It’s the story of Eric
The founder of Emergency Room who in 2015 decided to leave the comfort of a luxury fashion studio behind and drive towards the unknown along the Lebanese coast.
In Tripoli, a city north of Beirut, he joined a team of barely skilled seamstresses and chose to train them, teaching them everything he knew about making clothes. The women, would in return show him their hometown, its hidden and secret gems, its authentic souks where thrift stores and high jewelry shops collide.
It’s through that mind-opening experience that Eric realized: clothes are more than just dreams meant to be worn by a select few.
In this collusion of worlds where prejudices are shattered, he decided to launch Emergency Room, a brand built on the belief that clothes are real, that they have to be made by real people and worn by real people in their daily lives.
 

Eric shot by Aly Saab for Voyeurs Journal

It’s the story of a market
The souks of Tripoli, still vividly infused by a cultural history of trade, where fabrics, dead stock and second hand materials are available in abundance, sold by local resellers, who have been doing so from generation to generation.
A market where we decided to source everything, we needed to make clothes, making sure we use what is locally available before considering importing anything from abroad, placing localism and environmentally conscious practices at the core of our sourcing process.
 

A Model in the Souks shot by Rayan Chehab

It’s the story of seamstresses and tailors
That we’ve rallied and built strong, long-lasting relationships with. Garment workers and engineers who believe in what we do, and are not afraid of challenges. Independent craftsmen and women who price their production according to their needs and the market’s fluctuations, embracing our values and vision of a fair industry.
Skilled seamstresses and tailors who relentlessly help us develop techniques and so seamlessly adapt to our ever-changing operations processes, joining our efforts in establishing a new kind of business model.
 

Eric working with the shirtmakers Mehwi in Tripoli

The story of a technique
Up-cycling, a technique we have decided to tackle and perfect over the years, working through scraps, holes and stains, we became masters of troubleshooting and problem solving, putting out fires left and right, bit by bit building our brand identity and pioneering an environmentally friendly production system.
The end result is a collection of one-of-a-kind pieces, a patchwork of materials, colors and prints, embodying the representation of an eclectic society, a mix of cultures, characters and identities.
 

An up-cycled piece in the making

It’s the story of one senior model
Eric’s own grandmother: Hoda; who fearlessly accepted to pose at the age of 80 in outrageous outfits. At first doing it out of sheer love for her grandson, she ended up looking forward to each photoshoot session organized, teaching us how important it is to grow out of your comfort zone, showing us just how much happiness you might find in the experiences you do not allow yourself to live, the opportunities you do not grab.
 

Hoda Ziade shot by Dunia Chahine

The story of many other models
Real people we had the chance of working with, throughout the years, amazing people of very different walks of life, with real bodies, that are neither perfect or imperfect, individuals who are proud of being different, happy to represent and embody our brand, flipping fingers and showing the industry how obsolete the idea of perfection is.

 

Campaign for the opening of the first boutique

The story of a community
Of genuinely caring people, who are not inspired but triggered. Appalled by injustice and recklessness, sensitive to whatever is happening in their direct surroundings. Emergency Room believes in joining forces, regrouping and building a community of like-minded people in order to tip the scales.