Loading ...How Sandra Mansour Is Leading Fashion’s New Guard in Beirut
by EMILY FARRA
VOGUE
The fashion industry tends to search for new talent in London (see: Molly Goddard) or the outskirts of Paris (Koché’s Christelle Kocher comes to mind). But you have to venture a little farther—to Beirut, actually—to track down the latest designer who’s caught our eye. You’re probably familiar with a few of the big Lebanese designers out there, like Zuhair Murad, Elie Saab, and Reem Acra, who have built global businesses on super-luxe eveningwear and wedding dresses. That’s what makes 32-year-old Sandra Mansour stand out: Instead of five-figure gowns that demand a red carpet or black-tie invite, she specializes in ready-to-wear you can mix and match and wear from day to night, with prices ranging from $300 to around $3,500. “Women in Lebanon and Arab countries love dressing up—they’re very coquette,” Mansour tells Vogue.com. “But when I started the brand six years ago, it was important for me to consider the American and European markets, too. I’m not trying to do prom dresses. It has to feel youthful and modern, so I’ll pair a long dress with a jacket, or do a shorter dress you can wear with a bomber.”
Central to Mansour’s aesthetic is a mix of couture-level details—like hand-placed sequins, beading, and embroideries, which she honed during a stint at Elie Saab—with cool, offhand silhouettes. A lacy white gown may have an asymmetrical ruffle or choker neckline, for instance, or she’ll pair a striped poplin shirt with metallic silver pants. Both of those items could be just as easily taken apart and dressed down with jeans or a T-shirt. “You have to be able to style it up and make it your own,” Mansour says. In other words, these are super-special pieces you can actually wear in real life—and on repeat.
Mansour has been expanding her label in Europe and the Middle East, but recent trunk shows with Moda Operandi have opened up her business to women all over the world. No matter how much her business grows, though, she isn’t planning to leave Beirut. “It was really important for me to enter the market as a Lebanese designer,” she says. “There aren’t that many designers from Lebanon, especially women. I want to show that if you’re based in Beirut, you can still make it.” That sentiment resonated particularly with me, as I’m also Lebanese, but plenty of women can appreciate Mansour’s singular, unaffected point of view. Since she’s geographically removed from the fashion scene in Paris and New York, her vision isn’t clouded by trends or what other designers are doing. That alone gives her a serious edge over the competition.
Source: www.vogue.com