What happens when you place a number of ingenious minds in one room and leave them to their own bidding? We’re not sure. Results are not typical, as accidents have been reported.
We do know, however, what happened when designer and entrepreneur Raya Tueny brought together marketing expert Lara Tueny, designer Bruno Zalum, motion graphics professional Dima Boulad, music composer Marc Codsi, narrative concepts virtuoso Lili Chieng de Montal, architect Roula Salamoun and web developer Osama Shamseddine. Their energies culminated in the creation of Made for Beirut (MFB), a non-profit enterprise that wears its heart on its sleeve, and in more ways than one.
A fashion movement aimed at repositioning Beirut as a creative and sustainable city, the Made for Beirut collective has the ambitious goal of rebranding the city. “MFB is about collaboration among people who love Beirut… It is the platform that promotes change,” says founder and creative director Raya Tueny.
“It celebrates fashion as the spirit of a schizophrenic city that is in constant re(construction)… We stitch vernacular with glam; we sew; we emphasize authenticity.”
MFB’s first public display of affection for Beirut was in the fall of 2010 in the form of a four-day extravaganza called Fashion Daze. A rare stab at establishing an official fashion event in Lebanon, the debut edition of the event/exhibition gathered local and international fashion designers together with Beirut’s own photographers and artists who were invited to collaboratively “reinterpret” the city. Fashion Daze also featured a series of activities related to the exploration of Beirut, such as a probe by wunderkind architect Bernard Khoury, live Arabic graffiti art demos, movie screenings as well as a look at the city’s artisanry…
With a mass turnout by fashion industry professionals, fashion aficionados, artists and buyers who popped in for an explosive setup of concurrent artistic events, Fashion Daze showcased Beirut as a beacon for creativity in every shape and form. “The curation of the participants, along with the whole experience and narrative of the event, were meant to be innovative, almost groundbreaking. I wanted my audience to be surprised by what Lebanon and the designers can offer,” explains Tueny about the event, which scooped the Most Enterprising Project Award in the UK that year.
--- To read the rest of this article and other great articles, purchase your own issue now for only $3!
http://www.oasismag.magcloud.com/
http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/502420
No comments:
Post a Comment