Sandra Mansour is a Swiss-born French-Lebanese fashion designer. She is the first Arab designer to collaborate with Swedish fashion label H&M.
Early life and education
Mansour was born and raised in Geneva, Switzerland.[1] Her parents fled from Lebanon to Switzerland during the Lebanese Civil War.[2] She moved to Beirut with her parents at age thirteen, where she lived until she was eighteen.[2] She moved back to Switzerland to study business management at Webster University Geneva.[3] After graduating from Webster, Mansour pursued an arts degree from Beaux Arts in Geneva.[4][3] She later trained in fashion design under Elie Saab.[5] She obtained a master's degree in fashion design at the Istituto Marangoni in Paris.[6][3]
Career
Mansour founded her fashion house, named after her, in Beirut in 2010.[7][4][8] She serves as the principal designer and the chief executive officer of the fashion label.[9][7][10] Mansour's company mainly marketed to Middle Eastern and European clients until she partnered with Moda Operandi to expand the customer base.[11]
In 2017 Mansour was named as an "international emerging designer", representing the Middle East, at the Buro Fashion Forward Initiative.[2] She created a collection for Farfetch in collaboration with Buro 24/7.[2]
Mansour's atelier and home were damaged in the 2020 Beirut explosion on 4 August 2020. In her Vogue interview regarding the explosion, she noted that the citizens in the streets helping each other afterwards gave her hope for Lebanon's future.[12][1][13] She was in Geneva at the time of the explosion.[1][14] Later that month she released the fashion line Fleur du Soleil as a collaboration with H&M.[4][7][9] The line, which includes fifteen pieces, was scheduled to be released on 6 August but was postponed due to the explosion.[9][15][1] The collection was inspired by woman artists including Toyen, Dorothea Tanning, Lena Leclercq, and Bibi Zogbé.[7][16][17] Following the release of Fleur du Soleil, Sandra Mansour x H&M donated $100,000 from the proceeds to the Lebanese Red Cross.[9][1][18] Mansour is the first Arab designer to partner with the Swedish fashion company.[19][20]
Her Spring 2020 and 2021 ready-to-wear lines were featured in Vogue.[21][22]
She has dressed celebrities including Sarah Jessica Parker, Cleo von Adelsheim, Ekaterina Malysheva, Gigi Hadid, Ming Xi, and Zoë Pastelle.[23]
References
