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Grampian Weeding Directory, Winter 2000
Catherine Stott meets the Northeast dress designer, Lorna Forbes of Exclusively Yours, who is making a name in the Middle East.
In the course of the last 25 years, brides from Britain, Portugal, Oman and Holland have sought out the services offered by Lorna Forbes of Exclusively Yours.
However, it would seem that the reputation and client base of this Laurencekirk-based dress designer are about to spread further.
In February of this year, Lorna attended a Scottish Trade International seminar on the Levant (Syria, Lebanon and Jordan).
Lorna believed that there were some interesting opportunities in the middle east, but certainly did not expect to be boarding a plane less than 6 weeks later to spend a very intensive two weeks visiting all three countries.
Further to the seminar and presenting her portfolio, Lorna had interviews with commercial officers from the Lebanese and Jordanian desks of the British Embassy.
In March, undaunted by the fact that the gentleman in question, Elias el Khoury, had not appreciated that Laurencekirk was some 500 miles from London, Lorna made a flying visit to London to attend a meeting with the editor of a Lebanese wedding magazine and organiser of a prestigious wedding exhibition.
Shortly afterwards, Lorna was informed through a phone call from the British Embassy in Jordan that her details had been passed to the Royal Court in Jordan. Everything pointed to visiting the Levant to further these business opportunities.
"Full of eastern promise"
Having dressed a bride, her bridesmaids from Norway and a pageboy from London at Gleneagles on the Saturday, Lorna flew to Lebanon on the Sunday. While there, Lorna met one of Lebanon's top wedding gown designers and Miss Lebanon. She also visited the brand new Hotel Phoenicia where a major wedding exhibition will be held in the enormous mirrored ballroom.
Lorna comments: "Lebanon is a place of great contrasts, a true mixture of ancient and modern.
There is almost a contradiction that, as a Muslim country, in their day-to-day lives, the women are very traditionally dressed, literally clothed from head to toe, barely showing a wrist or ankle. Yet, when it comes to wedding dresses, the designs are superlative, adventurous and some even daring, managing to incorporate mystique, elegance and a hint of Eastern promise. Some of the latest fashions in the glossy magazines even favour bikini-style tops and bare midriffs."
After Lebanon, Lorna travelled on to Syria, first to Damascus and then to the mountain city of Aleppo, the home of Damask and also a centre for many other fabrics and laces. Damascus was a pilgrimage for Lorna who, from childhood, has been passionate about fabric.
Lorna admits: "As a child I used to plague my mother for bits of fabric. I loved the look and feel of all sorts of fabrics and I was also fascinated by their history and read books about them."
In Damascus, Lorna visited the Mamoun International Centre and met students attending a dress-making course. Plans are afoot to set up a new School of Dress and Design and Lorna has been invited to act as a consultant in helping design the layout of the new school and to write one and two-year courses for the students.
Lorna comments: "While I am flattered to be asked to be involved with the new School of Dress and Design in Damascus and delighted to have secured an order for supplying silk to a clothing manufacturer in Aleppo, I have to admit that the most precious part of my trip to Syria is a beautiful inlaid wooden box presented to me by tile Syrian European Business Centre in Damascus. The box contains a booklet all about the origins and manufacture of Damask and some exquisite samples."
Moving on to Jordan, although the meeting with a member of the royal household did not materialise, Lorna was able to get a clearer picture of the role of the new king and his wife and learned about the new palace being built for them. For the first time, Lorna was able to fit in some sightseeing between appointments and even managed a swim in the Dead Sea.
Since returning home, Lorna's fax machine continues to be kept busy and she has completed the samples for the King and Queen of Jordan.
Lorna comments: "The trip to the Middle East was the experience of a lifetime. It experience of a lifetime. It was wonderful to visit the home of fabrics, about which I have always been passionate, but, while always open-minded and alert to new fashions, I won't be making any dramatic changes to my own style. I am delighted to have the chance to take my designs and experience further afield, but in many ways the trip reinforces my own design trends and main driving forces, such as the wishes, face and figure of the bride."
Lorna moved Exclusively Yours from Stonehaven to Laurencekirk in 1999 in order to have more space and would never have predicted that, within twelve months, the business would have much wider horizons. With this talented and respected designer, one might well ask, where next?
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