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Arab-American Takes on World; Fashionably
“It’s the Arabic hospitality that I want to introduce people to,” says Lubna Najjar, designer and owner of Lubna Designs Inc., of her new fashion showroom, Il Moda (Arabic for The fashion) set to open late summer 2014.
Najjar is a gifted fashion designer and proud American-Arab. She had an assortment of 25 beautifully designed pieces grace the runways at both New York Fashion Week and Columbus Fashion Week 2013, “You can be empowered by what you wear. You can turn a conversation into a business deal or a new long lasting relationship. That’s the power of fashion,” says Lubna on her website.
Najjar would sketch and design custom pieces for friends and family. It was a hobby that she says allowed her to convey her creative side, “I would cut pieces of paper out and put them together to form outfits. My mind was constantly going.”
However, in a culture flooded with degrees in law, engineering and medicine; fashion wasn’t deemed as ‘popular’. Najjar chose to throw her full attention in receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Pre-law from Kent State University. Over time, Najjar realized that fashion allowed her to bring her two worlds together. She not only enjoyed the creative part but the strategic side as well, “Designing clothing and accessories is not just about trends and fashion, it’s about structure, formulas, and understanding fabric weights and frames. I enjoy it for the science behind the design, not just the final product.”
In early 2013, Najjar attended the Dubai Fashion Festival in the United Arab Emirates. Each year, this event draws thousands of people from all around the world to the cosmopolitan metropolis. It’s there, Najjar learned to follow her heart, “It was inspiring. It was a push for me to stop living someone else’s dream and start living my own,” says Najjar.
She drew from that inspiration and with the full support of her family behind her she launched, Lubna Designs, Inc. in February 2013. The young designer stays busy with new customers and fans interested in her unique designs and wanting to be dressed in the Lubna Designs name. According to her website, clients have included wedding parties in New York City, private patrons in Jordan and diplomat families in Washington, D.C.
After obtaining a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Najjar now plans to continue to focus on her brand, getting it better known and taking it international. She has always been inspired by the work of Arabic designers such as Elie Saab and Zuhair Murad, however she prides herself in producing unique and one of kind pieces. The Middle Eastern formality has served as an innovated muse for Najjar, “Everything we [Middle Easterners] do is very very formal and that’s something I like to carry [on in] whether it’s the ready to wear or whether it’s custom pieces. It’s all about, ‘you look beautiful’ and ‘you want to look different’ from everyone else. They always say that European’s are the trendsetters, I don’t think that. I think the Middle Easterners are the trendsetters. We are, everything we do is over the top and I like it like that,” says Najjar humbly.
Her collection includes ready to wear, wedding couture and custom designed pieces. She says she loves and thrives on happy clients who say they received a numerous amount of compliments while wearing her designs. Najjar states on her website that she hopes to influence fashion’s return to a classic respect for formality with longer hemlines, dressing for the body and understanding how clothing and beauty work together for every woman and every shape.
“Truth is, for the first time in my professional career, I am not looking for what’s next,” says Najjar in a recent report of the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lubna-najjar/secret-sauce_b_4257467.html). “The next job and professional move turned out to own my own business and understanding that the road is long, hard but incredibly rewarding.”
Najjar wants to bring the Arabic hospitality to her showroom, featuring Lubna Designs and other national and international brands. In a recent report published in Fashion Up Media (Click here to read Article) Columbus, Ohio is considered the third most fashion forward city in the U.S.; and Najjar plans on joining the revolution with a showroom and states is the first of its kind in the state’s capital city. The (by appointment only) clothing showroom will house Arabic designs, a full beauty bar and professional stylists, providing a unique one-stop shop for those who visit her space. She also hopes to expose others to the wonderful hospitality Arabs are known for, “I think it’ll be an artistic way of introducing Columbus to the beautiful and peaceful nature of Arabic culture and its people.”
To view Najjar’s latest fashion designs visit her website at ilmodacolumbus.com and LubnaDesigns.com
Nijma Darwish
The Arab Daily News