To celebrate the establishment of the fashion design program at LAU and to highlight the design department\u2019s interest in contributing to the growth of both fashion and graphic design professions, the design department put together a series of talks for Beirut Design Week 2014. Good design involves craft, effective strategies, and visibility. The four speakers selected for this year\u2019s program, Caroline Simonelli, Mona Hatoum, Hilary Alexander and Esen Carol, are committed to the advancement of design in all aspects. They will address various facets pertaining to the creative industry through their personal experiences in their respective fields of expertise. We hope this series of talks will raise questions about thinking processes and creative strategies and foster a dialogue among the students, faculty and the broader design community.<\/p>\n
Mona Hatoum<\/b> first became widely known in the mid 80s for a series of performance and video works that focused with great intensity on the body. In the 90s her work moved increasingly towards large-scale installations and sculpture. Hatoum has developed a language in which familiar, domestic everyday objects are often transformed into foreign, threatening and dangerous things. <\/p>\n
Hilary Alexander<\/b> is the former Fashion Director of The Daily Telegraph. She retired from the Telegraph in 2011, after 26 years, and has continued to work as a freelance stylist and writer, for websites and magazines including Hello!, and as a fashion consultant for Marks & Spencer’ s Per Una range. <\/p>\n
Caroline Simonelli<\/b> is a Lebanese\/American designer who teaches fashion design at Parsons the New School for Design in New York. Before teaching, Caroline had a long career as a fashion designer in women\u2019s dress apparel. <\/p>\n
Esen Karol<\/b> graduated from Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul and received her master\u2019s degree in communications design from Pratt Institute, New York, where she studied with Fulbright scholarship. She has participated in several international exhibitions and design events.<\/p>\n