Sarah's Bag

Sarah Beydoun launched Sarah's Bag in Beirut in May 2000, during the last year of a graduate degree in sociology. Her fieldwork at Dar Al Amal, an NGO that works with women at risk and female ex-prisoners, led her to set up a business that would train and employ the women she had met. The label's signature hand beading and embroidery are worked by a team of more than 200 women in Lebanon. Among them are prisoners and ex-prisoners as well as women from poorer communities. A single piece can take an artisan up to 25 hours. Some of those artisans have been with the house since the first year. Since 2013 the women working inside prison have received certificates recording their training. A 2015 exhibition called Women Rising raised funds to improve prison conditions. Each collection reworks traditional crafts, among them sequinning and crochet as well as marquetry. Wood and pearl inlay is used for minaudieres, and the house has also cut clutches from Perspex and resin. In 2014 Sarah's sister Malak, from advertising and fashion publishing, joined as partner to extend the label's international reach. The boutique occupies the first floor of the Mhanna Building at 100 Rue du Liban in Tabaris, in an old Lebanese house. The online shop ships the bags worldwide from Beirut, and duties may vary by destination.