Sarah Hermez has spent more than a decade proving that fashion can be a vehicle for something greater.
A Parsons graduate, the Lebanese designer and educator returned home and, in 2011, co-founded Creative Space Beirut, a tuition-free fashion school created to give talented young people access to an industry that might otherwise have remained closed to them.
The journey has not been straightforward. Hermez has kept the school going through Lebanon’s economic collapse, the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 Beirut port explosion and regional wars.
Creative Space’s alumni have gone on to establish their own labels and win major industry recognition, including prizes from Fashion Trust Arabia.
Now, Hermez herself has been recognised with a place on The Business of Fashion’s BoF 500, cementing her position among the people helping to shape the global fashion industry. We caught up with her for our One Last Thing questionnaire.
What is your favourite time of day and why?
When I’m asleep. Because I’m asleep.
What is your favourite restaurant anywhere in the world?
Room service.
When was the first time you realised your parents were human?
I’m still convinced they’re not.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Free.
Do you have any hidden talents?
I’m very smart, but it’s very hidden.
Your favourite book?
Facebook.
What type of music can’t you stand?
My husband’s.
What puts you in a bad mood?
Questionnaires.
What can you not live without?
Ice cubes.
Dream dinner guests?
I can’t cook.
Sitting on the sofa or out with friends?
Out with the sofa.
What smell takes you straight back to childhood?
Cigars.
What food takes you back to childhood?
Escalope.
Which city do you love, but would hate to live in?
Paris.
Can you play a musical instrument?
No. I married a musician instead.
Have you ever been on a motorcycle?
I’m not comfortable answering this question.
Any words to live by?
Trust the process.
Biggest pet peeve?
Questionnaires.
Do you believe in aliens?
Sure.
What is your favourite Arabic word?
Merci.
The most niche thing you watch on YouTube?
That’s between me and YouTube.
How do you take your tea?
Teacup.
What makes you cry?
I try to keep it all in until my eye starts twitching.
What do social algorithms think you’re interested in?
Design, babies, dogs, unhinged AI-generated short films, and random videos of people falling over.
TikTok or Instagram?
Instagram.
What is it about you that would surprise most people?
I’m originally Assyrian, from Iraq and Armenia.
What was the last thing you did for the first time?
Became pregnant.
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