DUBAI: Fashion label Born in Exile, led by designer Ibrahim Shebani, showcased its latest collection at Dubai Fashion Week in the form of a “nostalgic love letter” to Libya.
Shebani is keen to pay homage to Libya’s culture and heritage through his collections with one of the few high fashion brands to emerge from the country.
“We go back to our traditional dress code. We revamp it (and) we make modern clothing that is inspired from our traditional clothing,” he said before touching on the country’s turbulent recent history.
“Also the geopolitical situation influences our work … In 2014, when the civil war broke out in Libya, we had a beautiful monument in the center of (Tripoli), which was a bronze statue. It was stolen. We had some extremist militias in the city, and they stole it and destroyed it,” Shebani said, referring to an incident in November 2014 in which militants were suspected of removing the statue of a naked woman petting a gazelle.
“That was very heartbreaking to everyone that lived there or was from that city, and that inspired the collection. I think what we really want to say with this collection is that you might take away things, you might destroy some things, but it’s very, very difficult to wipe out the history of a nation.
“So the collection … is really a nostalgic love letter to a place where I lived for 10 years,” he said.
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Shebani was born in Germany and grew up in Egypt and Libya, before relocating to Tunisia, where he currently runs his brand.
The designer praised Tunisia’s homegrown production capabilities, and lamented the common practice of high-end European labels manufacturing leather goods there before placing a “Made in Europe” tag on the product.
“For every single brand you can think of, the bags factories (in Tunisia) produce (the goods). If you do one step in Italy, which is as little as fixing a button on a shirt, you can say it’s made in Italy,” he said, emphasizing the importance of educating potential customers on the realities of where and how luxury goods are made.
“Also, I think one of the biggest problems we have in the region is that the buyers are not very familiar with the regional brands,” Shebani added.
“It’s so much easier just to go to Europe because it’s a nice experience to be in Milan or in Paris,” he said.
Shebani believes the key to unlocking a brighter future for regional designers is to strengthen fashion infrastructure in the region involving all the key players — “it’s designers, plus clients, plus buyers, plus press, there has to be more of us in the region.”
