GET UP, STAND UP

After a year of crises, Beirut’s creative set is more determined than ever to survive and thrive, finds Betsy Blumenthal

- Betsy Blumenthal

When a devastating explosion tore through the Lebanese capital last summer, the city’s independent artists and designers, whose jewel-box shops and busy studios fill the neighbourhoods closest to the blast zone, were among those particularly impacted. This was the latest tragedy in a year already marked by the pandemic and a collapsed economy.

“As a community, we felt like we’d all been hit together,” says designer Tatiana Fayad, co-founder of the high-fashion women’s brand Vanina (vanina.me), whose store in the bohemian enclave of Gemmayzeh was heavily damaged. The network of designers, many of whom have been friendly for years, have always tried to bolster one another in the absence of more formal support, says Fayad. “We don’t have organisations that help us or teach us how to sell abroad—so we learn from each other.” That ethos of team spirit has persisted, with homespun recovery efforts that are as inclusive as possible.