BASHAR ASSAF

BIOGRAPHY

Bashar Assaf is a Lebanese fashion designer, currently based in Beirut. His tendency to accentuate the female form was instilled during his days living in Jeddah (KSA), where he felt that women’s garments lacked definition of the feminine form. Returning to Beirut, Bashar studied at ESMOD fashion school where he was able to hone his skills and expertise, while continuing his personal work.

Soon after completing his studies, Assaf began to work for an array of clients in the commercial and art sector, ranging from music, film, theater and television as designer and stylist between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. His involvement with Starch marks the launching of Assaf’s first collection under his own label.

BRAND CONCEPT

The signature behind his label is its ability to challenge the female body with brave geometry complimented with sensibility to material and craftsmanship.

At the crossroad between classy and edgy, Bashar Assaf caters to the Middle East region by observing what women want and what trends he can enforce and spread. The focal points of his collection center on framing the female shape through sharp and tailored cuts, mixed with original and empowering prints. Assaf keeps it simple while highlighting a woman’s shape and femininity because he believes that a woman should be proud of her shape and dress accordingly, in order to feel better about herself. He believes that there is a timeless element to the classic cuts but because we live in such a changing world, he feels passionate about adding a modern twist to his designs.

He uses prints of metamorphic rocks because he stresses the fact that novelty is highly sought after in the world we live in today. To Assaf, metamorphic rocks are beautiful to admire and he wanted to give them more importance by basing his prints around those visuals.

AZADE

BIOGRAPHY

Born in 1980, Celine Der Torossian grew up in Beirut, Lebanon. In 2000 she enrolled in ESMOD Beirut, to study both fashion design and pattern making. She then moved to Paris to train at a ready-to-wear French brand, Infinitif, and at Elie Saab’s showroom. She also completed a one-year degree in Graphic Design at ITECOM Paris, in 2004. In 2010, Celine decided to pursue her education by doing a Postgraduate Diploma in fashion design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. She then interned under one of London’s most renowned fashion designer and Ungaro’s artistic director at that time, Giles Deacon.

In 2012, Celine returns to Lebanon to launch her brand entitled AZADE (which means ‘free’ in Armenian,) in tribute to her Armenian origins.

In November 2012, Celine Der Torossian was selected by Starch Foundation to become part of Starch designers 2012-2013.

BRAND CONCEPT

Designer Celine Der Torossian, through her line AZADE, borrows from, and is inspired by, the geometry in Art Deco elements as well as tribal motifs. She executes in black spandex and primary colors, urging Art Deco into the digital age, and sexy into space odyssey.

Her designs are confident, and clearly tailored for the empowered and bold woman of today, who isn’t afraid to express herself through echoes of ancestry and a very determined present.

HUSSEIN BAZAZA

BIOGRAPHY

Born in July 1990, in Beirut, Hussein Bazaza is a young Lebanese fashion designer. Before studying fashion design in Esmod, Bazaza experimented in many artistic fields, including illustration, photography and artistic direction (photo shoots, TV shows).

After pursuing a double major in fashion design and pattern making, Bazaza continued with an internship at Maison Rabih Kayrouz, in Paris, and then worked for Elie Saab as a junior designer in Beirut.

Today Hussein Bazaza is a teaching professor of Fashion Design at ESMOD Beirut. He was selected by the Starch foundation in December 2012 to launch his eponymous line of ready-to-wear.

He has received many awards in fashion design, one of which is the Fashion Design Prize (‘Prix de Stylisme’) for his graduation project in June 2011.

BRAND CONCEPT

Dark shades in lush textured fabrics and structured details maintain the futuristic feel in Hussein Bazaza’s design line. He includes dramatic cuts like an asymmetrical evening dresses and wide-legged gaucho pants in forest-green velvet.

He translates diversity into this work with over-sized, structured sleeves ornamenting three very different jackets. There is an element of the regal in Bazaza’s designs where details like a golden waist belt and a brocade bodice – that doubles as an ornate collar – capitalize on this effect.