Joe Shalita, the keeper of the history of fashion in Lebanon, the first custodian of the fashion archive of this country, who achieved international successes in this field, so he held Joe responsible for shedding light on Lebanon, which was the capital of fashion, after he achieved great successes with his work as a fashion designer, and we discovered information that we did not know Through his research and valuable information.
The “Art” website had a lengthy conversation with Joe Shalita to find out the details of the beginning of the “Lebanese Fashion History” page project, through which it reached an international recognition that we are proud of.
How was the idea of creating a page dedicated to the aesthetic history of Lebanon born?
Being a fashion designer, I love to follow everything related to artistic heritage and its history, and I had a dream of writing a book about the history of Lebanese fashion. I did not create the page before, because I was always at work, and I did not have enough time, but after the crisis that occurred in Lebanon and the Beirut port explosion, I immigrated to Abu Dhabi, and then the idea of creating the page was born, out of great nostalgia and longing while I was far from my country, in addition to Until I achieved my modest goals at work, in terms of fashion design, so I wanted to offer something for my country, and I felt that, in my own way, I could fight for Lebanon, by highlighting its great history in the world of fashion, especially since there was a great shortage of In terms of books dealing with this topic, or even documents and documents.
How were you able to change the view of some of our country, in light of the difficult circumstances it is going through?
I see that there is always something beautiful that comes out of ugly things, as this page was born from the womb of the crises and difficulties that Lebanon went through. I was able to change not only the people’s view of our country, but also the Lebanese people’s view of their country, especially the expatriates who were not aware of their country’s history full of events and achievements, and even me, when I do my research and discover new information, I am surprised, and I felt that I have a responsibility to educate the public about our country, especially the rising generation in Lebanon, which needs a glimmer of hope to continue. Through this page, I opened the eyes of all foreign lovers of the history of fashion, because I showed the influence of our country globally in this field, and I was the first to reveal the details of Lebanon’s transformation into the capital of fashion in ancient times since the days of the Phoenicians, until it was documented that Cleopatra was wearing Phoenician purple fabrics, Our country used to export fashion and valuable items.
You shed light on many Lebanese beauty queens and models, and some of them trusted you to tell their stories, how did that happen?
I am not only talented and work in art, but I am also an academic, as I studied law, and obtained a law degree from my university in Australia, which helped me in the way I dealt with my work, as I build my relationships to be trustworthy, and so that everyone I communicate with understands my goal, praise To God, I did not face any problem in this regard, and there was constant appreciation for my project, and here confidence was born from stars, models and beauty queens, to hand me their archives, so I was the first to write about Andre Aqouri, who is the first international Lebanese model, so that “Vogue” magazine She saw what I wrote about her, so they appreciated her by putting her picture on the cover of the magazine, in addition to Mona Ross, who is a very famous model, especially in the seventies, and I interviewed her, which made Foua magazine contact me to write articles on the history of fashion.
I was able to reach the models of the golden age, through my work, my investigations, and my research, until I had a complete picture, and I reached the real source or the person concerned.
In a short period of time, I became a reference in the world of fashion, so that a special platform in this field in the United States of America, which is the most famous there, contacted me to interview me, if there was global confidence in my work, and the Maison Mode Mediterranee Foundation gave me a grant in appreciation of my work, France 24 even wanted to interview me, to talk more about what I discovered in the world of fashion.
You get rare pictures from beauty contests and some stars, how much responsibility does this matter to you?
This is a very big responsibility. I started this page two years ago, and I learned a lot from it, especially with my transition from fashion design to a historian and writer in the fashion world, and this is not easy.
Do you consider yourself the first guardian of the history of Lebanese beauty?
With all humility, I can confirm that I am the only person who carried out this idea, expanded it and worked on it, and I do not deny that there were people who tried before me, but they could not continue due to their own circumstances, but with the testimony of people and the media, I am the first person to do this work within a broad framework, and I carried on The responsibility of a country in terms of fashion, with the aim of conveying a message about the importance of Lebanon historically and internationally in this field, so that many newspapers gave me the title of “keeper of the memory of the history of fashion in Lebanon”, and this is a great honor for me.
Why are you more followed than others in this field?
There is content and message in every post, not information transmitted or known. What I present is the result of toil, work and research, and I pay money for my archives, and I travel to do interviews from sources, and I felt the followers’ appreciation for what I do.
what is your ambition?
I consider myself at the beginning of the road, and of course I aspire to put all the information I discovered and my interviews in a book, because no book collects all this information about Lebanon, unlike the many, many books on the history of European fashion, for example.
We do not have a book that documents information about fashion designers in the thirties, forties, fifties, and sixties, and even in the golden age of fashion. I also aspire to establish an elegant museum of fashion, and most importantly, I want to consolidate Lebanon’s identity with its history in the world of fashion globally, starting with the Phoenicians.
