When a devastating explosion tore through the Lebanese capital last summer, the city’s independent artists and designers, whose jewel box shops and busy studios fill the neighborhoods closest to the blast zone, were among those particularly impacted. For the country it was the latest tragedy in a year already marked by the pandemic and a collapsed economy.
“As a community, we felt like we’d all been hit together,” says designer Tatiana Fayad, a cofounder of the high-fashion women’s brand Vanina (vanina.me), whose store in the bohemian enclave of Gemmayzeh was heavily damaged. The network of designers, many of whom have been friendly for years, have always tried to bolster one another in the absence of more formal support, says Fayad. “We don’t have organizations that help us or teach us how…
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Conde Nast Traveler (Digital) - 1 Issue, January/February 2021