Rania Salibi

STATS
Alternative Materials to Fabric: Plants. I go to the extreme!
Favorite Design Season: All of them. Every season is unique.
Caffeine. Social or Necessary: Social.

1. How did your journey to becoming a fashion designer begin?
I always knew I wanted to do fashion design. I really got into it when I was in Lebanon. I was always interested in illustration and art, but in Lebanon, I was glued to Fashion TV (FTV). By the time I was 14, the feeling that I wanted to do fashion became more constant. I don’t feel like I chose fashion, but maybe more that it chose me. It’s just that it’s a hard industry to take in, and only when I look back does it seem to makes any sense.

2. From where do you draw your artistic inspiration?
My inspiration comes from everywhere.  When I was younger, it was music. I love art and art history. French culture influences me, especially being Lebanese — I feel that has something to do with the appeal. And Lebanese culture as well, a lot comes from home.

I don’t have a set process. Most people do things ABC. I do them ZFG.

3. Have you been influenced by any designers in particular?
Karl Lagerfeld has always been a favorite. Designers, in general are kind of iconic. Valentino, Donatella [Versace]. And of course there is Elie Saab, who as a designer that made a big mark in fashion and also being form Lebanon, has been a big influence on me as a young designer. It interests me to see where they go and how far they’ve gotten.

There are no rules in fashion, which is why I think young designers look to past designers as a model. We look to follow their lead as a way for us to navigate ourselves.

4. What has it meant for you as a designer since winning the Oscar challenge?
It’s given me a lot of confirmation as far as where I should be. You always know where you belong, but never feel certain until you get that confirmation.

The Oscars are like the Super Bowl of fashion, so it’s definitely a great feeling. This is the first time I was introduced to the public, and I can’t think of a better way…

I mean I’m sure there are other great ways, but this was certainly an honor, I got to meet a lot of new people, see what other designers are doing, and be validated as an artist.   It’s a big stepping stone, and very encouraging for me especially since I knew I was competing against designers who have been around for 10 or 20 years. I only graduated two years ago, so I didn’t apply with “the win” in mind, and definitely did not expect this.

5. The Academy obviously saw something they liked. Your design has some ingenuity involved — can you talk about that?
I knew I wanted to give the dress a little mystery, so I decided to use laser-cut leather. It’s a fairly new process — probably about 10 years old, but maybe newer to the industry. I designed the fabric, and found somebody who could engineer the material. The process to make the fabric restricted how it can be used, which played a part in the final design outcome. But the dress sketch that I submitted was intentionally vague because I know things change.

6. Do you have a philosophy on accessories?
I love accessories.  It has to be some amazing statement piece, unless the dress is a statement piece. You don’t want to go overkill with accessories. They have to complement each other, there needs to be a balance. Unless you’re naked then you can wear all the jewelry you want!

For more on Rania’s work, visit www.raniasalibi.com

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About the Author: Born and raised in Southern CA, Lana Daoud can find herself at home just about anywhere. She has a degree in History with a minor in Middle East Studies, and is currently a fellow of NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership For Change based in Los Angeles. Home is where the next great experience lies, heart belongs to her nieces, roots are in Palestine.

With an emphasis on fit and bringing out a woman’s natural beauty, it’s no wonder his designs are adored by trendsetters and celebrities alike. Besides Queen Rania, his designs have adorned Penelope Cruz, Heidi Klum, Jennifer Lopez, and most recently Kim Kardashian and Keri Hilson (see gallery).

Rami Kashou

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Rami’s story is fascinating. After arriving in the U.S. in 1996, he worked in retail, which eventually led to a buying and merchandising position at a boutique in Los Angeles. After a stint of traveling to Europe as a buyer, he purchased two sewing machines and vigorously studied pattern making. “I would buy a piece, take it apart and inspect it, then I would learn,” he says. After three years of this self-education, he began creating the “One of a Kind” collection, which was picked up by various Los Angeles boutiques. The rest is history…

STATS
Hero: Coco Chanel and Alexander McQueen
Favorite Material: Silk
Song/Singer: Elissa “Tesaddaq Bi Meen”

1. What is the difference between style and fashion?
Fashion is a trend of the moment and it expires the minute the season is over. Whereas style does not have to be fashionable, it’s someone’s self-expression, it’s the way they dress, the way they present themselves — often the two merge.

2. If you could create an outfit for any model or actress, who would it be and why?
Angelina Jolie. I admire her purpose beyond being a huge Hollywood celebrity. She’s obviously beautiful, but what I appreciate is her sense of simplicity and I respect that she does not fall victim to every trend out there. She always shines in what she wears, and

it’s all about the person wearing the dress not the dress wearing the person.

3. What is the funniest or scariest thing that has happened to you during a fashion show?
In my Fall 2004 show, we were getting ready for the finale. In any venue things are likely to be dirty at times — rolling racks and things like that…anyway, the models were all lined up and as the show is about to start, I look at a model in one of the gowns and she has two huge rust stains on the front of the gown. I mean, it’s only a dress but at the time it was a really big deal — if you had dug me a hole and buried me, that would have been fine. I had to have my publicist do a therapy session on me and then we tried to save the dress — we tried to clean it with a wet wipe, blow-dried it — all within a matter of minutes. There was a tie in the front of the dress, so I ended up tying it strategically to fall where the stain was and we pinned it, so it stayed put. That same dress ended up on the front of the calendar for the Los Angeles Times a few days later.

4. What are the best attributes of a designer?
Creativity. A sixth sense — you’re always living in the future as a designer because you have to predict what’s to come. Understanding the psychology of the female (if you’re designing for women) — mind, body, spirit, everything because

fashion is not about making dresses, it’s about making people feel good.

Technicality: to be able to sew, make patterns, speak the language and communicate with the people who do that work, if you’re not. And finally, you have to be adventurous.

5. Where do you get your inspiration?
It could be anything, my last collection (see gallery) was inspired by Frank Gehry’s architecture in the Los Angeles Disney Concert Hall — there were sharp lines, curved lines and I just saw the draping. It could be an old movie or Grecian sculptures, once it was [Mehmet] Erté sketches, there’s really no limit, it’s just what speaks to me, what I respond to, and what I feel.

Some of Rami’s inspirations

6. How did you make the transition from being a designer to becoming a brand?
That’s all about constantly pushing and marketing, putting the work out there. You can be a designer, you can be very talented, very creative but if you don’t have the left-brain, business mind or don’t exercise that, it’s almost impossible to be a brand. It’s a very challenging thing to do — a brand needs a large sum of money, a clear point of view that makes it unique and distinct from other things in the market, and it needs to remain focused and find the balance between creativity and consistency. Because when you identify with a certain brand there needs to be that certain element that remains familiar — the thing that makes it memorable. And it’s important to stay true to yourself and not completely change every season.

For more on Rami’s work, visit www.ramikashou.com

Rania and model Jenna Hurt walk down the Red Carpet

Rania and Jenna pose backstage

Rania shows her design to the press

Posing with Oscar

Yasmin Mahrous

STATS
Favorite movie: I like so many, but have to watch one twice for it to be a favourite
Designer: Tom Ford
Board game: I don’t like games

1. From where do you draw your inspiration and motivation?
Designing and sketching are primary motivations for me as a fashion designer. And that’s because it’s the creative aspect of running this business. Everything around can inspire me, but usually art wins.

2. You have the afternoon off, or better yet, the day. What do you do for kicks?
Spend it with friends and family. But when you’re a fashion designer, you usually don’t get any time away.

3. Music is an important backdrop in the creative fields. Who or what style of music do you like for a working soundtrack?
I love all types of music. But for a working environment, I prefer lounge music. It’s incredible how well my partner Stephen knows music. He is starting to produce and mix. So I think we’ll be involved in music soon. Frame will be both fashion and music.

4. 2009 was a fine year for Frame Fashion, and with an awesome response to your Spring/Summer 2010 collection in Toronto. What can we expect from you in 2010?
This week, we’ll be doing the Fall/Winter 2010 look-book photo shoot. It’s my favourite collection. We’re using a new fabric company, and the fabric is awesome. The fabric actually inspired a couple of the designs. In Fall/Winter 2010 we’re dedicated to merging vintage and contemporary style with fine art to get a sense of timeless fashion.

5. Your day just crashed, and you have deadlines and events that can’t wait. How do you recover? Or whom do you call for a pep-talk and emotional support?

Usually you don’t have time to talk to anyone for emotional support in this industry. You have to stay focused, and supervise everything yourself.

And it’s great that we are a two partner design team, so when someone can’t deal with a certain situation the other one steps in and helps.

6. Where is your favorite city for fashion: both on the street and on the runway?
Milan is the best.

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About the Author: Pete Willows is a Canadian freelance writer. He has lived and worked in Egypt, The United States, New Zealand, the Sudan and Canada. He currently lives in the Toronto area with his family.

STATS
Favorite Book: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini
Favorite Arabic Singer: Um Kalthoum
Favorite Design Tool: Hands

1. How did t-shirtat come about?
It came about when I was laid off from my job and had time to be creative. I noticed there were no positive messages for the Arab community and the t-shirt trend was really growing. I decided to incorporate trendy t-shirts with Middle Eastern and Western pop culture to showcase a lighthearted representation of our culture.

2. When did you get into fashion and why?
I had no idea I would be working in the fashion industry. All I knew is that I wanted to study art, my family encouraged me and eventually I found a liking to textile design. I found myself creating fine art with fabric as a medium and I also studied graphic design. My first job was in the textile industry and eventually I began working for fashion companies.

3. Where do you get the ideas for your t-shirts?
Sometimes they come randomly and sometimes I get inspired from everything around me including songs, movies and various elements from the Arab and American cultures.

4. T-shirtat has been going for five years now, what have been the highs and lows?
The highs have always been the positive feedback and randomly finding an article about my t-shirts in an Egyptian gossip magazine (Kalam el Nas) while visiting. I haven’t experienced too many lows to complain about.

5. If you could pick one spokesperson or brand model for t-shirtat, who would it be and why?
I would love to have Fares Karam be a spokesperson because he finds humor in our culture. One of my designs was based on his song, “Neswanji.”

6. Any chance of expanding into other apparel — if so, what?
I would like to expand into pajamas and hats.

STATS
Material to work with: Leather
Fashion Mags: British GQ, Men’s Health, VMan and WAD (We Are Different)
Outfit: Jeans, dress shirt, blazer, scarf and hat

Check out some of Shady’s designs in this video…

1. When did you decide fashion was your thing?
At the time I made the choice to pursue fashion, I was trying to choose between industrial design, architectural design and film direction. I chose fashion because designers have their own lines for various aspects of life: clothing, home, etc,. It’s also very visual, there’s a video format for shows, and an opportunity to write for magazines, so I felt it was the most sensible and all-encompassing choice.

2. Did anyone try to talk you out of pursuing fashion as a career?
Some people were encouraging, while others said, “you’re crazy,” or thought of me as a spoiled brat who didn’t know what he was doing. But my parents understood. It took a year to convince them, but education is very important to my father and that’s what won out in the end.

3. Where do you get your inspiration for design?
As any fashion designer or artist, you always have to find different inspirations and be in tune with a lot of different things.

There’s this pressure to create 2-4 collections per year, so you have to draw from a lot of places; it could be a movie, a song, a state of mind and whatever is linked to it.

I find certain artistic movements inspiring, such as art deco– it combines the modern and the old, the sleek and the ornate, a very good example of that is from Batman movies–the whole structure of Gotham city was based on art deco style.

4. Tell us what it takes to do this for a living.
Well if you are working freelance you get to work from home and set your own hours, and can take breaks whenever you want. But you have to be very disciplined to get the job done. You also have to have processes in place because nothing in design can be done overnight. Other times, you have to overcome being blocked. And you also have to account for checking your work.

My motto is to underpromise and overdeliver.

5. What’s the most intimidating thing about being in fashion and how do you overcome it?
Everyday is intimidating and challenging.

You always have to be on the lookout for what’s new because you’re expected to come out with a collection three times a year. And those collections have to be consistently successful, which is very tough.

That’s why a lot of people don’t make it in design.  I overcome this challenge by reinterpreting the wheel rather than reinventing it.

6.Which city has the best fashion?
Definitely not San Francisco. They’re too relaxed and can’t really plan because the weather is unpredictable. New Yorkers and the French have this avant-guarde approach that I really like, they aren’t mainstream with glimpses of great fashion. And London is great as well. They mix the crazy with traditional fashion. The key to good fashion is the willingness to take risks, while accentuating the good and hiding the bad. You have to be unafraid of experimentation and being unique.

Moth Written’s

ON HOW THEY MET
Mary: You will smile. Nabil, initially, was my very kind and very platonic host brother during my first stay in Morocco as a study abroad student. I arrived in Rabat eight days before 9/11. I was eating lunch with the family when I saw the twin towers falling on an Al-Jazeera special report. Living through this experience in Morocco affected my worldview and life in a very deep and personal way, and brought me very close to homestay family.  At the end of my first stay, I knew that I would be back.  And just about a year later, I was. During my senior year Christmas break from studies at NYU, I traveled back to Morocco on my own to visit my family.  Much to my GREAT surprise, it was during this trip that Nabil and I found ourselves falling in love.

During my final semester at NYU, through many emails and phone calls I secured a job at the American Language Center in Rabat, beginning in September following my graduation. And that is just what I did. I graduated, went to Spain for a teacher’s training course, and went straight back to Morocco where Nabil and I lived together and worked until we were married in late 2004.

FAVORITE ARABIC WORD? AND WHY?
Nabil: الناس معادن — People are metals. I don’t have a favorite word but I do love this expression. It is hard for me to explain it in English, but it basically speaks about humanity, and the good and bad in every culture.
Mary: الحق  — Truth.  I love monosyllabic words, and I love the simplicity and weight of the sound of this word in Arabic. Heavy, with importance.

ON THE FUTURE OF MOTH WRITTEN
Nabil: I would like to see Moth Written continue to grow, and to help people, in a small way, learn about the Arabic-speaking world.  We are all, in the end, human beings with feelings and experiences in common.
Mary: I would like to teach Nabil to silkscreen! And I would like to continue growing, take it as it comes, while remaining a small independent business.

WHAT MADE YOU THINK OF A DOG + A “CONE OF SHAME” FOR YOUR PATIENCE/ AL SABR DESIGN?
Mary: The image came first. On the day that Nabil was granted citizenship in the U.S., we celebrated by adopting our ridiculous dog, a retired greyhound named Gus. Having recently come out of surgery, Gus was given the ‘cone of shame’ to wear at home. This poor animal. If you have watched an animal in this predicament, you know what I mean. He, alas, was not patient at all, and found innumerous ways to remove the cone. Oh how I wished for him patience. And so. Patience it was.

WHERE YOU CAN GET MOTH WRITTEN
Our full event schedule is listed on our blog at www.maryerobbins.typepad.com. And, as always, you can order online at www.mothwritten.com. We look forward to seeing you!

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About the Author: Lori Goode keeps the dream alive moonlighting as a reviewer, while passing her days (and nights) near the nation’s halls of power in Washington, D.C.. Her experiences ranges from research to education but she’s always had a keen eye for the arts, particularly film.

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Yasmin Mahrous and Stephen Frame

The casual wear saw mono-chromatic solid patterns with men’s wear often paired with a t-shirt bearing a lively retro silk-screen image. The chequered truck-stop button down drew applause. More retro on women’s casual, including faux leather spandex pants and daring bare-all sheer tops. And eighties punk rock torn black tights. The evening gowns drew heavily on Versace, with plunging necklines and hip-length open sides. The ruffled pink dress was a hit. Men’s formal wear were monochromatic suits that verged on tuxedo, with highlights in the way of tabs on the pockets, and a marching stripe down the pants.

Check out their 2010 Spring/Summer collection >>

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About the Author: Pete Willows is a Canadian freelance writer. He has lived and worked in Egypt, The United States, New Zealand, the Sudan and Canada. He currently lives in the Toronto area with his family.

Rami Kashou has time and again proven his talent as a fashion designer, but his short fashion film production “Between the Lines” has earned him the title of visionary.  “Between the Lines” is a kaleidoscopic portal into Kashou’s next collection, capturing every line and contour illuminated by each model’s graceful move. Kashou’s musical choice juxtaposed a sensual aesthetic with a tame, contemporary background. Every tap of the tablah transfixes the audience on cascading evening gowns and asymmetrical pieces. Structured, yet seductively feminine, Kashou is making it loud and clear that he is so much more than the master of Grecian draping. Just one caveat for anyone who watches this short: remember to catch your breath and let us know what you think below…