New Lebanese designers recently got a hand up in entering the fashion world. At a mid-December event at their Saifi Village boutique, the Starch Foundation announced the designers it will be featuring in its store for 2013. Starch was founded by Lebanese fashion designer Rabih Kayrouz and Tala Hajjar, Starch’s director, in collaboration with Solidere, Lebanon’s largest property developer. This non-profit organization’s aim is to help launch emerging Lebanese designers through an annual program, where four to six young designers are selected to work with the Starch Foundation to develop their concepts in preparation for debuting their collection in the Starch Boutique. For the duration of the year, Starch offers guidance and support, in further marketing their collection and on collaborating with other designers and projects through Starch. According to Hajjar, “Designers are chosen for their discipline, alongside their creativity and passion for design, as they need discipline to commit to their ideas and to collaborate with others.” This year’s five selected designers are: fashion designers Bashar Assaf, Hussein Bazaza and Celine Der Torossian, jewelry designer Sevag Dilsizian and Stephanie Mousallem, the architect who designed the boutique’s interior this year, and who has some items on display as well.
Les Caves De Taillevent in Lebanon
Despite the rough year it has been for hospitality venues, Les Caves De Taillevent, the French wine cellar, opened the doors of its Lebanese foray in mid- December. The cellar is known for its 1,300 varieties of wines, and the events the cellar hosts during which the specificities of the different types are carefully explained to customers. According to Laurent Gardinier, co-owner of Taillevent Group, this project has been in the works with Khalil Fattal and Sons for the past 18 months, and will also include a wine bar, as well as a wine academy for both beginners and connoisseur wine lovers, which is set to start lessons in 2013. Gardinier says there are three reasons why they chose Lebanon for this venture: “To begin with, we have a good and humane relationship with the Fattal family which started two years ago and developed into a business relationship. Second of all, Lebanon has very good links with France and shares a similar culture and language and you have a very nice Lebanese wine culture. Finally, Lebanon is key for the hub of the Middle East, to develop our brand.”
Raghunter goes live
The endless search for the right top to go with the right skirt may just have been shortened. Raghunter, a Lebanese startup online fashion platform that went live in December, seeks to solve shopper dilemmas by directing them to the exact stores that carry the item they are looking for. Raghunter is a search engine for fashion items currently found in Lebanese stores. While you cannot buy found items online, the website directs the user to stores where the search word they have typed is currently found, and then the user can purchase it. Users can search for specific items by filters such as ‘Type’, ‘Brand’, ‘Store’, ‘Price’, ‘Color’, ‘Gender’ and ‘Material’ (i.e. black, dress, $300, Ashrafieh). This method of shopping is more efficient and cuts down on time wasted searching — though admittedly to some the thrill of shopping lies in personally scouring stores for that unique find.
Magnolia Bakery opens in Lebanon
Yet another cupcakes and cookies venue has been introduced to the Lebanese market, and this time it’s imported from New York. Magnolia Bakery, the famous upscale bakery, launched its Lebanon expansion in ABC Dbayeh last month. The bakery already seems to be well received, judging by the lines of people waiting for their cupcakes in December. The bakery’s first expansion outside of the United States was to Dubai, with the Lebanon store marking its second outlet in the region. According to Steve Abrams, chief executive and owner of Magnolia, the company chose the Middle East as their first area of international expansion because Magnolia is a luxury brand, and Middle Easterners love luxury, as evidenced by the bakery’s success in Dubai. “We are excited to bring Magnolia Bakery to Lebanon and look forward to opening many stores throughout the country,” says Abrams, adding that Magnolia plans to open stores in Doha and Kuwait next.
