Karine Tawil dresses elegant modern women with a fondness for fine fabrics and beautiful daring cuts. From working at home on a small couture collection six years ago, her brand Karoline Lang grew into a full-fledged fashion house showcasing internationally a refined style made in Lebanon.

The Atelier sets the Stage

A step into Karoline Lang’s atelier sets the tone of her collections. Sketches of sumptuous couture dresses adorn the walls. Each is a unique composition of fabric hinting to the meticulous labor and elaborate techniques that will transform the drawings into beautiful gowns. Her pragmatic outfits reveal complex cuts, drapes and movements such as an intricate dress made up of patchwork leather in bias cuts.

In the large and luminous showroom, the visitor gets a sense of the designer’s elegant style that plays with structure and unexpected mixes. Karine Tawil paints an audacious colour palette, pairing deep velvet with flamboyant red on a dress, or a blue grey shirt with an emerald vest.  Her latest Fall Winter 2016 collection reflects her modern, practical style with an extra oomph.

The Designer borrows her fabrics from Men’s Wardrobes

Approx. 80% of the fabrics she uses comes from Men’s fabrics; Silky cotton used for fine shirts or soft woolens for pants and skirts as well as braided jackets shaped as vests and coats. Karoline Lang adds an edge to her wardrobe through leather, suede, furs and other skins worked in innovative shapes. The styles and volumes are however delicately feminine and sprinkled with refined works of English embroidery motifs, macramé lace and silks.

A House full of Projects

The young designer is setting the stage for an international fashion brand. For the past two years Karoline Lang has expanded exponentially and has recently acquired a new dynamic boost through new investors, taking the brand on fresh adventures. The label is now establishing regular Prêt-à-Porter, Spring / Summer and Fall / Winter lines along with two evening dresses collections, bridal and couture.

Karine Tawil’s brand has reached markets worldwide, through the United States, Europe and all the way to Japan. To build up her collections with an emphasis on quality and noble fabrics, she has invested into in house training of a local team, encouraging made in Lebanon workmanship and contributing to upping the standards of ready to wear in a country, where most efforts so far had been placed on couture.

Karoline Lang has been recently selected as a top 5 women-ready-to-wear finalist for the DDFC/Vogue Arabia Fashion Prize 2016 among one hundred participants. On September 28, Karoline Lang will launch its boutique at 45 Avenue Montaigne, on Paris’ high fashion street alongside the most prestigious international houses.  

 Style no matter what

The name Karoline Lang was inspired by the designer’s Austrian great grandmother, a graceful and stylish lady. Karine Tawil has always had a penchant for the creative but first set out to pursue a more traditional business career. However, she quickly realized she would not be fulfilled in this path, and took off to Milan to study Fashion Marketing. While interning at Marni in the Italian capital of style, she was encouraged by her manager to move from the commercial department to product development to get a more hands on experience.

This was a first revelation for the designer who went on to complete her education in marketing and design at Institut Français de la Mode in Paris. After several years of experience, Karine was ready to fully embrace her creative side. She moved back to Beirut and starting designing couture dresses at home.

They first were intended for friends, but through word of mouth Karoline Lang started building a regular clientele. A year later, in 2010, her first show was organized at Aishti and the label took off.

The forward-thinking designer is even starting to design men suits for her friends, with a flair that bodes a similar fate to her women collections.

August 2016