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

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