Photo by: George Haddad

Certain that he had found his calling, he surrounded himself with sketches, textiles and models, and decided to study fashion in Paris when he was 18. Initially his family didn’t appreciate the idea given his young age, but Murad persisted, resisted, and finally got their approval. He headed to the French capital where he studied at the official Syndical Chamber of Couture. “Just after I finished my studies, I returned to Lebanon in 1994. I came back because in Beirut, I could really achieve something. I could open my own fashion house.” Today his “own house” is located in Beirut. He arrives there every morning at 10 O’clock, with a cup of coffee in one hand (it’s a ritual!). At 10:30 he starts his rounds of the offices and workshops, meeting his staff and supervising the work. Everything is located there under one roof: the couture workshop (25 employees), the ready-to-wear department (25 employees), the embroidery workshop (25 employees), the graphic studio (12 employees), as well as the administration (12 employees). In-total, not less than a hundred people are met during his rounds in which Zuhair Murad “looks at all the tiny details of the ongoing jobs.” It’s the details, that tiny “plus” which creates the difference between good work and perfection, and which gives the distinctive emotional touch present in Murad’s designs. “After the morning rounds, I meet clients and prepare shows if necessary.” Does he remember his first fashion show? “I was 24 years old. It was in 1997 at the Regency Palace Hotel in Beirut. It was like a dream come true. I had organized the show to unveil my first collection on galaxies, stars, horoscopes… I felt lots of emotions… and anxiety. This is always the case before every fashion show.” His first show under the framework of an official international event was in Italy in 1999, when he participated to the official calendar of haute couture in Rome. “I called the Syndicate Chamber of Couture. I sent my file, and they accepted. I displayed my collections there for three years.” In 2001, he was chosen by the "Agenzia per the moda" to participate in the official opening of the Rome festival.