Milia Maroun

Milia Maroun is the designer behind the Lebanon-founded womenswear label ‘Milia-M’. The work of this multi-disciplinary designer crosses the boundaries between art and fashion. Born and raised in Beirut, Milia Maroun studied fashion design at Esmod in Paris before becoming a lingerie designer, subsequently launching her own fashion label in 2000. She is a pioneering female fashion designer from the Middle East – choosing to start directly in the domain of ready-to-wear rather than couture; placing accessibility, comfort, and femininity at the centre of her designs. Her client base can now be found all over the world. Having lived in Beirut, Paris, Damascus, Istanbul, and London, Milia Maroun’s travels have provided a constant source of inspiration.

Between 2004 and 2016, the Milia M flagship store was located in Beirut’s Saifi Village. Collections were shown at the launch of Abu Dhabi Fashion Week in 2007 and at Milan Fashion Week in 2008. Meanwhile, Milia Maroun’s designs and conceptual work have been featured in exhibitions including the International Design Biennale at Saint Etienne (2004); The Future of Tradition – the Tradition of Future at the Haus der Kunst, Munich (2010); and the Boghossian Foundation exhibition Art is the Answer at the Villa Empain in Brussels (2012).  In 2015 The Beirut Art Centre exhibited her solo show Now/Here, and in 2017 she showed Object Permanence – Objeu Collection, at Beirut Design Week.

Kimabayas created with various collaborators have been exhibited in galleries and boutiques around the world. In 2016, Milia Maroun set up a studio in the UK where she evolves the two strands of her activity as a designer: conceptual works and limited edition. Kimabayas which are sold through private sales and exhibitions; and the perennial ready to wear Milia M collection which is sold through her webshop.

-