Hoda Baroudi and Maria Hibri founded Bokja in Beirut in 2000, naming it after the embroidered velvet wrapping that once held a bride's dowry. The studio repairs mid-century furniture frames found in Beirut flea markets and covers them in Levantine and Silk Road textiles, some a century old. Quilts, headboards, tapestries, ready-to-wear now sit alongside the furniture. Local artisans do the work, and a share of proceeds goes to women's organisations.
Best for Statement embroidered furniture, textiles and homeware
Hoda Baroudi and Maria Hibri joined forces in Beirut in 2000, and the studio still prints that year under its own name. Hibri had sold antique furniture and Baroudi had collected old tapestries and textiles on every trip abroad. The name they chose is an old Turkish word for the embroidered velvet wrapping that held a bride's dowry. The method follows from both halves of that partnership. Bokja finds furniture frames from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s in Beirut flea markets and antique dealerships, repairs them and then covers them in textiles from the Levant and the Silk Road countries of Central Asia. Uzbek fabrics, Damascene brocade and Chinese silk end up on the same frame, and a single chair can carry more than twenty patterns. Some of the embroideries are a century old. The studio employs local artisans and gives a share of proceeds to organisations working with women. The range now runs past furniture into quilts, headboards, tapestries, ready-to-wear and accessories, with pieces sold as artistic interventions. Christian Louboutin took Bokja furniture into his own shoe boutiques after visiting the Beirut studio.
Karen Chekerdjian designs sculptural furniture, lighting and objects in metal, marble and brass from her studio and showroom in Beirut's Karantina district.
The flagship studio of Lebanese designer Nada Debs makes furniture, lighting and homeware by hand. Its work fuses Middle Eastern marquetry and mother-of-pearl inlay with minimalist form.
Best for Handcrafted marquetry furniture and homeware
Orient 499 is a Beirut house founded in 2006 by Frank Luca and Aida Kawas, working with more than 200 Lebanese artisans. Coppersmiths in Tripoli hand-hammer its tableware and glassblowers in Sidon make its decanters. The range covers jellabas and abayas for women and men, mother-of-pearl furniture and hand-embroidered pieces. Showrooms operate in Beirut and Dubai, with an online store that ships worldwide.
Best for Elegant clothing and refined home décor blending Lebanese artistry with regional influences
Orient 499 was founded in Beirut in 2006 by Frank Luca and Aida Kawas. They set out to build a Lebanese brand conceived in the country and produced there as well. For more than eighteen years the house has worked with artisans across Lebanon. It now employs over 200 of them directly and indirectly. Coppersmiths in Tripoli hand-hammer tableware to designs developed with the studio. Glass artisans in Sidon blow decanters and glassware. Soap makers and carpenters supply the rest of the range, together with embroiderers and couturiers. The clothing side runs to jellabas and abayas for women and men, some in Loro Piana cashmere. A made-to-order jellaba service sits beside the ready-made pieces. At home the offer covers hand-carved mother-of-pearl furniture as well as mirrors and lighting. The Mida collection of tables and stools was designed with the Lebanese duo david/nicolas. The Met Store in New York invited Orient 499 into its Heirloom Project. For it the house produced a handblown glass decanter after a 19th-century bottle in the museum's collection, and a jasmine-scented soap shaped like a grape cluster. The Beirut showroom stands at 499 Omar Daouk Street in Mina El Hosn. A second showroom operates at Alserkal Avenue in Dubai, and the online store ships worldwide from Lebanon.
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