Eco Friendly Lebanese Designer, Roni Helou’s SS20 Collection Is An Ode To Nature

Beirut-based and eco conscience designer Roni Helou, known fro deconstructing silhouettes with unexpected juxtapositions was inspired by all things nature for his SS20 collection

Always seeing the detail in things, Roni notices the unnoticed and incorporates that into his collections. From the fabrics used to the soft hues in the color palette that graces the collection, Helou didn’t leave anything untouched.

Chiffon, jersey, poplin, and organically washed and distressed denim are the fabrics used this season to bring out the roughages from nature into the collection. As suitability continues to be an ongoing conversation in fashion, Roni was careful to make sure that organic methods were used in the collection. What I found really fascinating was Roni’s use of deadstock and old stock fabrics that go as far back to the time of the Lebanese Civil War. “I was careful to reuse fabrics that would have otherwise been disposed of,” he tells Seele.

Chatting with Roni in Paris, he shared “I’ve always been mesmerized by the small details in the ecosystem in nature. Like when you see a drop of water on a spiderweb, I’ve always paid attention to details like this, and I translate this into my fabrics. For me, the fabric is most important part.”

It was watching TV one night with his father that was his ah-ha moment was for the collection’s theme came to him. “I was watching National Geographic with my dad and I saw the detail of nature, so I got to thinking how I could incorporate what I was seeing into my collection,” he laughs.

Feminine yet masculine, Roni includes the power suit, which offers a little of a rebellious edge to modern power dressing. But, a signature sartorial style move of Helou’s that keeps the Roni Helou woman guessing is his ability to design pieces that can be worn a myriad of ways, by deconstructing silhouettes with unexpected juxtapositions.

Helou has had previous collections displayed at the Les Nouveaux Créateurs in Paris as part of the Exposition Mode émergented du monde arabe, co-curated by Institut du Monde Arabe and Fashion Forward Dubai.