Supporting The Rising Stars

This is the story of Tania Fares – fashion’s fairy godmother.

- Natalie Westernoff

At 07.50 on a brisk and cloud-covered morning in London, the English sky didn’t look too dissimilar to Dubai's in a sandstorm. Grey and all-encompassing. I had flown in from Dubai for a fleeting trip and I was set on some welcomed change in weather. But wishing for good weather in Britain is like banking on winning the lottery – it’s a loser’s game. As the doorbell rang at the Langham Hotel’s Infinity Suite, in glided Tania Fares, the Lebanese-born co-founder of the British Fashion Council Fashion Trust, among a fleet of other merits. Quiet, sweet and a little unaware of her surroundings, she wasn’t ‘with us’ initially. She stared down at her phone, reading a message, pardoning her pulled focus. Once she had answered her caller she acknowledged us all with a warm introduction and I led her over to hair and make-up.

I proffered her coffee. She nodded intently, confessing she was tired and needed time to wake up. Since Tania is constantly on a different time zone, she spends much of her time playing catch-up. Living between London, Los Angeles and Lebanon, she is always on the move. She admits London always feels homely, since she spent 16 years living in Knightsbridge with her family. As the interview proceeded, I simply asked her to talk about herself – we know very little of her.