I’m just going to let Vogue tell it:
Saab’s atelier and home were destroyed in the August blast in Beirut’s port, an explosion of ammonium nitrate that ripped through the city, killing 200 people and injuring thousands. His early-20th-century home, one of the few remaining examples of traditional architecture left in Beirut after the civil war, was wrecked, its Ottoman-era chandeliers smashed and windows blown out. His atelier was similarly reduced to rubble. His team worked night and day and, remarkably, the haute couture atelier of 200 people was up and running again just 15 days later. It’s emblematic of the Lebanese mindset, he says. “The Lebanese people are always looking forward, we live for tomorrow and plan for everything to be better and more beautiful.”
That they could pull off some of the achingly lovely gowns in here is even more of an achievement.
