Identity and its themes of connection, roots, and shared experience are inspirations Lebanese designer Nada Debs returns to again and again, both on a personal and professional level. With self-reflection and discovery at the heart of the furniture and décor she creates, from a storytelling perspective, her collections and individual pieces beckon you to come close before asking you to consider who you are and where you came from. The discussion is wide-ranging and complex, steeped in history, tradition and values, often resulting in more questions than answers. 

“I wanted to create a modern Arab identity,” Debs says with signature visionary confidence. “My work is a reminder to love your country and your region as an Arab and a Muslim. I set out to prove to the Arab world that we have a strong identity, one we should
be proud of.”

At 63, the tale of Debs’ success with her “handmade and heart-made” approach to her craft is neither simple nor linear. It is a winding decade- and continent-spanning story of embracing the ‘otherness’ that comes from being a foreigner in another’s land – a narrative that will resonate
with many in a region famed for its transitional multiculturalism.

Debs’ family settled in Japan in 1917, when her great uncle moved there from Damascus to pursue opportunities in the textile trade. Her father followed in 1950 at the age of 23, and spend the next 10 years building the family business, before returning to Lebanon to meet and marry Debs’ mother. When the designer was one year old, they returned to Japan, settling in the bustling, expat-heavy
port of Kobe.

“From a personal journey, I was torn between being Japanese and Arab,” she says. “I was Japanese in my head, I just looked Arab.” 

A childhood spent in Japan shaped not only her aesthetic and enduring love of craftsmanship, but also the way in which she related to and perceived a world in which she would always be an outsider. This disconnect among those we now call ‘third culture kids’ shaped the idea that these two sides of herself could co-exist, albeit perhaps not in the way she imagined. “I thought I can find balance between the two, despite being a bit lost as an Arab in Japan,” she reveals.

At 17, Lebanon beckoned, and there, in the absence of any design-focused courses, she studied business, before matriculating at Rhode Island School of Design in the US to study interior architecture and space planning. Like centuries of creatives before her, a hunger for authenticity and adventure found Debs in London, aged 26, looking to focus her creativity. She recalls finding inspiration in the work of Philippe Starck, the celebrated French industrial architect and designer whose use of materials and move from architecture into furniture, décor, lighting, domestic appliances, tableware, clothing and more sought to demystify and democratise design.

“I had taken some courses in furniture design and really enjoyed mixing materials like marble with plexiglass and steel,” she says. “I was looking for contemporary furniture – when I couldn’t find what I wanted, I started making my own furniture, which became a hobby to do on the weekend. Through word of mouth, people started asking me to make pieces for them. It started to take on a life of its own, but wasn’t quite yet a business.”

The seeds of an idea firmly planted, and ruminating on turning this hobby into a business, she moved back to Lebanon in her mid-30s.

“I feel like, with my move, I was seeking a connection to my roots,” she says. “I wanted to know where I came from, as identity is a big thing for me. When I moved there, I was very interested in crafts, because crafting was everywhere in Japan – they revere it. But in Lebanon, they were not interested in craftwork, they would say it was ‘grandparent stuff’.”

Beirut is home. Well, Beirut and Dubai, as she spends more time in the Emirate ahead of her first store opening in the UAE. The venue is set to debut this autumn at Alserkal Avenue in Al Quoz. In Beirut, she has her studio and boutique, Vitrine.

Debs has created a culture with her business that fosters creativity through Arabic heritage, while igniting fascinating conversations around who can lay claim to ownership of things, pieces, and ideas once they are out there in the world. 

“I’m interested in how people exchange knowledge. The evolution of ideas intrigues me so much,” she says. She points to the Silk Route as the perfect example of this. “Glass came from China and from there moved to Bohemia, while ceramics found their way to Türkiye. This kind of exchange naturally distorts the original product. For myself, I had to upgrade traditional crafts to create something relevant and contemporary, and in doing so, I had created a new Arab identity. I like to feel this belongs to us and feels like us.”

For Debs, what “feels like us” is the coming together of centuries-old crafting techniques, hand-selected materials, and the feeling that you can find yourself and your culture in her work.

“I sit with craftsmen and work with the craft itself. I ask myself, ‘What can I do with this inlay? How can I use it in a contemporary context?’ The challenge is to create something people can connect to and form an identity point of view.” 

“There is a lot to explore,” she notes. “I feel like my journey is still only just starting.”

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