Check our interview with Fashion Designer, Creative Director and CEO Farah Al Mesbah who successful brand is coming soon to the US.
Follow Farah Al Mesbah at Instagram
Who is Farah Al Mesbah?
I’m a fashion designer, I have studied fashion designing in London college of fashion and took couples of independent courses trained by professionals in the industry. I design my own collections and dothe pattern cutting myself. My designs dressed the elites along with royals in my region and I’m very grateful. Aside from my professional career, I am a normal person, I love collecting natural stones. Reading and exploring different cultures, drawing people, playing music and of course I love coffee and french pastries.
What inspires you?
Everything inspires me, but mostly nature and it’s interesting textures and period fashion.
When did you realize you had an eye for fashion?
In a very young age. Everyone around me, my family and friends, my teachers and schoolmates told me “you should be a fashion designer”. It evolved through my passion for drawing which is a gifted talent. My mother and sisters have a fashionable trendy style and naturally I was influenced by them. But when I grew up I developed an unusual style; in a way, I lovedressing up in an unexpected manner. Judging from my outfits and my translated design-ideas through my drawings, everyone seriously encouraged me to be a designer.
World renowned fashion designer you would like to meet and why?
I’d love to meet both Zac Posen and Raf Simons, I admire their vision in structuring the pieces. and what I truly love about them is the class they demonstrate. A designer, especially who designs luxury should truly poses this element. Because class comes from within and it subconsciously reflects in how you present yourself. And I believe both of these designers are one of the best role models.
Which season appeals to you and why?
I think every season is unique and lovely in its own way, However I would prefer autumn/winter. I love layering and I love jackets and coats. I also love the gloomy winter colours; they reflect mystery and power for some reason and I love it.
What is the vision for the brand?
The brand is designed for a feminine, strong and modest woman. All the designs are made with the respect of timeless elegance and aren’t trend effected. My designs are made to last a lifetime.
Do you wear your designs? If so, what is your favorite look?
I always wear my designs and wore most of them and I’m really proud of them. However my favourite is the Elisabeth jumpsuit from the SS18, it makes me smile for some reason and its silhouette truly gives me the 18th century pannier feeling and how my arms simply rest near the hip bone as how it was in that period. It’s truly a unique piece not just because of its design, but even while wearing it. It’s statement piece.
What is the most important thing to you as a fashion designer?
Style and personality. You can’t separate them though. Because your personality builds your own style, and being genuinely comfortable with it you’ll develop your own unique style that everyone will identify you with. And from a designer’s perspective, no matter how beautiful is the dress the designer can make for you, if there is no style to compliment it, then it will be perfectly dull. And as a designer, when I help my friends finding the perfect piece for them from my collections, the first thing I do is that I relate it to their personality, because it will determine what silhouette works to begin with, as well as the colour choice. Then definitely the body type comes next.
What sets you apart from all other designers?
I believe that my designs combine vintage and modern elegance simultaneously. And I care a lot about the uniqueness of my pieces. I aspire to give my clients the perfect reason to choose my designs among the rest of the designers. And that reason is, you cant mostly likely find something similar anywhere else and yet they’re timeless and can be wearable for years to come unaffected by trends and this is why my clients choose me, they end coming back to me and tell me everyone asked them where is the outfit from. I guess it’s everyone’s favourite compliment. It makes you feel you choose your outfits wisely.
What do you hope to achieve in the USA?
What’s really interesting about modern day USA is that its a combination of many ethnics and cultures. Lots of people migrated from the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa are now living in one country under one nationality. And I believe this is the perfect opportunity to gain international exposure for my brand. In other words, my pieces are mainly designed for the Kuwaiti woman’s lifestyle and her needs from the nature of her occasions or events and what she will need to be wearing for them. And I’m very interested in seeing how would they really work and be styled by the American woman. It does give me a great understanding of what do other women really wanted because as designers, we cant really expect what will definitely work, we design according to our artistic vision but the real bosses are the clients and many times the very same piece we believe it wont be popular will end up the most wanted, and a lot of times our favourite pieces don’t end up in production later. Therefore, we try and learn what works from our experiences. It happens to the best of us and USA is the perfect opportunity to learn more about different cultured women.
How do you manage being on top of your game as a global designer?
By being original and constantly produce new ideas. When I design a lot of times I avoid watching the latest runways because I don’t want to be influenced by other designers work. And I believe if you’re different and always come up with new ideas, you’ll keep your audience and clients interested. I personally get asked everytime I wear a piece I have designed when I travel, and those people end up ordering it. I have received and dispatched orders that way to clients from China, Brazil, UK and Greece. All of those pieces I sent were truly unique.
If you were a book, which book would you be and why?
I love this question, I would say a vintage French book “Le Desicple” by Paul Bourget. To be honest, I didn’t read that book. I ordered it from ebay as a decoration, but when I received it I fell in love with it for some reason. The beauty of the language, the layout, it has a mysterious charming vibes coming out of it. It made me want to learn the language to read that book and finally understand what its saying and I’d love to be seen that way too. I believe what we cant really easily figure out is exotic. Although my favourite type of books are the self development ones. But I want to be seen the way I see that book.
Which public figure do you resonate with the most and why?
I would relate to many figures from little things we have in common but I would love to choose Christian Dior for this question. When I read his book Dior by Dior, a biography book written by him and especially for the fact it was written by him, I felt very related to Christian Dior as a person than a designer to the point I would or perhaps did say many things he talked about with my friends, such as his shy personality, fear and lack of confidence when he’s risking, his struggles and disappointments, even the errors he made, I went through many of his struggles. A lot of things he believed in, loved and was inspired by, came to my surprise is very much in common with me. I never wanted to be like someone, I want to be my own personality and my own unique figure not influenced by anyone directly. But I won’t deny the encouragement that book gave me with all the things we had in common as individuals and like how David Bowie once said about him being inspired by Elvis Presley when he was young, if I had a little similar seed of a successful figure then I can definitely achieve what he achieved and mainly what I truly want to achieve, is to build an unforgettable name.
What’s next for Farah Al Mesbah?
There are many plans pending at the moment and definitely expanding my brand into accessories and footwear are in the list, for now I’m approaching couture gowns. I will be launching more gowns for the upcoming seasons. Because gowns satisfy my need of experimenting with daring details that I can hardly fit in everyday kind of outfits that I usually design when I started.
Where can we find your collection?
Definitely in my main fashion house in Kuwait where my Atelier, office and showroom are. And for online orders, currently we are working on the e-commerce website but until its ready, I’m receiving my orders directly in Instagram.
