LONDON: Veteran Lebanese newspaper Annahar and Dubai-based marketing group Impact BBDO are collaborating with Lebanese fashion designer Zuhair Murad on a campaign to restore hope to the crisis-affected country.
As part of the campaign, launched under the hashtag “Restore Lebanon,” Murad repurposed blue mesh fabric used in reconstruction work after the 2020 Beirut port explosion — transforming it into a dress and a symbol of hope.
Murad worked on a dress design using mesh cut from the Annahar building’s exterior.
The Lebanese designer said that he is seeking to highlight the resilience, beauty and willpower of the Lebanese people in the face of the country’s worsening economic and social crisis.
The deep-blue dress features newspaper headlines printed on a satin belt, which is tied with a shiny red sequined heart.
Additionally, Annahar published a special Aug. 4 edition, which included testimonials by families of port blast victims and their hopes for a better Lebanon. The edition was sold or delivered wrapped in the same building mesh.
The campaign also launched an initiative to sell 10,452 non-fungible tokens of the design, a reference to Lebanon’s land area.
All proceeds are expected to go to Idraac, a nonprofit organization that supports mental health initiatives in Lebanon.
The campaign was launched on Thursday to coincide with the two-year anniversary of the Beirut port explosion, which killed 220 people, injured more than 6,000 and caused billions of dollars of damage.
