Sandra Mansour is a Swiss-born French-Lebanese fashion designer. She is the first Arab designer to collaborate with Swedish fashion label H&M.
Sandra Mansour is a Swiss-born French-Lebanese fashion designer. She is the first Arab designer to collaborate with Swedish fashion label H&M.
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]
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]