Huda's last name might be hard to pronounce, but the design guru - she's got degrees from Yale and the Rhode Island School of Design - is doing a lot to bridge the gap between Arabic and Western languages, through the Khatt Foundation, which she created a few years ago. Credited with reviving the art of typography in the Middle East, and making it relevant to today's world, Huda is quite literally creating new fonts for the Arabic language. The stuff you see everywhere everyday, but seldom ever notice. Now you will.
When Maya Mamarbachi opened her boutique hotel, back in 2005, there were zero boutique hotels in Damascus. It seemed the idea was a good one, since more hotels opened up. Today, Damascus counts a Four Seasons and no less than a dozen boutique hotels in the old town. Sensing there was real potential for Syria, Mamarbachi sold her hotel last year and set up Beroia, the first upscale travel agency in Syria. Soon after, she was approached by the V&A Museum of London to bring a show on world ceramics to Damascus.
Until furniture designer Nada Debs left Japan and Europe for Lebanon, Middle Eastern design was stuck in the past, desperately clinging to its glorious Umayyad and Mamluk past. Fit for a museum, the pieces weren’t easy to integrate into our modern apartments. But Debs changed all this. Raised in Japan, and trained in the US, she transformed oriental furniture into something more minimalist, and pure - relevant to this day and age.
Nour Ayas has the lucky fortune to walk in Louboutin stilettos as much as she likes. That’s because she’s the London Press Officer. At 27, with a degree in hand from the London College of Communications, she tackles the press for the shoe company, making sure they get the right coverage and that the fashion journalists are happy. And no, she tells us, everyone is just adorable, so no devils wearing Prada - or Louboutin for that matter...
Anyone interested in Arab cinema should keep an eye on Annemarie Jacir, a young and combative Palestinian filmmaker, who’s first long feature film “The Salt of this Sea” (Meleh hada al Bahar) was selected earlier this year, in the official selection of Cannes Film Festival. The film tells the story of Soraya, a second generation Palestinian from Brooklyn, who returns to Palestine in the hope of retrieving her grandparents’ bank account. On her journey, she meets Emad, who dreams of only one thing: emigrating far away.
Jovial yet extremely sharp, Nada al Nashif is not your obvious UN worker. Tirelessly traveling across the Middle East as the regional director for the International Labor Organization (a UN agency specialized in worker’s rights) she is passionate about her job. Of Palestinian heritage, al Nashif studied at Oxford and Havard’s Kennedy School of Government, before joining the ranks of the UN.
One good thing that came out of the Abu Dhabi/ Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana partnership last spring, was the spotlight on Lebanese designer Milia M. Milia Maroun is the first Arab designer to show her collection at the official Milan Fashion Week, with critical acclaim from the best Italian fashion writers, which is no easy feat. Her dainty pieces that ooze subtlety and elegance are sold across the world, from New York, to Istanbul, to Dubai and Qatar, as well as from her flagship store in downtown Beirut.
Perhaps the most polite and unpretencious designer we've met, Layla Kouris is slowly building a niche, with her sexy yet elegant line of tops. Born in 1977, Kouris grew up in Lebanon before studying marketing in the UK. After a stint at jewelry emporium Mouwad in Beirut, she resolved to change track, and attended night classes at London's College of Fashion. "For me, breaking into fashion was a labour of love fueled by passion and dreams."
She's incredibly funny and she's embarked on a very special crusade. Seral Sofi founded the first recruitment agency in Saudi that specializes in helping women join the work force. Growing up bewteen Riyadh and London, Seral is a born entrepreneur. At twenty-nine, she's already opened and closed several companies. And seems eager to take on the next challenge. Read our interview and get inspired.
Of Jordanian, Lebanese and Bosnian heritage (ouf!) Zeina Durra appears as one of the rising stars of Arab cinema. "The Seventh Dog" her short film depicting life of an Arab couple living in New York post 9/11, and starring Nadine Labaki, received critical acclaim when it came out. Working on her first full feature film "The Imperialists are Stll Alive!" the busy director, who navigates between London and New York, tells us a little bit about film making and the massive content of her handbag.
