In 1967, when Reem Acra was but a little girl of 5-years-old, her mother took her by the hand and led her to the souk in Beirut to teach her how to buy fabrics. She guided the young Reem to make her own decisions, and encouraged her to take the money and pay the shopkeeper herself. Here, in the Beirut souk, the seeds that would one day bloom to drive a fiercely determined decision maker to the epitome of international success were planted. Growing up, fashion was not an obsession, and Reem Acra dreamed of becoming an artist. At the age of 11, she began painting and by 17 she was accepting big commissions and saw her work published in newspapers like An-Nahar and L’Orient-Le Jour. As she grew to become a young woman, she went on to study business at the American University in Beirut and it was here that her self-made wardrobe, rich with luxurious fabrics, caught the eye of her peers. In 1982, she was propositioned to stage a fashion show and given a mere ten days to prepare. 2000 students witnessed Reem Acra’s very first fashion show and from this moment, she knew that fashion was her destiny.
“I think it was the first fashion show a Lebanese designer had ever staged. The dresses were impeccable, it was incredibly styled, and everything looked luxurious. If I look at what I did then, I would say, ‘Oh my God!’ It was pretty outstanding. I knew at this moment that fashion was going to be my career—and that it was going to be big time.” Reem Acra is seated next to me on the couch of her suite in the Ritz Carlton. She is in Dubai as a juror of the inaugural Style.com/Arabia – DDFC Fashion Prize and even though it is 10 am, she is impeccably styled in black trousers, a lacey black shirt; her blond curls are perfectly coiffed; and long chains with charm pendants hang from her neck. Her face is lightly made up and is open and inviting, and she appears radiant. We are alone in her room save for the maid fluffing the pillows of her bed. I glance over at her desk and see that it is strewn with papers that I imagine she has already been examining for over an hour.
When Reem Acra was 21-years-old, she asked her parents to send her to America, by herself. They acquiesced, and she settled in New York City to study at the Fashion institute of Technology. “At that time my parents didn’t know anyone, and I was alone, there weren’t any Lebanese students. New York wasn’t the open city that it is today.” Acra excelled at school, “They used to call me ‘the genius.’ My parents couldn’t believe it, this little girl from Beirut is a genius at school at the Fashion Institute in New York! That’s something.” Acra graduated magna cum laude in 1986 and won the Fashion Design Department award for her class.
In this exclusive interview with Caterina Minthe, Reem Acra recalls her early days and their struggles, and gives a no-holds-barred counsel on the grueling life of a designer, her personal recipe for success, and speaks of the ultimate satisfaction of becoming the Middle East’s first internationally acclaimed female designer.
CATERINA MINTHE: You mentioned that you produced your first fashion show in ten days, and that you excelled at school in New York. The early twenties can be fragile years and many lose their way; how did you manage to stay so focused?
REEM ACRA: It is very easy to lose your way—very, very easy. I think that it is important to highlight that if you want to be a designer at an international level, you can’t just think that it is OK to design a few dresses, and then be in the limelight, and “that’s so cool.”
It’s much greater than that and there are so many elements that play a role in determining one’s success. You need to be focused because you can’t afford to deviate your attention. I think it’s the reason why I stayed single until now because I couldn’t focus on anything else. There was simply no way that I could focus on my life. 100% of me was what I was doing and nothing else mattered—except of course my family—but everything I did and everything else, was fashion.
Does that happen a lot in this industry? Is the design career path that merciless?
It is beyond merciless; you cannot even begin to imagine what happens. You know this [the Style.com/Arabia – DDFC Fashion Prize inaugural competition] is just the beginning—people need to struggle—I think that if you decided to be a part of this world, you need to know that you will be hit by a lot of things [before you succeed] and that this is just the beginning of the road.
What are some of the struggles that helped mold you throughout your career?
I think that every day is a struggle. There are so many closed doors and you can’t just think of the designs, you also have to think, “How do I get from this step to that step.” Not everything is glory.
Behind the scenes, there are a lot of things that you have to understand in order to make it. You can make great clothes, but how many items can you sell? Ten pieces, and then what? What’s your limit? How do you manufacture them? Are you putting the right price? Are you really earning money? Can you pay your pay roll? Can you pay your rent? Then, how do you want to open a store, and then another store? Or how do you distribute? How do you negotiate? How do you make the prices comparable to the others around the world? How do you define yourself? Why are you a designer?
I think this is the first step. And then, OK, it looks great, but are you really different from everyone else?
Furthermore, many emerging designers also have to be able to balance the books, too.
Exactly, you have to be the boss and run the company. Or, do you want to bring someone else to be your partner and then you have to negotiate. I think that today, you can’t do it alone anymore. I did it alone and I’m still alone, but those days are rare and people like me are very rare.
On the subject of building a team, how should emerging designers go about surrounding themselves with the right people? We all know that if a designer doesn’t make the right decision, a poor PR or distribution partner can ultimately sink the business.
I think that when you are young, you will probably think that partying is the way to handle your PR. I’ve never done that though—that wasn’t my style. I was working hard and I knew that I had something totally different from anyone else and that was my focus. I thought, “That is what’s going to bring me somewhere.” Not looking at others and not going out every single day to look for people or to socialize, but I don’t know, maybe today the world is different. Maybe socializing is part of today’s world, but that doesn’t mean that that’s the right way.
These young kids, these finalists, they need to focus and take a step back and say, “Okay, I made it. I made my collection, and now what’s next? In 10 years, who do I want to be? Who is going to be my partner or am I going do this alone? Do I have the capacity to do this financially on my own? Do I have the mind to be able to cope with all this, or should I start looking for a partner now?”
Reading your expression it appears that you have no regrets with the decisions you made throughout your career. In fact, you are glowing.
(Smiling) I finally found the man of my life. But no, I have no regrets.
Ah, now I understand the glow. You are in love!
Yes, but I always had that glow, because I’m fascinated with what I am doing. I’ve always had the glow and the desire to express myself and my style; and nothing drowned me. You could hit me ten times and I would just stand up, smile, and keep going.
Do you think that right now you are able and ready to spend more time on your personal life?
I think that I am. I’ve enjoyed my career so much and as you can see, there is now a personal life, and I am blooming in a different way. For me, it’s the right thing, and I’m enjoying every moment of my life today but I’ve enjoyed my life before, too, and I have a brand that I feel is very much “me.” I didn’t deviate from who I am, I’ve lived in my own bubble that I created for myself. It’s a fantasy and I would not exchange it for anything else.
