To help women in Lebanon stay fabulous without feeling the pinch, Lebanese designer Rima Cherfane has begun lending dresses from her entire collection.
“With everything happening in Lebanon, it’s really only a message of solidarity to my fellow female citizens,” she says humbly.
Lebanon is in the midst of its worst financial crisis in living history. That, mixed in a toxic cocktail of other issues, such as the global pandemic, political instability, and of course the major chemical explosion of August 4th, the Lebanese people are struggling – to say the least.
Yet somehow, Lebanese people have an unbelievable power to continue surviving against all odds.
Opening up about the moment she was most inspired to start this initiative, Cherfane recalled a woman who entered the workshop accompanying her sister who was there for a fitting.
Cherfane said the woman was dazzled by the dresses, but too humble to dream of affording them. “I respected her, it gave me tears,” she tells us.
Cherfane described this woman as “a beautiful, blonde widow, who knew better times but lost her husband to a heart attack.”
The widow is working as a taxi driver to support her two daughters who will soon graduate from college.
“That’s the ultimate fabulous in us, Lebanese women, the smile we can always carry on with dignity when times get rough,” Cherfane tells The961.
The lending process is fairly simple. Customers can reach out to Rima via direct message on Instagram @RimaCherfane and schedule a fitting.
Sizes run from 36-38 European since these are the sizes of Rima’s sample dresses. Some dresses come wider, flowier, and can fit sizes 40-44.
All the “borrowers” have to do is politely care for the laundry charge and return them in their nice and clean condition.
After all, Rima believes that something borrowed always brings good luck.
And there is more to this designer that makes her even more winsome: She loves her “made in Lebanon” label in all that it entails.
All her designs are locally produced, from concept to finalization, reflecting as such a unique energy, “a very defined personality” she said in an interview with Trend Prive Magazine, and the passion that brings each piece to its final realization.
Take a look at some of her beautiful designs:
