Noticing Nadine Merabi all over Instagram lately? Us too. This Lebanese designer with showstopping sequin and feather-embellished dresses, jumpsuits, and skirts has taken the Middle East by storm with her must-have designs. Let’s face it, everyone wants to show up to a glam Dubai party adorned in something sparkling and fabulous from Nadine’s ready-to-wear fashion label. We had to chat with this fresh designer ourselves and find out just who is Nadine Merabi and where her inspo comes from.
From field hockey to fashion design
Fashion school? Nope. Design school? Not that either. Online courses? LOL. When we asked Nadine where she got her start in the fashion industry, we were legit shook by her response. Her story is anything but ordinary.
Nadine tells Cosmo ME that she actually was a “field hockey player for England. Since it’s not a professional sport in the UK, there wasn’t any money in it. I needed an income and so I started a side hustle organising and running events. As I got more on the scene, I needed clothes to wear at all the parties I was attending. I found that everything was either too high-end and expensive or high-street and everyone was wearing it.”
So, how exactly did a field hockey player turned events organiser become the designer of the hottest womenswear brands? “I was constantly out socialising at these events, and I wanted to look different than everyone else. I figured it couldn’t be that hard to design my own clothes. I decided to start experimenting and bought a sewing machine. My first outfit was two bits of fabric stitched together and tied with a belt.” Ohh, we love a good success story.
Bold choices
Nadine tells us that as people began to notice her outfits she started to see potential in herself as a fashion designer. “Soon enough, people started asking me where I got my clothes from. I lied to them and said it was a designer in London. I noticed more and more, however, I was receiving loads of compliments on my own designs while I was out and about.”
“I began designing more clothes and making bolder choices. I’m not someone who is good at sketching so I would visualise the dress in my head and then use my sewing machine to put it together. I was offered to do a little pop-up shop at a Christmas market and I brought 20 pieces with me. It was only then that I told my friends what I was up to. My outfits didn’t have any zippers in them because I hadn’t mastered sewing in a zip yet. All the pieces required a little bum wiggling to get into. It didn’t matter though because everything sold out. I started to realise I was onto something.”
She wasn’t just noticed by her friends, however. “Shortly afterwards, I was invited to Selfridges in London to present my designs. I was very nervous though; they loved everything and placed a very large order. I completely froze. How was I going to fill it? I had three months to fill the order and ended up finding a manufacturer to make my designs. Ultimately, I realised that I didn’t want to work from a wholesale angle and instead prefer to have everything sold directly from me.”
Lebanese roots
When we asked her where she got the inspo to create her vibrant pieces with sequins and feathers, it turns out that the source of her creativity lies close to her heart. “My father, who passed away when I was only 18, serves as a lot of inspiration for my designs. He was a lawyer in Lebanon and became an entrepreneur when he moved to England to be with my mother. He always wore the craziest outfits with his own natural flair. His creativity lives on through my designs although, my creations are much more wearable.”
Nadine’s advice for entrepreneurs
Want to be like Nadine? Us too. We asked her for three tips that work for any Cosmo ME reader who wants to go into business for themselves. Nadine bestowed her wisdom upon us:
1. Be the driving force.
“In order to be successful, you need to be passionate about your business. You can easily tell which companies have passion behind them and which ones don’t.”
2. Be brave.
“Take the risks and chances. Give people something different. Too many people are doing the same things. Keep evolving and keep ahead. Be confident and have the self-belief that you can do it.”
3. Understand what women want and how they want to feel.
“This one speaks for itself. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. What do you want? How do you want to feel? Use your answers as inspiration in your own business.”
Lastly, given her experience and journey into creating her own fashion brand, we just had to know what Nadine would tell her younger self to do differently in starting her own business. Her response *majorly* surprised us. Nadine said, “Nothing. All the mistakes led me to where I am today and I’m so grateful for that. Going into the fashion industry without having any formal fashion-based education was an asset as I had no idea what types of odds were stacked against me. I followed my intuition and my heart and it led me exactly to where I am today.”
And where she’ll be in the future? “Resort wear.”
We. cannot. wait.
You can purchase Nadine Merabi’s designs here.