Blog — Family

People often ask me where home is, and it is something I find very difficult to explain. The way I usually put it is that I was raised in Kuwait, Kuwait gave me a culture that was similar but also completely different from my own, a warmth and generosity unparalleled. My work base, Jaipur gave me my passion, it allows me to work with masters, it teaches me new things every day, it is the place where I matured the most surrounded by friends who fast became family.  Beirut, Lebanon, however, is different. Beirut is the chaotic city in which I feel the most comfortable. Both my eyes and my ears are stimulated, passing interactions, moments of warmth in mayhem. It does something to...

Hussah met Noor through their husbands, old college friends, and immediately hit it off.  On a sunny spring day in Sharjah over a pool lunch, they talked about everything and anything.   But what bonded them was their love for their work.  Noor's latest endeavor is Goodness, the Middle East's first platform dedicated to holistic wellness.  She took a detour from her fashion background and decided to focus inwards and saw the space for it in the Middle East.  Always a calming presence that can be heard through her voice on the Goodness Podcast, a podcast that tackles everything women tend to shy away from.  We delved into her world, by gifting her things that can fill her life holistically.  Shop Noor's...

Shweta Betty is a Freelance Fashion Editor & Costumier based in Bombay. More specifically in our favorite area of Bombay, Bandra. Bandra is in the north  of Bombay. It is on the sea, has adorable lanes lined with old bungalows, Aunties chatting on benches, balloon vendors walking around with their bikes, cats napping under coconut trees. This is where you will find Shweta Betty.  Her universe, and her color palette are very personal, intimate . The stages she creates are poetic, with a strong sense of aesthetic that uplift the reality of day to day life . She represents for us this precious value we try to encourage with ecru: integrate beauty in our everyday life through rituals and lifestyle. Follow...

Nur Kaoukji and Nour Sabbagh go way back, way way way back. They did a series of beautiful pop ups together in Beirut called 'Beirut Loves'. Today Nour is a good friend to everyone on the ecru team and is doing something extremely special for us with her outfit Storm Studio, but that is another story entirely that we will soon be very excited to share. Nour is a photographer, a creative director, a designer, to name a few. Her universe is vast. One of Lebanese root mixed with Parisian upbringing and shaken with a lot of exposure. If she were a cocktail, she would be one that surprises you, but is warm and familiar. She has an untamed eye that is...

Nour is a force. Take a tombola and mix in some jasmine, coffee grains, feminism, orange blossom, fierce curls, dreams, sand, activism, divine femininity and there you have her. All mixed into one. Lebanese, born in Boston with a childhood both in Kuwait and Lebanon, Nour is proud of her heritage, proud of the mix of life that she has been exposed to and represents, very well. Her drawings make us dream, they inform and break us and lift us up again with the reminder to always have hope, to always stand and be vocal for what you believe in. A woman who never ceases to impress us.  Follow Nour's fantastical world on her Instagram.   (Images and illustrations courtesy of Nour Flayahan) ...

Claire Deroo was raised in Paris and is no stranger to India. She has been frequenting the Pink City regularly since the age of five and has since turned into a permanent resident, much to the happiness of our Nur.  We love Claire's aesthetic, it's vibrant, brave and daring. Claire is someone who really knows how to work with anything she finds, making magic out of very little, and never shies away from boldness . She often surprises us, be it for her color choice and design of precious stones or her ability to decorate and host an event or dinner, or anything that involves a good time really, like you've never seen before. Not to mention her innovative window...

Léa and Nur first met when Lea was running an art gallery in Beirut called The Running Horse, she is one of those people who is so passionate about what they do, that you can't help but fall under the same spell. Her gallery was sexy, in the middle of the industrial area in Karantina. When visiting you really felt that you were part of something new and exciting. The Léa Effect. Nothing however, was as exciting as when Léa would invite you home for dinner. When that happened you canceled all plans because you knew that something special was going to happen to all of  your senses. The woman can cook. Luckily she has taken the leap of culinary...

We met the wonderful Maha before we launched ecru, when Nur was giving a lecture on importance of patronage during a Nuqat conference in 2012.  It was hosted by Dar Al Athar al-Islamiyah, where Maha is a Docent & Educator.  We immediately clicked with her and could see her passion towards her work and the Dar.  When we launched our first collection, By the Sea, in 2013 she immediately became a supporting customer and muse. Always immaculately dressed, we were excited by the innovative way she incorporated ecru in her wardrobe.  Below is a beautiful story of images representing how Maha incorporated the three gifts into her life.  Sadu Pouch -  My bag is where I carry my world.  Ever since I’ve...

Our love for artisans handicraft work is never ending.  How they meticulously make objects using their hands is just mesmerizing.  We love to continuously work with these talented artisans, especially on our Signature Line.  They take great care to carve wood, inlay mother of pearl, and weld metal.   Behind the scene look on our wooden objects.   Our marble objects, piled up and ready to go.   

Here is the Jaipur home of Juliette Dumerchat, our very own Nur Kaoukji and her husband Livio Delesgues. It is a very happy home responsible for many dinners and wild parties, one of which caught the eye of Architectural Digest India' editor Greg Foster.   I've been lucky enough to stay at Nur's home in Barwara House more than once.  The first time I stayed with Nur in Barwara House was ten years ago.  I fell in love immediately with the magical world she and her roommates, Sophia and Deborah, have created in this beautiful flat.  I remember the delicious dinners and deep conversations we had over the kitchen table.  The second time I stayed there was after our first Pop Up...