LILO
Leen Mattar, a Palestinian fashion designer, founded her brand LILO in 2021, a high-end Ateliér that injects excitement and inclusivity into fashion.
In 2019 Leen relocated to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, an emerging fashion city where culture meets couture. Living and breathing fashion was her dream, but fashion design was not recognized as a suitable career path for Leen. Her culture required a more traditional career path to be acceptable, This was not Leen’s vision for herself in life, her heart was for fashion. Her whole life, always living in her own headspace, in her own bubble “LILO”. Leen knew she had it inside to become a designer for a long time but was too afraid to let it out, waiting for the right time to create such unusual and difficult pieces that can be appreciated in the fashion industry.
A lady who pushed boundaries taking a path against what was considered “OK” as her career choice.
Her journey started in Milano, where she took a fashion design course at the prestigious Istituto Di Burgo Milano, the fashion capital of Italy. Studying in Milan increased her knowledge and practical skills as a designer, from sketching, developing new illustration techniques, and experimenting with fabric technology to creating patterns, immersing her ideations into reality. This is when Leen began to evolve her vision for LILO, trying different piping techniques as an illusion to create something different in the industry. her signature piping structures that are now adored and are the unique features appreciated in her pieces. She started to create art through fashion expressions that echoed her personality.
“Fashion is a feeling you are born with. Anyone can take a pencil and sketch but not everyone can express originality and individuality with art through garments, color combinations, fabrications, and materials. It is something that comes from within"-Leen M.
Dubai always had the perfect space, with its growing and immersive fashion industry and the Middle East was where she wanted to begin her journey. On her return, Leen had her vision, passion, and all the skills to breathe life into her own brand LILO. Driven to create something new and take LILO to the next level in the fashion industry.
The fashion house brings bold, unique fashion-forward designs that are synergized through artistry with exceptional technical skills.Her designs are exquisitely embellished to create an instant impact with their high-quality fabrication and attention to each detail.
