2 days ago
- Entertainment
- 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.'
