Nada Debs
“Inspiring home furniture—this store made mother of pearl trendy and creatively modern. A must in every house.”
Tel: 01999002

Papercup
“Nested in Mar Mkhayel between Mecanics and a Man’ousheh shop, Papercup is a haven of handpicked design and architecture books as well as inspiring art references, and a great selection of kids books. Why not indulge in yummy homemade cookies and brownies?”

Lahem b3ajine Armane
“The yummiest lahem b3ajine and mante (Armenian shish barak) in town.
Go for the “lahem b3ajine Armane””
Tel: 01375178

Ashghalouna
“Every Friday, friends of the social welfare Association organizes a lunch gathering, serving the best home-cooked food, the kind your grandma used to cook for you.”
Tel: 01366758

Casablanca
“The organic green salad and the salt and pepper calamari are to die for!”

Rosa Maria
“I never leave home without a piece from Rosie on me.”
Tel: 03652236

The Corniche
“Taking a stroll, whether in the morning, at sunset or at night makes me love Beirut over and over again.”

Rabih Keyrouz
“I love his designs and always look forward to his welcoming attitude.”
Tel: 01 566079

Osteria
“The first café-pub to open in Mar Mkhayel. I love their cocktails and their occasional band.”

Credit: Portrait by Mark Mahaney

You studied Computer Communication Engineering at the American University of Beirut. How did you transition from that to art?

I always knew I wanted to be an artist or designer. But in my school they made me feel like I owed it to myself to do engineering, because I was good at math and sciences. At AUB in CCE, I tried to approach the design department and take design classes on top of my curriculum, but they didn’t accept. They said I could not handle the load and their classes were just for design students. My obsession with mixing the arts and technology remained in my head until I found the MIT Media Lab, which felt like a mirage! I applied and went for grad school, and there decided to use technology as a medium for artistic expression

We were in the audience in NYC when you displayed your MIT senior project, the robotic veiled that turns in to a “deux pieces” belly dancing project, and were awed by the cleverness and the creativity of the project.

VIDEO: http://vimeo.com/3004295

How did the seeds of it come about?

Arabiia was one of the first pieces I made in MIT. I had recently moved to the states and was always asked why I didn’t look like an Arab, or why I wasn’t veiled. I started researching images of Arab women in the US media and was shocked and entertained by how polarized they were: the voluptuous sensual belly dancer versus the subdued woman in a burka. That year, I was invited by Location One, a gallery in Soho, NY, to take part in week long open exhibition where fashion designers and costume artists were commissioned to produce pieces for a show, all the while themselves being on display at the gallery. I embraced my geekness and used the tools I knew—motors and electronics—and combined them with fashion.

The first time the piece was shown it got a lot of attention and press interest. The second time coincided with the violence over the prophet Mohamed cartoons and a journalist from the Boston Globe came up to me after the fashion show and said “I really would have loved to feature your piece but we are afraid of the backlash.”

You are an engineer and a designer. How does one skill set influence the other?

I think the way engineers and designers are taught to think have a lot in common actually. Both want to solve problems, both are taught to prototype, iterate, experiment. I don’t feel that there are different phases or skill sets that clash in any way in my process. Of course every once in a while in the beginning of a project, the engineer in me foresees all the obstacles and problems down the line and gets discouraged, but I learnt to shut the little voice up and just go with the flow!

What does the term electro-fashion mean to you?

When I first heard about electro-fashion, or wearable electronics, I was at MIT and learnt about this new field that consisted of embedding and integrating electronics and computation into clothes. The field had emerged from the US army wanting to create “smart” outfits and avoid all heavy monitors, batteries, computers etc. A whole field emerged of smart fabrics: jackets with embedded sensors in them, shoes with lights, and the field has been increasingly booming. But in 2007, on one of my visits to Damascus, I remembered the little shops in Souk el Hamidiya that sold electronic lingerie. I remembered that electro-fashion isn’t so new after all, senior Syrian women outside of Damascus have been producing electronic fashion for years, hacking electronic toys and integrating them into underwear that lights up, that buzzes, flutters, that flies. That spurred my piece with Luma Shihabeldin called “Teta Haniya’s secrets”. The piece is a line of lingerie made by the fictitious Teta Haniyam, a Syrian grandmother that travels to the US to liberate American sexuality.

Fascinating! Thanks very much for your time.

For more information visit www.ayahbdeir.com

Our big glossy star? Bounkit. Statement cuffs and dazzling chandelier earrings from the jeweler have graced the covers of InStyle (on the lovely Salma Hayek), Essence (Iman) and Oprah in the Oprah Magazine, as well as fashion spreads in the UK’s Grazia.

And it’s no wonder – Bounkit pieces really make an impact, no matter what you’re wearing. That’s why the designs have been selected for repeated appearances on one of TV’s most slickly styled shows, Gossip Girl. Blair Waldorf, Serena and Lily van der Woodsen have all worn Bounkit styles throughout the show’s four seasons.

Ready for your own sparkling moment? Let a dangling pair of chandelier earrings cast a prism on your sharply pressed white button-down shirt, or choose a cuff that picks up one of the colors in a multi-jewel-toned shift. Whatever your choice, you’ll find a myriad of ways to wear your new statement piece.

Xoxo,
Dia

Shop the Bounkit collection

Thank goodness, then, for Georges Chakra, who has delivered with his Edition by Georges Chakra fall collection just the garments we envision. It’s almost as though, after a summer frolicking in clothes that are merely “fun”, we get to go back to school… with the perfect little frock rather than a new pouch of sharpened pencils.

His structured gabardine dresses have all of the seriousness required by modern life with none of the staidness—detail like crushed satin and gabardine bows sees to that. A master of cut, Chakra can make even the most masculine elements seem fresh and intended to glorify a woman’s curves.

Take his reversed tuxedo dress. The black-crepe frock has an ingenious collar that channels lapels from that most formal men’s suit, and a collar that continues down the back. But the shape is completely feminine, with sleeves stop just past the elbow, inviting the wearer to don a pair of elbow-length gloves.

And the gray lamé wool tank dress makes a flirty piece out of a material that might be basic in anyone else’s hands (gray wool?). The body-conscious cut appears plain from the front, with its nude panels in the shoulder straps the only adornment, but the wearer turns around to reveal darling and daring cut-outs finished with black satin bows. Better yet, all it requires to become office-ready is a structured black blazer.

The weather may still be warm, but these dresses put us in mind of chilly nights. After all, the best part of going back to school? Back to school shopping, naturally.

Click here to see the new collection

You’ve heard the “rules”: no white after Labor Day, no socks with sandals, don’t wear double denim, etc.. To that, we say: please see Wilhelmina Slater on Ugly Betty, the Christian Dior and Marni spring/summer 2010 shows, and Alexa Chung.

We don’t follow the so-called rules. That’s one of the reasons our jewelry boxes overflow the way they do—diamonds are forever, and semiprecious stones are trans-seasonal, darling.

That said, a few of our rocks just seem more right for sunshine than for snow or rain.

Think turquoise. Meant to be worn against tanned skin, even thinking of a favorite turquoise necklace conjures the smell of sunscreen. As end-of-summer party invitations start to roll in, look to Bounkit’s turquoise cuff or Amrita Singh’s chandelier earrings, all best worn with a white linen dress.

And then there are the typically sunny colors: yellow, orange, coral red and swimming pool teal. Wear Zena Baroudi’s Lucky Silver Hand Necklace before temperatures cool.

Better yet, why not wear them all at once? Summer is a time for color and excess—go on, pile on those bangles… even if all you’re accessorizing is an OYE monokini.

You have been quoted: “Poetry has always been central to my art practice; it is my source of inspiration and method of thinking. Whether in my abstract images or in my work with text, I view all the marks I make on the picture plane as words, as emotionally evocative, if not completely decipherable, symbolic entities.”

Who are the poets that influence you?  Are they Arab, Western, modern, jahalieh? Adonis inspired a new direction of your paintings? How so?
The poets that influenced me are many; Adonis, Baudelaire are important ones. I am now delving into the works of Borges. I grew up reciting Abu Kassim Al Chabbi. Somewhere in my early teens I was in love with the universe of Jacques Prévert. Both made me want to write poetry, reading them left me with a creative charge and a license to experiment. When I started to paint, I wanted very much to function like a poet. I was not interested in narrative and less still in theory. Things have changed a bit since.

Plato’s philosophy, Islamic art, organic wood, geometric figures, it’s really fascinating how you incorporate all those vastly different entities. Can you tell us about that?
Ah Plato! Well this wise man of his day—and beyond—proposed to banish poets from his Ideal City, because of their unruly nature. Plato’s work, while seen as seminal to Western culture, had also tremendous influence on Arab and Islamic culture. Islamic aesthetic draws from neo-Platonic concepts of absolute perfection. Geometry is an expression of that aesthetic. One cannot see a straight line in nature, but one can mentally deduce it; the same goes for perfect symmetry and so on.

I, on the other hand, am of the school of the Spanish architect Gaudi, who found beauty in things crooked and not straight. He threw many of these geometric tiles from the top of a crane and applied their randomly broken shapes to his organically shaped buildings. I learned to appreciate tiles and stucco work in traditional Tunisian architecture through my professors at the Beaux Arts in Tunis, but I found it exasperating to have to use a ruler! I wanted my colors to explode out of the shapes and if possible out of the picture-plane. The infinite aspect of these tiles and stucco motifs was, and still is, very fascinating to me. In short my work wants to preserve that sense of infinity, but without the rigidity and the predictable aspect of geometry.

You tackle a myriad of issues through your art? In addition to space and philosophy, you tackle social issues such as racism, charity, media propaganda? How did you do that through your book Cultures of War?
Cultures of War came from my experience living in the United States during the build up for war in Iraq and the actual invasion. I was trying to understand why arguments like, We will liberate them and bring them democracy, resonated with the American public! ….I wanted to explore what traits of American culture made some Americans amenable to such thoughts. Monolinguism, racism, charity, and an overrated sense of strength came to mind. I gave myself the assignment to use the words of American poets, authors, and leaders to address those traits: people like Baldwin, Sontag, Chomsky, and Mother Jones among others. In my eyes, they are all poets that are thought of both as insightful and foolish.  In other words, the breed Plato would have banished; these voices are the promise of a potential renewal of a society. I end the book with a verse of the Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz translated by the American Naomi Lazard: Someday perhaps the poem/ murdered and still bleeding on every page/ will be revealed to you.

How does being an Arab woman play into your art?
To the first question, I am inclined to answer: I don’t know. Being Arab, Muslim, African, Francophone, and even woman are all, and at least in part, cultural constructs that do not have a fixed meaning. They do evolve and mutate as people who carry these identities do. In my lifetime, all have meant different things at different times and contexts.

To take Arab, for instance. While I was a young artist in Tunisia, it meant a more expanded sense of belonging than simply being Tunisian. I was trying to learn everything I could about modern and contemporary Iraqi paintings, and how they negotiated the cultural issues of the time.

When I moved to New York City and met Arabs from the Mashriq, I realized that it meant something different to them than it did to me. I encountered people for whom being Arab carries a strong ethnic meaning, and rarely does this sense of ethnicity make room for other manifestations of the Arab identity….

So to answer your question about how being Arab plays into my art, it does so with poetry. And while poetry is not exclusively Arab, poetry is a very valued art in Arab societies. Having access to the language is an enormous privilege.

Ever since Miucca Prada presented a spring/summer collection inspired by chandeliers, designers have been enamored with things that dangle, sparkle and reflect. Think of Marni’s bronze disc-embellished tunics, Dolce & Gabbana’s over-embroidered lace and plenty of metallic layering at Louis Vuitton.

The embellishment trend has resonated with Dia editors as well. Georges Chakra completes his perfect cocktail dresses with bejeweled necklines and shoulder straps, while Karen Karam gives a glittering edge to one of her black lace and chiffon frocks.

For a subtler take, look to Ronald’s black chiffon shirt with matte silver discs at the neckline. Or amp up your basic white tee and jeans with artfully embroidered Liwan sandals—an office favorite.

Check out this week’s top finds.

Beckham, who smoulders in one of her own mini-dresses on the striking black-and-white cover (with a large martini as an accessory), wears a Kaprol creation on the inside pages.

In the shot, a very glamorous Beckham descends a glass staircase wearing a white feather boa over a black sequined leotard custom-designed by Kaprol.

Beckham is one in a long line of celebrity fans of the Turkish designer. A regular in Vogue Turkey, Kaprol has attracted notice for her directional shapes and impeccable detailing.

When Meg Ryan stopped by her showroom during last spring’s Istanbul Fashion Week, the When Harry Met Sally star launched into an impromptu photo shoot.

Discover Kaprol’s designs for yourself here…

It’s a sentiment that crosses our minds at some of the more directional fashion shows, but, this being a fashion-oriented office, we absolutely love trying out new styles, no matter how daring!

Thankfully, celebrities can be a huge help when it comes to road-testing trends.

Take this draped tan jumpsuit with shoulder cut-outs worn by Katy Perry on a recent trip to London. On the model, it’s almost intimidatingly cool, but Perry shows us that it’s an effortlessly fluid and unique piece for daytime.

Perry’s jumpsuit is by none other than Dia favorite BodyAmr. Named “one of the best kept secrets of fashion insiders” by Vogue.com, BodyAmr is all about modern glamor and bold designs, from body-conscious mini-dresses to fluid goddess gowns.

Besides Perry, other celebrities to discover BodyAmr over recent months include Kylie Minogue, Amanda Seyfried and Taraji P. Henson. They’re all women with different styles and body shapes, but one thing is for sure—in BodyAmr, they’re the coolest girls in the room.

You already love the prints—so who are the women behind the bags?

Let’s start with Um Kalthoum, the grand dame of Arabic music. Born in a small Egyptian village at the turn of the 20th century, she came to early notice for her public Koranic recitations. Her fame truly ignited when she moved to Cairo as a young woman. There, through large public concerts—some of which are nearly moving on video as one imagines they must have been in person—Kalthoum became the most beloved singer in Egypt, and was even chosen to sing Radio Cairo into its first broadcast.

Sabah, meanwhile, is a Lebanese singer who began her career by singing in Egyptian movies as a teenager in the 1940s. Her statistics are quite impressive: she has released more than 50 albums, entered into seven marriages, and boasts a repertoire of 3,500 songs. She’s still a prolific performer and as blonde as ever at age 82.

So, who will it be—the matriarch Um Kalthoum, or the fiery Sabah? Look to Sarah’s Bag to choose your favorite.