Harithand

Harithand

Harithand is the Beirut eveningwear house Iraqi-Lebanese designer Harith Hashim founded in 2012. It works on a pret-a-couture model, which means atelier-level dressmaking produced in limited runs rather than one-off commissions. The signature is what Hashim calls the chemistry between body and dress, and it is easy to see where that chemistry happens.

An atelier in Beirut

Lebanon has quietly supplied the red carpet with couture for decades, and Hashim's studio sits in that lineage. He launched the label in 2012 and has been recognised by Fashion Trust Arabia, which exists specifically to move designers from the region onto the global schedule.

Gowns built around the body

The house works in draped silk and fluid georgette, either in muted tones or in colour turned all the way up. The construction is the reason these hold their shape on a moving body rather than collapsing into fabric.

Separates from the same hand

Eveningwear brands rarely make convincing daywear, but the tops here are cut by the same people with the same instincts, which is why they behave like gown pieces that happen to be shorter.

Our honest take

Occasion dressing has been flattened by a hundred identical satin slips. A house that treats a gown as an engineering problem is a genuinely different proposition.