Press Reviews : Secret Job For The King of Jordan

The Sunday Post, July 23, 2000
Lorna got the Middle East stitched up.

A Mearns business woman has been given royal seal of approval after her fashion designs catch the eye of one of the Middle East's most prestigious households - the Royal Family of Jordan. Lorna Forbes, from Laurencekirk, has worked as a full-time designer since she gave up her secondary job some years ago. 'She taught dress and design and home economics at Kincorth Academy, Aberdeen, then Mackie Academy, Stonehaven.

 What started out as a hobby designing dresses for weddings and other special occasions for friends and family grew to running two shops as well as meeting orders from around the world. The icing on the cake came recently after a meeting with commercial officers from the Levant (Syria, Lebanon and Jordan) at a Scottish trade International Seminar in Glasgow. Lorna explains, "I had always been interested in that part of the world. I had interviews with all three of the agents, with surprising results." After being recommended to the Royal Palace in Jordan, Lorna found herself in the Middle East on a two-week British trade mission tour, and that's when the full extent of her talents were put to the test.

Design School

In Damascus, she met some of the top designers in Syria. They asked her to set up a dress design school to teach 18-25-years-olds at the city's Mamoun International Centre. "I was asked if I could do everything from establishing the school to working out the course work for one or two year course, as well as writing and making the exams. "My teaching experience has been invaluable. It's a big project with a lot of responsibility, but it has the potential to be very exciting." In Aleppo, in the north of Syria, Lorna was practically offered another job at a textile factory which looked more like fairytale palace, with granite floors and marble walls. Instead she settled for a commission to supply silks.

In the Lebanon she was given expert advice about tailoring her designs to meet the Middle Eastern market, as well as being given the prime place for the Wedding 2001 exhibition being held in Beirut. When Lorna finally arrived in Jordan, tired and overwhelmed with her successes, palace officials were waiting to tell her exactly what the new King Abdullah Alhusain desired. Back at Laurencekirk she has finalised her ideas - strict security conditions mean that we can't reveal the details - and she's just waiting for the royal seal of approval so her can start making the items. Lorna adds, "All I can say is the items are gifts the King wants designed to hand out to new-born babies in the palace. "There is a strict protocol limiting what I can say, I just hope the King likes them!"