On August 4, 2020, Beirut, the capital of Lebanon witnessed two major explosions that reported over 150 casualties, wounded more than 5000 people, and changed the face of the city! Many people were left homeless and the entire nation went into a state of shock and mourning.
Renowned Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad, whose regular list of clients comprises the names like JLo, Beyoncé and Hailey Bieber, witnessed this disaster for himself, impactful enough to leave him shell-shocked. Realizing that he is one of those people who are lucky to be alive, Murad said that he left the office ten minutes before the explosion. “We were on the street, and the explosion was like Hiroshima —you cannot imagine the sound. We saw this huge mushroom of cloud. Broken glass everywhere, sirens,” he said recalling the incident. “Thank God we are all safe—everybody at the company is safe, but the damage is unbelievable.
Beirut explosion has killed dozens and injured thousands, officials say, with hospitals struggling to cope
Latest: https://t.co/9YUPmiVIkI pic.twitter.com/aNbX4MggsJ
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) August 4, 2020
Speaking about the aftermath, Zuhair stated that he couldn’t bear the sight of his destroyed office and broke down crying. “I couldn’t help myself: I cried like a child, eleven floors of workshops, studios, showrooms, our bridal boutique, stockrooms, our archive, our upcoming ready-to-wear and couture collections for the new season—everything lost. Completely lost. We are still in shock.”
(Image Courtesy: Official account of Zuhair Murad)
(Image Courtesy: Official account of Zuhair Murad)
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(Image Courtesy: Official account of Zuhair Murad)
Having to start over from scratch, the Lebanese designer stated that he cannot express his sorrow of rebuilding from the ground up. “The effort of many, many years went in a second,” he said. “It’s unbelievable–I built these offices stone by stone, day by day. It was a very sad feeling, I cannot express my sadness and my sorrow,” Zuhair continued.
Grateful for being alive, he felt ‘blessed’ for receiving the supportive messages from his clients and friends. “I feel very blessed and thankful for those who have offered support. They have encouraged me to be positive,” Looking forward to putting this all behind, Murad has plans to rebuild his den with a 20-strong team0 Meanwhile, all his staff would be temporarily relocated to new headquarters. “It will be an experience but we need to move forward. So many clients are waiting to receive collections – we don’t want to lose the opportunity to deliver the pieces. We are a very resilient people. We want to be happy. We are positive and ambitious. And we will never give up.”
Way to go!
(Source- Vogue UK,Twitter)
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