Fashion – Beirut’s singular style

After the exhausting rush of 2010, which saw new luxury boutiques cropping up in downtown Beirut like saplings in springtime, Lebanon’s luxury retail market has settled into a more stable summer of 2011, reaping the rewards of last year’s investments.  “The international luxury portfolio stands almost complete here in Beirut. And today we can say proudly that we offer the market the utmost in the fashion luxury industry,” says Nora Yagmur, general manager at Snowball, mother company of PLUM, PLUM Kidstore, Sugar PLUM, Lanvin Balmain and Isabel Marant. “Beirut’s market is daring; [it opens] to new names in the industry faster than other countries in the region. Beirut has always been defined as the fashion window of the Middle East,” Yagmur adds. Distinguished fashion marques such as Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Burberry and Dior have all set up shop in Beirut Souks, Solidere’s temple to ritzy retail. Spending spree The increasing