Racha El Abbas: Where Architecture Meets Avant-Garde Fashion
Beirut-born, Jeddah-raised designer Racha El Abbas is redefining Middle Eastern fashion with her bold, graphic sensibility—a fusion of architectural rigor and experimental textile artistry. From her early days as an Art Director at Leo Burnett to her current status as a rising star in prêt-à-porter, El Abbas’ journey is a testament to the power of creative reinvention.
From Skyscrapers to Seamlines
Initially an architecture student at the American University of Beirut, El Abbas pivoted to graphic design, mesmerized by tactile textures and visual storytelling. After five years in advertising, she traded storyboards for sketchbooks, moving to Paris in 2008 to study fashion design at Parsons. There, she discovered her true calling: draping, surface treatment, and prints that defy convention.
In 2010, she debuted her first collection under Starch Foundation—Beirut’s incubator for emerging designers—showcasing garments that married structural rhythms with graphic, print-driven surfaces. Her work is a dialogue between contemporary architecture and fabric, where every fold tells a story and every pattern pulses with abstraction.
“I’m inspired by everything I perceive,” she says. Urban grit, natural textures, and fleeting moments all morph into graphic patterns under her alchemy. “It’s about finding rhythm in chaos.”
Fashion Icons & Industry Insights
Muses: “Anyone who expresses individuality fearlessly—through attitude, not just clothes.”
Middle Eastern Fashion: “The talent here is exploding, but the challenge is staying avant-garde, not chasing trends.”
Must-Visit Boutique: Starch in Saifi Village (“Where my dream launched!”)
Digital & Analog Crushes
While she loves the “smell of fresh ink” in print magazines, her screens are bookmarked with:
The Sartorialist (raw street style)
Another Magazine (cutting-edge culture)
TED (big ideas)
Gestalten (design innovation)
The Starch Effect
“Starch made me realize my potential,” she reflects. The platform catapulted her from local secret to one-to-watch, proving that Beirut’s creative pulse is stronger than ever.
What’s Next?
With a lifelong obsession with textile experimentation, El Abbas is poised to push boundaries further—whether through collaborations, sustainable innovation, or redefining “Made in the Middle East.”
In a region often boxed into “exotic” clichés, El Abbas’ work is unapologetically intellectual, fiercely original, and globally resonant. She’s not just designing clothes—she’s architecting a new language for Arab fashion.
