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.
 
GALLERY
 

 
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.
 
GALLERY 
 

LARA KHOURY

BIOGRAPHY

Having studied at the Ecole Supérieure de la Mode de Paris (ESMOD) at the age of 18, Lara Khoury began her fashion career by joining the Elie Saab workshop, delving into the world of Haute Couture, Prêt-à-porter and all the dynamics of the industry.

Lara Khoury then decided to start expressing her own style and created her first brand ILK, the first pieces of which were showcased to the general public in Starch, Rabih Kayrouz’s laboratory for new ideas and a showroom for young Lebanese designers, co-founded by Tala Hajjar.

In 2010, ILK became Lara Khoury with the launch of her first eponymous collection and the opening of a showroom/workshop in Beirut. In May 2011, Lara was selected to represent Lebanon in the second generation of the Maison Méditerranéenne des Métiers de la Mode in Marseille (France). There she had the opportunity be a part of a platform of artistic and cultural cooperation between Euro-Mediterranean countries. Today, Lara Khoury is showcased in the USA, Asia and the Middle East.

In April 2013, Lara was nominated to participate in an international project organized by Woolmark. The theme of her collection was centered on Lebanon’s plurality and the multitude of cultures that make it so unique.

BRAND CONCEPT

Lara Khoury’s style is sincere, bold, moving and minimalist. It involves a young and experimental trend, continuously concerned with detail, and carrying a passion for innovation and freedom.

Today, the fashion designer has found herself a unique and personal status in the local and international market, crucial and essential for her success. Her clothes embody a different type of creation, filled with sensitivity and emotion.

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