Rebuilding Lebanon’s Fashion Industry

Saks’ bankruptcy was widely expected, yet still felt like a shock to the fashion system. The department store giant’s Chapter 11 filing outlines $1.75 billion in restructuring finance and $3.4 billion owed to as many as 25,000 creditors – including $136 million to Chanel alone. W ...  Show more

2026 opens with real movement in beauty deals. As first reported by The Business of Beauty, Estée Lauder is exploring a packaged sale of Too Faced, Smashbox and Dr. Jart to free up cash and refocus the portfolio. Who’s next? Colour fatigue is depressing makeup valuations, while f ...  Show more

This week, we tackle the aftermath of the massive explosion that shook Lebanon’s capital Beirut on August 4.The cataclysmic blast at Beirut’s port claimed the lives of at least 171 people and injured around 6,500 others. About half the city was left damaged or destroyed, with hun ...  Show more

The new Lebanese government has been in place for a week, but with the economy still spiraling, Lebanese people lack confidence anything will be done in the short term to relieve the extreme economic crisis. Mohamed El Aassar, Middle East journalist with Fortune Magazine, tells t ...  Show more

The World Bank has declared Lebanon's to be "enduring a severe and prolonged economic depression" and said it is one of the worst economic crises since the mid-19th century. As fuel and food supplies dry up, and cash reserves dwindle, Lebanese economic columnist and former bank e ...  Show more

Discussion of Lebanon's industry begins at 17:00. Ben and Nizar are joined remotely this week by Paul Abi Nasr, member of the board of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists and CEO of Polytextile, to discuss the Lebanese industrial sector over the past few decades, the impac ...  Show more