Made in Lebanon: Sarah’s Bag

Sarah Beydoun is a Lebanese fashion designer and social entrepreneur renowned for her unique and colorful bags that pay homage to cornerstones of Lebanese cultural experiences: Beirut’s iconic graffiti, pop culture references, 1970s psychedelic art and funky prints. Her bags, having grown in popularity among the fashionable, the young and the bold, are frequently spotted on the likes of Beyoncé, Amal Clooney and Queen Rania of Jordan.

Fashion for good

Sarah Beydoun launched Sarah’s Bag in May 2000 to help underprivileged women and female prisoners in Lebanon. The idea sprouted from her field research during her graduate studies in sociology at the Université Saint Joseph in Beirut. After her field work, she worked with a local non-governmental organization, Dar Al Amal, which supports vulnerable and at-risk women by teaching them practical skills that can help them get employed and gain financial independence. This inspired Sarah Beydoun to create her own enterprise to empower women, allowing her to combine her passion for fashion design while giving back to her community at the same time.

Sarah’s Bag gives female prisoners, ex-prisoners and those struggling financially the opportunity to be trained by the Sarah’s Bag team to produce handcrafted bags that apply a modern twist to traditional craftsmanship including beading, broidery, sequinning and crocheting. The artisans have used their income to support their families, overturn their wrongful convictions and build a support system for other women in their communities by sharing the knowledge and skills they have learned with them so they can create much-needed jobs.

Sarah Beydoun in the Sarah’s Bag boutique (photo: Tarek Moukaddem)

Sarah’s Bag artisans stitching and crocheting the handcrafted bags (photo credit: Mastercard)

A statement piece

What has been a hallmark of each Sarah’s Bag design is its creative storytelling, making each bag a literal statement piece. Sarah Beydoun works with her design team, which includes her sister and partner, Malak Beydoun, to come up with unique designs for each collection, and credits her creative mindset to her mother. She also attributes her design ideas to various inspirational sources and the decision to have theme-based rather than seasonal collections. Sarah Beydoun continues to offer some of the more long-standing and emblematic bags such as the Manoosheh Clutch and the Kaakeh Bag.

The Manoosheh Clutch and Kaakeh Bag, designed to represent popular Lebanese baked goods (photo credit: Sarah's Bag)

I owe it to my mother who encouraged us to think outside the box and to be whatever we wanted to be. Starting a social project and then turning it into a brand with a mission gave me great satisfaction and further developed my creativity.
Sarah Beydoun

Protecting creativity

Sarah’s Bag grew over the last 20 years to be a well-known fashion brand in Lebanon, the Arab region and beyond. Her brand expanded to other accessories over time. Sarah Beydoun recognized early on in her entrepreneurial and creative journey the importance of protecting her intellectual property (IP), hence “Sarah’s Bag” was registered as a trademark locally since its creation. When the brand’s popularity grew internationally, being sold in more than 50 countries around the world, Sarah Beydoun took the decision to register her trademark in almost every country in 2010. She has also protected some of her most iconic and celebrated designs, such as the champagne clasp. This was a strategic decision that she had to take as the founder of the fashion house to protect her work from those who have attempted to copy the iconic Sarah’s Bag designs. Sarah Beydoun cites the lack of knowledge of IP rights, and the lack of respect for creative ideas and the efforts of creators as the reason for this daily battle she faces as a designer.

Clutch with the champagne clasp (photo credit: Sarah's Bag)

Being a design house that continuously produces artisanal bags and accessories, we find it very hard and very expensive to protect all the designs we create… but being exposed to the press and social media helps a lot in proving that the designs we make are ours.
Sarah Beydoun

Troubles and tassels

The journey has not always been smooth for Sarah Beydoun, who faced several challenges over the years to her growing enterprise, including the Beirut Port explosion of August 4, 2020. When the port explosion shocked central Beirut, the Sarah’s Bag boutique (which was 1.5 km away from the blast site) was extremely damaged, in addition to the atelier and the homes of the artisans. The entire Sarah’s Bag team was emotionally and psychologically traumatized by the experience, but with the encouragement of their community, and the support of the loyal customer base, they started to rebuild. The effects of the Lebanese economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic were also difficult on the fashion house, significantly cutting local demand and slowing work. Unfortunately, the circumstances resulted in the reduction of the Sarah’s Bag workforce from 200 women to less than 100 artisans. To manage the challenges, Sarah Beydoun and her team started to emphasize online sales on www.sarahsbag.com and shifted their product lines to include homewear and loungewear to better meet emerging consumer demand.

We had friends calling from all over the world, clients offering to buy online to support us. The artisans that work from their villages offered to come and help. We felt supported and that we couldn’t let go of the social enterprise we put our hearts and soul into 20 years ago.
Sarah Beydoun

Sarah’s Bag continues to be a growing brand and go-to for all those looking to make a fashion statement with their accessories – and it all started with a creative idea.