Against the backdrop of a country still recovering from war and uncertainty, seven senior students at Majal Design School presented their final projects this week before two professional juries in Beirut, earning praise from leading figures in Lebanon’s fashion and jewelry industries and securing a unanimous pass for the graduating class.
The presentations brought together four textile design students and three jewelry design students, each defending months of creative and technical work developed under what instructors described as extraordinarily difficult circumstances.
The textile design students presented their collections before a jury composed of fashion journalist Christelle Daher, Warde owner Gabriel Warde, and designer Raja Dabbous.
The jewelry design students, meanwhile, presented before instructor and designer Meghry Topuchian, instructor and art director Farah Dabbous, and jewelry designer Maya Mukhi.
By the end of the evaluations, all seven students had passed.
The jurors repeatedly returned to one theme: the remarkable quality of the work despite the conditions under which it was produced.
“I cannot begin to tell you how great your work is, especially given that you have worked under war circumstances,” Ms. Mukhi told the students during the session. “This is so powerful and so meaningful.”
For Yasmine Dabbous, who founded the school and instructed the senior class, the presentations reflected not only artistic growth but resilience.
“I am so very proud of my students,” she said. “They worked hard against all odds and at extraordinary times.”
She added that the experience had revealed something larger than technical achievement alone. “If they did such tremendous work during this time of war and uncertainty,” she said, “then everything else will be easy.”
By Majal Design School