> HORECA 2015: the winners are...

For the 4th year in a row I took part in the Horeca Beirut Best Stand Jury, along with Rana Nasr, Malek Salamé and Alain Hochar, invited by the fabulous Randa Dammous!

The Categories for this year were: Best Stand, Best Branding, Best Mood & the famous Coup de Coeur. The Winners:

For Coup de Coeur: Delphine Gebran who designs F&B spaces, who demonstrated that emotion can be created simply with an idea, basic materials, lighting & passion!

For Best Branding: the refreshing Juice Up:

For Best Stand: Ksara, linear, classic and modern at the same time...

And finally, the best mood and ambiance were at Prunelle who invited 8eme Art for a jazzy jam session...

And a peek at the Jury (without Alain unfortunately) and the winners:

And the Trophee & Certificate courtesy of Juice Up :-)

Good luck and Bravo to all, see you next year...

> The evolution of men's clothing in the past 5 years

I must say, working in a field that revolves around fashion is quite fun and very inspiring. I've learnt a lot since my childhood years when I used to devour my mom's ELLE, through my college years, and up till this very day... In fact, i cannot remember a season or a day when I found my job boring, or that fashion is repeating itself... True every season we have an "époque revival", inspired by movies, series or life in general (Gatsby this year, Downton Abbey two years ago etc...), but it is never a mere direct application. There is always a plus.

However, all these trends are much more visible in women's fashion, since women have a playful way to adapt catwalk style to their daily lives. But in the last five years I witnessed a MAJOR change in men's fashion, and more importantly, in men's attitudes towards fashion! They are not afraid to try new things, they are playful, creative, and we definitely feel that they are having fun putting together their daily outfit, just like we women do. HURRAY!!! Finally ;-)
Style is not solely reserved to the gentlemen in touch with their feminine side, it is your right messieurs! Claim it. It is sheer pleasure for us to see you dress (and undress) and the fact that it's now giving you pleasure as well makes you even sexier to our eyes.

 So what has changed exactly? Once again, social media! Thank God for Tommy Ton or the Sartorialist (among others) who have shown the world how the smart men in Pitti (the world famous fashion trade show) dress. And it has started a "boule de neige" that exploded all over the collections, even on the high street brands.

In conclusion? Messieurs, faites vos jeux!

Photos via Tommy Ton & Eton.

> HORECA 2013: Best Stand Competition

This year was HORECA's 20th anniversary and I had the pleasure and honor to be once again part of the jury of the 2nd Best Stand competition.
The members were the same as last year, but Alain Hochar (left) joined les 3 mousquetaires (left to right): Maya Metni (me!), Malek Salamé & Rana Nasr.

>I'll start with the small stand: it was a delight to see so many participants make the most of the little space and work with interesting materials or even a compilation of their own products, like MATEX-MABCO, who are providers of plastic containers for the F&B industry, our 3rd nominee in this category.

2nd nominee: Biomass, organic products, fresh & simple materials, enhanced merchandising:

And our winner, an absolute coup de coeur, Qanafar wine:

Sober presentation, simple yet nice & contrasted materials, beautiful display of wine ware, welcoming staff &... exquisite Lebanese wine!

>2nd category: Best Branded Stand

2nd prize, Barista, who captured well the sensual espresso mood:

3rd prize, Najjar, with among other products, Gio & Thea:

And our winner, Shawarmanji, where i couldn't even take a picture of the whole stand because there were so many people attracted by the beautiful branding (& smell ;-)):

> Last but not least, the best stand category:
3rd prize, Diageo for alcoholic beverages, with a "duplex" stand and even bouncers like in a real nightclub, we even had to prove we are a jury to get in ;-D

2nd prize, Cafe Abi Nasr who had a crossed ground plan with four corners, here's the Lebanese coffee side:

And the winner is, drum rollllll, ...  SOHAT water!

With a very subtle stand all in light, white and transparencies, displaying their new glass bottle, a future hit for sure:

And the souvenir picts with winners and organizers... 

Bravo to all, Mabrouk to Joumana & Randa Dammous for the 20 successful years, and good luck to all for next year!

HORECA: Best Stand Competition Review

It was very interesting and so much fun to be in the Horeca 2012 Jury for the Best Stand Competition!

We were: Rana Nasr from Bleu Design Consultants, Malek Salamé, talented architect, and myself for the branding and visual comunication. We reviewed every stand thouroughly, checking the first impression, how does it appeal to you, the general concept, the architecture & volumes, and finally the branding: Is the brand identity present? Is the stand in synergy with its guidelines? etc..

There were 3 categories: Best Stand, Best Small Stand and Best Branded Stand.

Nominees for Best Branded Stand:

>Taanayel Les Fermes

>PowerHorse

> and Sohat

AND THE WINNER was:  Taanayel, very welcoming stand & staff, charming farm design and brand identity 100% there.

Nominees for Best Small Stand:

>Lavazza

> BimPos who really had a very technical product, yet they displayed it in a very nice way

>and La Rose Noire , my picts are of poor quality, but it was a very elegant small stand with a beautiful display, eye candy really.

AND THE WINNER was: Lavazza ! Very intelligent space conception, beautiful espresso-cup tables and all the Italian Spirit in the picture wall...


Nominees for Best Stand:

>KFF alcoholic drinks for the nightclub mood

>IXSIR wine, "the answer is within"... Very Sleek Original Design

>and Prunelle of course, who was the people's choice ;-)

AND THE WINNER was: Prunelle! Smart choice of materials, nice color palette, good branding... However Rana, Malek and me would like to point out that it was not a matter of size, it could've been 50% smaller and we would have liked to see more real bakers and less wax figures...

Congrats to all and good luck for next year! And remember, an original idea is much better than a huge budget...

>See you in PITTI !

I am leaving in a few hours for Florence to cover Pitti Uomo for Rectangle Jaune!

I will probably post some picts from there and get ready for a full report on RJ's blog when we come back...

UPDATE: all the info right here!