Renaissance Renaissance is a celebration of women-led couture.

Carrying on the tradition of her mother and great-grandmother, designer Cynthia Merhej belongs to the third generation of couturiers in her family. Cynthia grew up in her mother’s Beirut-based atelier, observing its behind-the-scenes and falling in love with garment-making in the process.

After studying Visual Communications at London’s Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art, she returned to Beirut and her roots, founding her womenswear label Renaissance Renaissance and ushering her family’s legacy into the 21st century.

Both in name and in spirit, Renaissance Renaissance revels in dualities, honouring the differences and similarities between eras, generations, and cultures. Each of the label’s garments is a conversation between past and present, mother and daughter, the former bringing over 30 years of couture experience to the label and the latter bringing an irreverent, contemporary perspective to the age-old craft.

Renaissance Renaissance advances a wardrobe that transcends time and trends, garments to be worn and loved across a lifetime. Inspired by Cynthia’s Middle Eastern heritage and the strong female figures in her life, the label’s clothes evoke a sense of feminine power and freedom, infusing couture traditions with a refreshing pragmatism suited to the lives of modern women.

Since founding Renaissance Renaissance in 2016, Cynthia has been nominated for the LVMH Prize and the Fashion Trust Arabia Prize and has been the recipient of the MMM Fund.