Inside Lebanese Label’s Terazar Structured Silhouettes

Lebanese label Terazar, which officially launched in January 2026, came together in a month - but the dream behind it had been forming since Founder and Creative Director Theresa Azar was 15 years old.

Following her bachelor's degree in fashion design at ESMOD Beirut, Azar was already building a following through custom work, creating over 80 dresses for private clients. Without posting much or actively marketing herself, people began coming to her for custom pieces and encouraged her to open her own brand. “Everyone saw a vision and personal identity through my designs” That identity, she explains, is hard to reduce to a single garment and aesthetic. Instead, Azar associates it to a feeling: “different, divergent, odd.”The decision to launch came almost impulsively. After travelling for a month and making her own vacation looks, Azar noticed the reaction they received. “I got a lot of compliments and people that want to do the suits and the sets I was wearing,” she says. By November, she asked herself, why not try. “Maximum that can happen—I can fail,” she recalls thinking. From there, everything moved quickly: the collection, the shoot, the name, the account, the branding. “Everything came in one month from November to December 10th,” she says. “And in January, I posted the first video.”

In many ways, the brand feels like an extension of her own wardrobe: structured, feminine, strong, delicate and punctuated by statement accessories. “Every time I want to go out, I wear simple outfits or something a little bit with a twist. Azar gravitates toward silhouettes that emphasize the waist, with volume through the sleeves and structure through the body. “For any body type, this silhouette will make you feel confident,” she says. Azar describes herself, and by extension the brand, as “very strong, independent,” but also “calm and delicate.”Based in Lebanon, Terazar is produced locally. Azar works with one tailor in an atelier, creating the patterns herself while sourcing fabrics from Lebanon. That commitment, however, comes with its own challenges. Launching and growing a fashion brand amidst war has been emotionally and logistically difficult. “It was hard to sell because people are not thinking about buying clothes now with the situation, I’m not sure what the future holds,” she says. “Now we have like three weeks, a little break," she says, referencing a recent ceasefire. "So, I'm taking this opportunity to go to Beirut and bring my fabrics. I'm not sleeping to finish everything before.”

Even amongst this turmoil, Azar designs. As she aptly puts it, “Lebanese people live their lives through everything.”Now, she is working on a 30-look summer collection of dresses and sets, designed with Lebanon’s wedding season in mind. The collection will lean into textured fabrics, lace and eveningwear, but with a cleaner sensibility shaped by the current moment. “People are overwhelmed about everything,” she says. “I want something very simple and clean because of the situation here.”

Still, Terazar is not about retreating. It is about building anyway. Azar is already preparing to open her dream showroom, supported by her family and especially her father, whom she calls her “number one supporter.” For a designer who once wondered whether it was too soon to begin, the act of starting has become the point. “I'm so happy that I took this step and I didn't wait,” she says. “I know that the 15-year-old Teresa would be so happy.”