Hosted By: Renaissance Renaissance The founder and creative director Cynthia Merhej talks about colonialism, creativity during wartime, and what it means building a fashion brand in the Middle East

Not many brands can say their first viral moment of the year landed on January 1st, but for Renaissance Renaissance, 2026 started with a bang. Founded by Cynthia Merhej in 2016, the label has grown at a time when separating fashion from politics, place, and lived experience has become increasingly difficult.

Characteristics made visible, almost as if it were by fate, when Rama Duwaji chose to wear Renaissance Renaissance FW23 for the inauguration of her husband, Zohran Mamdani, as the newest mayor of New York City. Put simply, a woman of Syrian descent wore a Lebanese brand for the inauguration of the first Muslim socialist mayor of America’s most influential city.

Over the years, Renaissance Renaissance has followed a trajectory that resists easy categorization. While the brand and its atelier are based in Beirut, Cynthia Merhej has lived and worked between Paris and Lebanon, allowing the label to move fluidly between local production and international fashion circuits. Production has remained rooted in her home country, with select phases also developed in Italy, building a language centered on rebirth, continuity,and evolution.

As it approaches its tenth anniversary, change emerges as the defining theme of this pivotal year: change within the brand, but more importantly, within an industry Merhej deems as «unsustainable, especially for independent designers».