Renaissance designer Cynthia Merhej from her Join our parents’ home in Beirut for our Zoom call. She recently moved to her hometown after moving to Paris during the pandemic, a few months after the bombing that devastated the Lebanese capital on August 4, . To say past, give or take, being plagued by conflict for three years is an understatement, but seeing the work that emerges from these unique experiences can help us put things in perspective.
Merhej is the third generation in the family tree of fashion designers and manufacturers. Her great-grandmother used to have a studio in Beirut, as did her mother (“It’s kind of skipping a generation,” she says), and now it’s her. “I grew up understanding the power and craftsmanship behind clothes and the impact they have on everyday life,” she said, adding that she had always planned to work with her mother, but wanted to make sure she really had something to offer if she entered the fashion industry .
“I’ve been through four generations of wars and losses,” she said, “I wanted to make something that lasted, after Thoughtful stuff. I don’tnot from western society at all place #x; eat throw away is normal, that came to me It’s strange to say,” she added. For this reason, her collections are small and focused and developed with her mother and a small team of tailors in Beirut. Well, except for this; fall is in Merhej at the explosion Developed after and while living in Paris during the pandemic, leaving comes from her team, workspace, and lack of her usual processes. In our conversation, Merhej described this delivery method in two ways, both serious but different in demeanor. First “the series from the most turbulent period of my life,” she said solemnly, and then “the nervous breakdown series,” she said with a laugh. Both descriptors are equally valid, both signs of a person evolving in turmoil, the kind of self-deprecating humor common to our generation.
In the fall, Merhej looks for softness in cuts and materials, she uses gathered tulle , balloon hem on skirt, and round-sleeved jacket in cut (which obviates the need for armholes by cutting the style into a curvy kimono sleeve pattern, delicious). She tells me that her inspiration is usually architecture rather than aesthetics, which becomes apparent when she tells me that this time she focuses on circular shapes – most of her cuts and architectural details revolve around curved or circular pattern. “After telling myself to hold on for so long, I really needed to be soft,” she told me. Merhej has a talent (arguably an inherited skill) for crafting unique but very durable clothing. The collection is most believable when she leans towards the most paired down elements. Cuts, shirts, jackets, and even tulle off-the-shoulder dresses and miniskirts may all find happy homes in her customers’ wardrobes.
Now that she’s back in Beirut, she says things are still not easy, but people have adapted because most people living in conflict tend to Doing so, she’s happy to be there. “It was important for me to be here, not only for my process, but also for the country,” she said. “A lot of people left, myself included, and I have no friends here now. Stay here and keep a certain This creative energy is important.”
