The Creative Space: The Free Fashion School Redefining Possibility in Lebanon
Premiered at London's Shubbak Festival, this 16-minute documentary by Pia Brynteson and Ramzi Hibri offers an intimate look into Creative Space Beirut—a tuition-free fashion school empowering Lebanon's next generation of designers amidst national adversity.
Last week, The Creative Space premiered at London's Shubbak Festival, marking the culmination of a three-year journey for co-directors Pia Brynteson and Ramzi Hibri. The 16-minute documentary spotlights Creative Space Beirut (CSB), a free fashion school founded in 2011 amid Lebanon's overlapping crises – political, economic, and structural. Yet the film is intimate and vivid – a portrait of creativity as a lifeline.
Brynteson began the project while studying fashion journalism at Central Saint Martins. Disillusioned by the industry's sameness, she was drawn to stories with deeper cultural and emotional weight. Discovering CSB online and speaking with co-founder Sarah Hermez proved transformative. "It was the most inspiring concept I'd ever seen," she said. "A free fashion school in Lebanon – creating opportunity through design. I was completely taken aback."
The film follows several students, including Mostafa, who travelled to London for the premiere – his first time leaving Beirut. 'When I stood in front of an audience in a country that wasn't mine and shared my story, the reactions I received gave me more strength to keep going,' he said.
While Brynteson approached the story from the outside, Hibri brought lived experience. A Lebanese filmmaker and longtime supporter of the school, he was less than 100 metres from the port explosion in 2020. In the aftermath, he worked at CSB. 'I just wanted to do something,' he said. 'I worked there on a negligible salary for two years. I did nothing else.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Vogue Arabia
2 days ago
- Vogue Arabia
The Creative Space: The Free Fashion School Redefining Possibility in Lebanon
Premiered at London's Shubbak Festival, this 16-minute documentary by Pia Brynteson and Ramzi Hibri offers an intimate look into Creative Space Beirut—a tuition-free fashion school empowering Lebanon's next generation of designers amidst national adversity. Last week, The Creative Space premiered at London's Shubbak Festival, marking the culmination of a three-year journey for co-directors Pia Brynteson and Ramzi Hibri. The 16-minute documentary spotlights Creative Space Beirut (CSB), a free fashion school founded in 2011 amid Lebanon's overlapping crises – political, economic, and structural. Yet the film is intimate and vivid – a portrait of creativity as a lifeline. Brynteson began the project while studying fashion journalism at Central Saint Martins. Disillusioned by the industry's sameness, she was drawn to stories with deeper cultural and emotional weight. Discovering CSB online and speaking with co-founder Sarah Hermez proved transformative. "It was the most inspiring concept I'd ever seen," she said. "A free fashion school in Lebanon – creating opportunity through design. I was completely taken aback." The film follows several students, including Mostafa, who travelled to London for the premiere – his first time leaving Beirut. 'When I stood in front of an audience in a country that wasn't mine and shared my story, the reactions I received gave me more strength to keep going,' he said. While Brynteson approached the story from the outside, Hibri brought lived experience. A Lebanese filmmaker and longtime supporter of the school, he was less than 100 metres from the port explosion in 2020. In the aftermath, he worked at CSB. 'I just wanted to do something,' he said. 'I worked there on a negligible salary for two years. I did nothing else.'
Vogue Arabia
2 days ago
- Vogue Arabia
The Rise of Playful Proportions: Inside the World of Fashion's Most Joyful Silhouette
Gone are the days when minimalism reigned supreme and proportions played it safe. As Coco Chanel once said 'fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.' And In 2025 that architecture is being reimagined – through asymmetry, drama and deliberate imbalance, fashion is finally shedding its obsession with restraint and symmetry. The message? Proportions are no longer a matter of balance but of boldness. From voluminous sleeves that seem to float midair to sharply exaggerated tailoring which borders on the theatrical, the fashion world is embracing a new aesthetic vocabulary – playful proportions. This isn't just a passing trend – it is a bold reimagining of elegance, where individuality takes centre stage and maximalism is no longer a rebellion. Tracee Ellis Ross in Marc Jacobs at the Met Gala Amina Khalil in Rami Kadi at Cannes At the MetGala 2025, Tracee Ellis Ross's striking Marc Jacobs ensemble, featuring exaggerated wide legged trousers and a sculptural satin bow at the waist was the perfect example of how a voluminous silhouette transforms classic tailoring into high fashion drama. At Cannes 2025, Amina Khalil, wore a custom Rami Kadi gown with a sculpted bodice and cascading feathered tiers, a striking balance between softness and structure. On the runway On recent runways, fashion houses took to inflating silhouettes and a touch of playfulness. From YSL's sloped and elongated shoulders and voluminous ball gowns to Schiaparelli's carefully engineered construction of silhouettes. Rami Al Ali's Spring/Summer 2025, was an architectural marvel with geometric motifs which disrupted the symmetry of the otherwise sleek silhouettes. Ashi Studio's immense Balloon skirt created an intentional imbalance and exaggerated volume in a theatrical way. They show that awkward proportions and layering doesn't have to be over the top – they can be elegant and wearable too. Why is fashion leaning into this imbalance? At first, playful proportions might look like just a fun and impractical trend. But if you look closer, it's a natural reaction to the visual fatigue of minimal, plain fashion. It's less like a trend and more like a philosophy. Now, after the pandemic and the quiet luxury trend, people are moving back towards bold styles that show personality, creativity, and joy. The desire to break free, advocating for fun and expressive fashion and the appetite for emotions, personality, and visual excitement is definitely knocking our doors. High street brands are replicating the look with unexpected creativity – ballooned sleeves, wide cut pants, trapeze shaped coats, they are making fashion fun again for the average consumer. The desire to reject perfection and embrace individuality reflects how people, especially Gen Z and social creators, want to stand out and celebrate their complexities. Fashion creators' search history probably reads like a modern style manifesto: oversized jackets, statement sleeves, layered looks. This shows that fashion creators are looking for more volume, drama and excitement. It helps them break traditional fashion rules, turning garments into bold statements of identity and creativity. It does not only amplify one's volume but demands attention allowing for personal expression which says more is more.
Vogue Arabia
2 days ago
- Vogue Arabia
Why an Increasing Number of Women are Saying They Dress for the Female Gaze
From the moment they hit puberty, women are socially conditioned to dress in clothing that will be pleasing to the opposite gender. This is no modern phenomenon — in Ancient Rome, women styled their stolas, sleeveless dresses adorned with brooches, in a way that would appear alluring to men, and in Victorian England, women wore corsets so tight they fainted, just to appease men. The fashion industry has always known that 'sex sells.' But things are changing. Women around the world are ditching clothes that men find sexy for clothing that wins compliments from other women. In dressing, women are seeking no one's gratification but their own, even if it means they are making sartorial choices that the opposite gender doesn't deem attractive. This could mean going for clashing prints, mixing figure-hugging pieces with voluminous ones, wearing gaudy colours, or wearing polka dots from head-to-toe just because you like it. 'Women are done dressing for male approval,' says Maryam Al Ansari, a psychotherapist from Qatar who loves experimenting with her personal style. 'The female gaze values expression, confidence and individuality; it's not just about looking pretty. It's about dressing to feel powerful, not to be palatable.' Al Ansari says she dresses to feel 'true to herself,' navigating towards oversized blouses teamed with baggy culottes, fur coats paired with three-quarter length leopard print shorts and Y2K outfits that could have been worn by the members of '90s girlband B*Witched . And she recognises that this was something her Qatari foremothers did before her. Women in the Gulf have a long history of dressing for the female gaze at ladies-only social events like ghabgas .
