today people like products produced locally due to their uniqueness instead of the Fashionable ones available in popular shops.
Moreover, the experience of working in the past has helped young Lebanese talents to start their businesses in designing.
Another young designer, Jeanine Ojeil, who started her business of making handmade wood handbags during the COVID-19 pandemic said that initially, her job was Art Director for movies hence she is familiar with working with wood for decoration. She knows how to cut and paint wood so she can make different decorative items with it and this knowledge has helped her a lot in her new business.
Souraya Baba who makes handmade Abaya, Kaftans, dresses, and other clothes said that over the past years, her products have been exported to Saudi Arabia and Qatar because of her unique designs that integrate the Iraqi, Palestinian, and Lebanese cultures.
Co-founder, and managing partner at Beyond Your Limits Events and who is also an organizer of the exhibition, Randa Armanazi said that the exhibition gives hope to all the local young talents by showing them that they can succeed despite of challenging situations.
Lebanon has been facing a deep financial crisis as a consequence of which over 80 percent of the population has been forced into poverty. Also, a huge number of young talents have left for other countries for finding better opportunities
