CYNTHIA MERHEJ

DIPLOMAS
2013 - The Royal College of Art, U.K. MA Visual Communication
2011 - Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, U.K. BA Illustration/Design

CREATION DATE
01.2016

DISTRIBUTION
Opening Ceremony (NY/LA, USA), Nonna (LA,USA), Plum (Beirut, Lebanon)

MOTIVATIONS
By providing me with the right exposure, financial support and mentoring, MMM can become a full partner in helping me grow my business from a small heritage brand to an international phenomenon. I would be proud, as a designer from the Med region, to have launched my career through the OpenMyMed prize in 2021/22.

LINK TO MMM VALUES (CRAFT TECH CARE & GIVE BACK)
I come from three generations of women designers and women-owned businesses. Appreciation of beauty and fashion is an integral part of my design process and the DNA of the brand. We use sewing methods in the production and creation of our designs and employ artisanal methods of pleating, silk-screening, embroidery and fabric manipulation. We believe in creating no more than we need. We don't create surpluses or stocks. Again, when we can control our production and know what's coming in and what's going out - then we can produce in exact quantities. As a female designer with a unique Beirut story, an international platform like the OpenMyMed prize can launch my career in an incredible way.

Cynthia Merhej was laureate of the Maison Mode Méditerranée (2019) and MMM Endowment Fund grantee in 2020. Her Lebanese brand, Renaissance Renaissance, now based in Paris, was a semi-finalist in the LVMH Prize 2021. The Fonds de Dotation MMM confirms its support for this promising brand with the Fashion Enthusiasm Prize.