January to May 2017, in collaboration with Musée du Quai Branly, Paris & Maison Lesage, Paris.
Because a large number of refugees crossing the Mediterranean are Syrian and because Syria’s cultural heritage is under constant threat, a group of fashion design students have explored little known elements of this country’s exceptional textile heritage. They had access to a set of vernacular Syrian costumes from the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, and learnt how to interpret their shapes, colors and symbols with Curator Hana Chidiac, Director of Middle-Eastern and North-African Collections. The students were then invited to establish a creative dialogue with an object of their own memory to create a contemporary piece of embroidery with the collaboration of four artisans at Maison Lesage, using the exceptional knowledge of Haute Couture craftsmanship. The pilot project was completed by the design of a personal capsule collection in the studios of Parsons Paris.
