From the streets of Gemmayze you can peep through the windows of Nafissa’s atelier. You will see dresses made of beige cloth hanging on metallic bars and piles of colorful, glittery or embroidered fabrics.

Inside the atelier, you can browse through more than 500 archived pieces. Nafissa’s style is ethnic modern, with a penchant for loosely fitted dresses, elegant vests, and sarouel pants. The concept is based on co-creation. Clients can select any of the linen prototype models. They can choose to make alterations such as add sleeves or change a round neck to V-neck. Then, they sit down with Nafissa and browse through fabrics’ books. Nafissa will make suggestions of textiles that fit together and clients can play with their garments, imagining checkered pockets, a silky interior and a velvet lining. The atelier team will then craft the garment conceived pairing the chosen style and fabrics. Nafissa also proposes a small selection of ready-made pieces in line with trends and seasonal color palettes for inspiration. Every season she hand picks top quality fabrics from the Première Vision fair in Paris that she combines with unique buttons and strings found in flea markets across the city.

Nafissa’s atelier story began during the Gulf War in 1990, in Kuwait. She fled the country with her son in search of a safe haven and settled in Paris for a while. In the City of Light, she found a place called La Droguerie, a make-your-own jewelry store offering multiple colors and shapes of beads. The peaceful pastime was a much-needed refuge in the midst of a tumultuous environment. She developed a taste for creation and when she moved back to Kuwait she started conceiving her own fantasy and semi-precious jewelry using beading and threading techniques. Her circle of clients grew and she moved to an atelier overlooking the Arabian Gulf. She began creating shawls using patchwork compositions of velvet and silk, and the clothes atelier concept started to grow in her mind. After several years of activity in Kuwait, she moved to her home country Lebanon in 2009 and her concept took life again in the delightful Gemmayze atelier. Her Kuwait clientele continues to visit her in Beirut and Nafissa also takes seasonal trips to present her selections in the country where it all started.

Address:
Zoghbi building, 2nd floor, Apt 6
Souk el Najjarine, Gemmayze
📱: +961 3 431105

Price: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆