Mea culpa, as we Lebanese bloggers have been trying to cover meaningless news, a major story slipped through our radar cracks. Lebanese Rayya Morcos has actually won the Woolmark award for the Middle East and India and has represented her country proudly in Beijing for the world finals as well. See? A woman can do stunning things on behalf of our country, and they don't have to include sleeping with George Clooney.
I caught up with Rayya for this exclusive chat - I call it exclusive because whereas the press in India went on a frenzy, the Lebanese response was lukewarm at best - with Rayya to get more details on the win.
"In March 2014 Bird on a Wire got nominated along with Lara Khoury to participate in the prestigious Woolmark competition. At first when I received the news I didn't really know much about the competition and I politely declined as I was working on a multitude of different projects and thought I couldn't handle another one! At the time I had joined lighting company .PSLAB to start a textile and sustainable materials research department and was preparing costumes for Leila's Death performance along with Bird on a Wire's collections".
Thankfully, Wookmark insisted she participated "and after a lot of thinking I quit my job at .PSLAB or rather out it on hold and decided to venture into that competition. And I am so glad I did! a few months later I flew to India to present an outfit from the collection My Name Is God designed for the competition. Little did I know, not only did I win the regional prize for Middle East and India but I was automatically nominated for the finals that were to be held in Beijing in March 2015! I was one of the 5 finalists chosen from around the world and I was the first one in the Middle East to win the Woolmark Regional Prize for women's wear... ever!"
The fact she did not get to win in Beijing is leaving her far from bitter "the AUD 50.000 that I got along with the prestige and recognition from the prize were extremely helpful and definitely put Bird on a Wire on the International map".
I must admit I felt curious about a collection called "My Name Is God" and what it consists of "apron like pieces introduced to the wardrobe so that instead of wearing a top and a bottom, you wear a front and a back or a 3/4 piece with another 1/2 piece. The pieces can be put together in different ways and in different combinations and are all made of 100% fine merino wool".
Bird on a Wire is Beirut-based and does women's ready-to-wear, jewelry, and soon a men's casual line as well. So as I wish Rayya the best of success for her endeavours, I apologize we did not cover this earlier or in a more prominent way!
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