(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Elie Saab’s line of dresses beamed at the Oscars, as Jennifer Lopez and Emma Stone wore the Lebanese designer’s patterns at the 87th annual awards ceremony, which took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Stone sparkled on the red carpet in a long-sleeved, light green Elie Saab gown covered in intricate beading.
(Photos by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
The actress, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Birdman,” showed some skin in the backless dress.
The Huffington Post said Stone’s dress was one of their “favorites.”
“Her fashion risk-taking always pays off, so it’s no surprise that she stunned once again at the Oscars,” they wrote.
Lopez wore an Elie Saab embellished belted silk gown, which featured intricate nude colored lace work. Hollywood Life said Lopez was one of the best dressed at the ceremony.
(Photo Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Saab, who was born in Beirut, has dressed over 150 international celebrities for key global events over the past year.
His creations can be found all over the world, with boutiques located in Beirut, Dubai, Doha, Paris, London, Geneva, Hong Kong, and Mexico. Saab has 100 retail outlets all over the world.
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(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Three Lebanese sisters will be the stars of a new Kardashian-inspired reality television show set to broadcast on LBC, which will chronicle their daily lives just like the American series, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”
The program, which is expected to launch this month, will be called “The Sisters” and will follow the lives of Nadine, Alicia, and Farah Abdel Aziz.
The Abdel Aziz sisters are passionate Kardashian fans and fashion bloggers for a page called “Styleinbeirut,” which has become one of the most popular fashion pages in Lebanon with more than 100k Instagram followers.
“Our aim is to connect fashion around the world and to show the whole world how Lebanese women are smart, stylish and beautiful,” the sisters said in a statement.
They announced their new show on social media with the caption: “Soon on LBC Sat, watch these gorgeous ladies and their daily life.”
Just like “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” television cameras will follow the Abdel Aziz sisters and document their every move for the reality show. The sisters say their show will shed a better light on Lebanon.
“We want to show (the world) that Lebanon is not just a country struggling with issues but Beirut is and will always be the Paris of the Middle East,” they added.
But some bloggers are wondering how Lebanese culture will respond to a reality-style program.
“I personally can’t watch the Kardashians for more than 2 minutes,” said Najib Mitri of Blog Baladi. “Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how Lebanese react to such reality shows.”
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(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The Lebanese Daher family have become billionaires by opening 55 fashion and lifestyle brands in 14 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Daher brothers — Wassim, Said, and Hasan — own Azadea Group, a Beirut-based company that own and manage 600 retail outlets, including Max Mara, Sunglass Hut, Massimo Dutti, and Zara, among others.
Azadea’s largest collection of stores are in mega malls in the United Arab Emirates, which is the company’s most profitable country, according to a former Azadea senior executive.
The company employs 11,000 people and the brothers are estimated to have a fortune of at least $1.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Wassim Daher founded the company in 1978 as a multi-brand clothing store in Hamra Beirut. His brother Hasan and Said later joined the company as managing director and chief executive, respectively.
Said Daher says the company grew rapidly when it began exclusively purchasing and opening “already-successful” franchises in the Middle East.
“You can grow much faster as a franchise than if you’re operating your own brand. With a franchise, you’re implementing already-successful business models,” he told Beirut-based Executive Magazine in a 2005 interview. “Why bother establishing a vertically integrated business model which will take you years and years to perfect when you can get involved at the end of the supply chain and start opening outlets in promising markets in a matter of months?”
In 2011, the Daher brothers opened the Azadea Foundation, an environmental NGO in Lebanon, which is financed exclusively by Azadea board members and employees.
The Azadea Foundation is credited with the restoration of the 107-year-old René Mouawad Sanayeh Garden, the city’s biggest 22,000 square meter public garden, which underwent a $2.5 million makeover.
Azadea Foundation also planted over 8,500 trees in three plantation projects in the woodlands of Lebanon. The group plans to spread environmental awareness in school workshops and “Green Booths” in Beirut malls.
Meanwhile, the Azadea Group continues to grow, and the brothers say they will remain committed to Lebanon.
In January, Bloomberg reported that two Dubai-based companies were reportedly set to bid for a 25 percent stake in Azadea Group. The bids by KKR & Co, Fajr Capital, and Majid Al Futtaim Holdings are currently in the second round of bidding for the Lebanese company.
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(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Having grown up in Paris, Nadine Mneimneh returned to Lebanon in 2001 and subsequently obtained her BBA from the American University of Beirut.
Interested in fashion, she attended a fashion and design course at Instituto Marangoni and then pursued a BA in fashion design and pattern making at École Superieure des Arts et Technique de Mode (ESMOD). With six years’ work experience in the fashion industry, she launched her own ready-to-wear label in 2010.
Nadine met the program manager of AMIDEAST’s Cisco Entrepreneur Institute during Global Entrepreneurship Week Lebanon 2011 and decided to enroll in its “Starting a Business” workshop. With plans to open her own atelier, she wanted to make sure she had the knowledge and tools needed to run a successful business.
Upon completion of the workshop, Nadine opened an atelier on Beirut’s Hamra Street. Her line is being sold in Europe and the Middle East.
Nadine’s last collection was showcased during the Ecoluxe fashion show, an event that gathered international designers with an ethos of sustainability, as part of London Fashion Week. Her work continues to receive international press coverage, both on television and in printed press and fashion blogs.
Nadine’s design philosophy follows some principles the slow fashion movement, which includes keeping traditional methods of producing garments, favoring quality over quantity with utmost attention to finishing and minimizing fabric waste. Her style is defined by a loose and minimal silhouette hinting at femininity, with the lines and volumes sharpened by the use of refined menswear fabrics.
Nadine credits the course she attended with helping her to consider every aspect of running a small business, teaching her to focus on a niche market and providing her with valuable information on leasing a location. She also valued the guest speakers and many opportunities for networking that were built into the program.
“One guest speaker, a real estate agent who advised us on leasing versus buying a location, supported me outside of the workshop. Both her presentation and her additional feedback left me confident and fully prepared to negotiate the rental contract for my atelier. Maya Nohra (a photographer who attended the same workshop) supported me by taking photos for my press kit at no charge; in turn, the mention of her name on my press materials helps to build her reputation.”
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