Exile has been part of the fabric of Lebanese identity for centuries. War, famine, economic uncertainty. A search for a better life. Many things have pushed people out of the tiny sliver of land on the East Mediteranean and into Europe, West Africa, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, and many other places. This exile has become intergenerational and inherited, with many finding themselves repeating the migration flows of their ancestors. Visas and suitcases are part of the vernacular of daily life.
I have been thinking about my own migration to the UK, and my life between Beirut, Saudi Arabia and Paris before that. Trying to understand what patterns I am replicating. Last year, I heard the story of my Great Uncle Shawki. In 1951, he set off from Beirut to Sao Paulo on a ship. Over 10,000 kilometers and a world away. He ended up selling clothes out of his car in the borderlands near Colombia and Bolivia. In a world before mobile phones and FaceTime comfort. Just ripping yourself out of one world into another. I think of him on that boat, and those weeks on the ocean, in the unknown, under the sun. And that’s where the palette of colours for 03: Traveler Without A Port emerged. Mustards, and blues, and earthy colours. The elements of departure and return.
I think of him coming home decades later and not recognizing his country, his land, his brothers and sisters. Him being changed by those years in self-imposed exile. How complicated knowing himself must have been. How complicated knowing myself is becoming. And that is where the layering in the collection stems from, and the transparencies in fabrics, allowing to see one identity through the other. One’s own identity becoming a kind of layered embrace.
Fabrics
All fabrics are 100% Italian cotton and 100% Belgian Linen.
Sustainability
All the fabrics were part of unsold stock at failing factories in Europe and were in danger of being thrown out and ending in landfills. Through a sourcing deal with a Lebanese importer we were able to save them.
As with every collection, construction of every garment is designed to minimize leftover or wasted fabric.
All Nour Hage collections are produced in a small factory in the hills above Beirut where Syrian and Lebanese tailors work ethical hours and are paid fair wages.
The Shoot
Model Karim Najjar
Photographer George Rouhana
Location Beit El Hamra
SPECIAL THANKS • Kamal Mouzawak, Ghiya Haidar , Sherif & Nasri Atallah.