Creative Space Beirut’s Students Wow in Graduate Fashion Show

On Wednesday, June 25, Creative Space Beirut, Lebanon’s only free fashion design school, held their first graduation show since 2018, showcasing powerful thesis collections from their graduating students alongside designs by second-year students.

About CSB

Since 2011, Creative Space Beirut has been Lebanon’s only free fashion design school, offering tuition-free education to talented students from diverse backgrounds.

Built on values of access, care, and creative freedom, CSB has helped shape a new generation of designers who might not have otherwise had the chance.

The Graduation Show

The show, held at Union Marks in Bourj Hammoud, was more than just a fashion event. The space was transformed into an unconventional showcase that captured the energy, identity, and creative journey behind each collection. The show invited attendees to experience the collections, not just observe them. Moving from room to room, guests crossed into each student’s creative world.

CSB’s graduating students, Iftikhar Kanawati, Mostafa Al Sous, Jihan Azzam, and Patile Tachjian, each presented deeply personal collections shaped by three years of exploration, learning, and creative growth. Their work reflected a mix of storytelling, technical skill, and bold design perspectives.

Iftikhar Kanawati, Chronic Grief

Iftikhar Kanawati’s collection, Chronic Grief, channels the emotional aftermath of losing her mother. Through layered textures, deconstructed tailoring, and hand-treated fabrics, she explores the quiet violence and slow endurance that come with loss.

Moody and desaturated colors dominate the palette, with frayed and pierced surfaces mirroring the fragmentation of grief. The result is a body of work that feels both tender and raw, a reflection of survival rather than spectacle.

Mostafa Al Sous, Baw7

Baw7 breaks silence and shatters taboos with texture and raw emotion. Drawing from his experience as a survivor of childhood trauma, his collection blends iron, lace, and torn silk to give form to pain and vulnerability.

The garments carry a heavy presence, reflecting the lasting impact of trauma. Challenging the invisibility of male victims in Arab culture, Mostafa Al Sous designs pieces that embrace fragility and defy stereotypes of masculinity. The result is a bold, honest statement on healing and resistance.

Jihan Azzam, Vessels

For Jihan Azzam, fashion became a way to process of personal and collective memory. Her collection, Vessels, pulls from Druze spiritual beliefs and old family photos, weaving together themes of reincarnation and generational connection. Flowing silhouettes shift from structured to airy, mirroring the idea of the soul’s journey.

Cyanotype prints and delicate pleats add layers of detail, each piece feeling like both a garment and a quiet reflection on the stories we inherit.

Patile Tachjian, Adieu B2079

Patile Tachjian transforms memories of her childhood in Beirut into beautiful pieces of art. Stunning silhouettes paired with delicate embroidery and crocheted flowers, drawn from familiar tablecloths and curtains, turn nostalgia into whimsical, wearable garments with a charming childlike spirit.

Elements of her childhood are incorporated into each piece, from patterns inspired by family linens to textures that evoke the warmth of home. Every garment tells a story of nostalgia, love, and the passage of time.

Did you attend Creative Space Beirut’s graduation show? Let us know what you thought about the collections! If you want to support their goal in providing free design education in Lebanon, you can donate here.

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