Luxury Lebanese handbag brand Sarah's Bag has collaborated with French fashion house Chloe, transforming one of its famed designs into a handcrafted, eye-catching accessory.
The collaboration, which is expected to last a number of seasons, starts with Sarah’s Bag reimagining Chloe’s popular Woody tote; this time nano-sized and completely crocheted — an artisanal craft widely used in the Mediterranean.
“I'm very proud and very happy that after all these years we're able to achieve this, especially in these hard times. It's a milestone for the company,” Sarah’s Bag founder Sarah Beydoun tells The National. “It's an achievement for the whole team, especially for the girls who worked with me on this collaboration.
“Chloe has wanted for a long time to focus on their sourcing and supply chain, so we're now part of their sustainable producers,” she says. “Chloe wanted to work with us because our objectives, as companies, are both aligned: our vision of empowering women through crafts and sustainable fashion.”
Crochet was selected for its timeless use in the region, with a wealth of techniques to explore. Beydoun’s earliest collections looked at vintage Lebanese crochet and tried to reinvent the craft for modern fashion, research that was put to good use with Chloe.
The beige and brown tote captures a boho-chic aesthetic that screams summer parties, days at the beach and lazy afternoon strolls.
“It's something that is very embedded into our culture and the Mediterranean. In every village, usually the grandma or the mother would create a trousseau for the young bride-to-be, and this would include mainly crochet for bed and table covers,” Beydoun says.
“When we started using it in our bags, it was like putting it back into fashion and we looked into different techniques of crochet. I think this is what Chloe liked about what we did, and they wanted to be part of it.”
Founded in 2000, Sarah’s Bag began as a social enterprise, working with women in prisons and former detainees to help provide them with skills to support themselves and find a place in society once more.
These women became a team of artisans, helping create meticulously embroidered and beaded bags designed by Beydoun and worn by the likes of Gigi Hadid, Queen Rania of Jordan and Beyonce. Now, a specialised team of 40 women are working exclusively on the Chloe collaboration.
With Lebanon still burdened by several crises, the process of creating the bag hasn’t been easy. In the past six months spent crafting the bag, petrol prices have skyrocketed, electricity is scarce and the basic living costs climb higher every day.
“We had a lot of difficulties. We had a shortage in petrol, so sometimes the girls didn't arrive to the workshop to bring back the final product,” Beydoun says. “We don't have electricity all the time, so a lot of girls had to work during the day, because there was no electricity at night.
“It's been over two years in this situation and I think it started to weigh on people, especially when you're under stress. We saw a lot of girls that were really struggling to stay positive or struggling mentally because they had been through so much,” she says.
“But they all knew that this was very, very important for us and they all put everything aside and worked really hard on the project. It's a little bit like a support group when they work together, especially when you're crocheting, it's something very therapeutic.”
The next collaborative bag will be presented with Chloe’s autumn/winter collection later this year.
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WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
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How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
Account Number: 11 530 734
IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734
Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae
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Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
The essentials
What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
When: Friday until March 9
Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.
Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.
Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)
Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)
Saturday
Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Sunday
Schalke v Augsburg (3.30pm)
Mainz v RB Leipzig (5.30pm)
Cologne v Fortuna Dusseldorf (8pm)
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
if you go
'HIJRAH%3A%20IN%20THE%20FOOTSTEPS%20OF%20THE%20PROPHET'
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Brief scores:
Toss: Northern Warriors, elected to field first
Bengal Tigers 130-1 (10 ov)
Roy 60 not out, Rutherford 47 not out
Northern Warriors 94-7 (10 ov)
Simmons 44; Yamin 4-4
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
