Behind the Seams: Creative Space Beirut Students Design Costumes for Carmen at Baalbeck International Festival
This summer, the ancient Roman ruins of Baalbek witnessed a crescendo of history, fashion, and opera. Beneath the moonlit acropolis of the Temple of Bacchus, Carmen, Georges Bizet’s legendary opera, which celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2025, was reimagined within the context of Mount Lebanon’s 19th-century silk factories. At the heart of this ambitious production stood a group of second and third-year students from Creative Space Beirut, who designed and brought to life more than 350 costume pieces for the Baalbeck International Festival, one of the region’s most prestigious cultural events.
Directed by celebrated Lebanese-Brazilian opera director Jorge Takla and with costume direction led by renowned designer Rabih Kayrouz, this adaptation of Carmen offered CSB students an incredible, immersive opportunity to work on a major operatic production. The experience took them from historical research and design development to production and backstage execution during the live performance.
Baalbeck: A Stage of Stories and Stone
Set among the awe-inspiring Roman ruins of Baalbeck, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to the iconic Temple of Bacchus, the annual Baalbeck International Festival is a cultural landmark in the region since 1956. This year marked its first commissioned opera. Carmen was adapted to the Lebanese mountains and performed on a monumental round stage. Set art was defined by visual artist Nabil Nahas, and the Romanian Radio Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Toufic Maatouk.
Originally set in Seville, Spain, this version of Carmen was relocated to 19th-century Mount Lebanon, within a silk factory known locally as a karkhana. The opera tells the story of an independent, passionate woman whose defiance of social norms and pursuit of freedom lead to desire, obsession, and ultimately, tragedy. Her refusal to be possessed challenges those around her, unraveling relationships and provoking fatal consequences. Set against a richly regional backdrop, the adaptation was bold and the costumes needed to be just as layered, rooted in historical research yet relatable to a modern audience and alive for the stage.
1. Project Brief and Collaboration Initiation
CSB was invited to collaborate on Carmen, a reimagined opera set in 19th-century Mount Lebanon.
Students were tasked with designing and producing costumes under the creative direction of Rabih Kayrouz.
From Concept to Costume
Rabih Kayrouz’s brief set an ambitious stage: the chorus, which made up the bulk of the characters, would have three distinct costumes, one for each act, with a palette that evolved from dim, earthy tones to vibrant hues, culminating in explosive gold, black, and flashes of red. The chorus, envisioned as a static presence embodying the history of the karkhana, would draw on Levantine and Lebanese mountain dress, Roman temples, and Ottoman-era military attire, all reimagined as contemporary streetwear with goldwork detailing, sculptural, exaggerated, and genderless silhouettes that were symbolic rather than literal. Costumes would evolve subtly between acts through additions and refinements rather than complete changes, prioritizing volume, cohesion, and graphic clarity while avoiding orientalist tropes.
The journey into this vision began with deep research. CSB students received a crash course from Lebanese historian Charles Hayek, exploring regional dress history, social hierarchies, economic shifts, and cultural norms. They examined Ottoman tailoring, factory labor structures, and the symbolism embedded in period dress, always with the goal of interpretation over reproduction. How does a chorus become a living sculpture? How can a cape signal resistance? These questions shaped their early concepts for the chorus, dancers, and leads, balancing historical awareness with theatrical demands. Working individually or in small teams, students presented, critiqued, and refined their designs in an iterative process guided by the CSB executive team, merging research with creative problem-solving at every stage.
2. Research and Concept Development
Students were given a crash course by Charles Hayek, conducted historical and cultural research to inform the costume designs
Initial concepts were presented and refined in collaboration with Rabih Kayrouz and CSB mentors.
For the lead characters, the direction was distinct. Carmen and Don José were to stand apart through modernity in color, volume, and movement. Marie Gautrot, as the boldly independent Carmen, donned a show-stopping iridescent dress for the finale, designed by Rabih Keyrouz and made by second-year student Karim Karam during his summer internship at Maison Rabih Kayrouz.
Rabih Kayrouz played a hands-on role in refining the students' designs. He closely reviewed their presentations, selecting elements from different proposals and integrating them into a unified vision. Karim’s voluminous pants-skirt hybrid and Joe Daccache’s bold, graphic silhouettes were among the many contributions that informed Rabih’s evolving sketches. This dynamic feedback loop between students and a leading designer provided an invaluable educational experience, deepening their understanding of creative direction, collaboration, and professional design practice. Graduating student Iftikhar Kanawati said her favorite part, aside from working under the mentorship of Rabih Kayrouz, was the hands-on work: cutting the fur, dyeing it with tea, and sewing the materials used for the hats.
The final designs drew from traditional silhouettes, reimagining them as modern, comfortable, streetwear-inspired garments that held presence on stage. The pants were the anchor of the design story. Inspired by the traditional sherwel, with subtle structuring and a front-tie wrap, they were recreated in various iterations for all characters, creating a visual rhythm when seen together and offering a composed, cohesive aesthetic. While designed for performance, the pieces remained wearable and relatable, with forms that wouldn’t feel out of place in our modern world. This balance invited the audience to connect intuitively, recognizing something familiar in a new context and blurring the line between costume and clothing, tradition and modernity.
4. Sampling and Production
Students developed samples under faculty supervision.
Over 350 costume pieces were produced, including custom-dyed fabrics and hand-finished garments.
Production in Full Swing
With designs finalized and fabrics generously donated by Warde, students transitioned into the sample-making phase. Dressing more than 65 performers required immense coordination. Under the guidance of class of 2016 alumnae and CSB instructor Aline Seukénian, students developed samples for coats, pants, capes, and skirts, starting in muslin before progressing to final fabrics. Over 53 capes were altered by hand for length, volume, and neckline. Natural tea dyeing, spray painting, and textile experimentation helped realize the rich, evolving palette across acts.
Production coordination was led by Waleed Jarjouhi, who oversaw the transition from concept to execution. Tasks included project scoping, resource management, scheduling, and managing and overseeing fittings. The first rounds of fittings were conducted at Antonine University in the presence of director Jorge Takla. Iftikhar hand-dyed the blue dress for Vannina Santoni, who performed the character of Mikaela. In the final moments, the team carried out adjustments down to the finest details.
5. Fittings and Adjustments
Fittings were conducted with performers at Antonin University.
Final alterations and finishing were completed on-site in Baalbeck.
A Living Atelier in Baalbeck
In the final week before the show, the team relocated to Baalbek, transforming a section of the historic Palmyra Hotel into a makeshift costume atelier. The space quickly filled with sewing machines, garment racks, ironing boards, and tables overflowing with needles, trims, and last-minute fittings. It became a buzzing bee-hive of in-and-out activity, garments being tried on, adjusted, hemmed, and passed along to the next person. Sleeves were shortened, necklines tweaked, closures reinforced. There was bustling from morning to night, with students sewing on the spot, rehemming capes, re-stitching buttons, and improvising fixes as needed.
This impromptu atelier became the final checkpoint before the costumes made their way into the ruins. As the performance days approached, the pace intensified. Students balanced their roles as designers, tailors, and backstage crew, shuttling between the hotel and the temple, ensuring every piece was ready for the stage.
Act By Act: Costume and Visual Design
Act I - The Factory Carmen seduces Don José, played by Julien Behr, after a fight and tricks him into letting her escape, leading to his arrest.
The stage is grounded in realism, with costumes leaning into stylized minimalism and contemporaneity. The male chorus, as soldiers, wear structured earth-toned uniforms: oversized shirts and long jackets in khaki, beige, and olive, finished with cargo pockets and squared flaps. The silhouettes are functional but softened with theatrical details, loose sleeves and exaggerated patch placements add movement and visual rhythm. The trousers, sherwal-inspired and used as the base model across the board, establish a consistent foundation beneath the various coats and jackets. The long coats carry a military inflection, layering over the look. The muted palette recalls fatigues, dust, and landscape. Principal soldiers, Zuniga, Morales, and Don Jose, wear variations with epaulettes and oversized gold-foiled buttons, heightening their presence while maintaining cohesion with the chorus.
The female chorus, as silk-factory workers, wear vivid striped cotton skirts paired with red t-shirts. Each skirt is cut as a wrap, tied at the front in a practical knot that mirrors the wrapped pants of the men, with an iteration of the same sherwal-inspired trousers worn underneath. Some skirts feature bold vertical multicolor striping, others are solid red or washed pastel rainbow, giving the chorus a lively and eclectic unity. Subtle boning at the waistband ensures structure, while matching striped ties secure the wrap. Shawls in the same fabrics, bright stripes, rainbow cottons, or solid red, are draped loosely over the shoulder, suggesting labor, sweat, and constant movement. The result is a striking counterpoint to the soldiers’ muted tones, with the factory workers bursting with color and energy against the earth-bound, militarized backdrop.
Act II – The Tavern
Don José deserts the army to join Carmen and smugglers, abandoning his duty for her.
Eight to ten male dancers are styled like intoxicated admirers - sexy, undone, and full of bravado. They wear fitted white tank tops with the sherwal-style trousers in warm rusty tones of red and orange, cinched at the waist with slouchy ties. The look is simple and sensual, evoking camaraderie, looseness, and heat. The palette feels hot and unruly, capturing the tension of the tavern through movement and swagger. As part of his internship at Rabih Kayrouz’s atelier, second-year student Karim Karam constructed Rabih’s design for Carmen, a red dress made of hundreds of ribbons.
Act III – The Mountains
Carmen loses interest in Don José. He struggles between love, duty, and rivalry with Escamillo, brought to life by Jérôme Boutillier.
A stark shift. The smugglers, fifty men and women, appear in uniform silhouettes that strip away individuality. Their garments are pared back, raw, and anonymous, washed in pale, chalky tones of unbleached cotton and off-white. They wear cropped wrap trousers, belted at the waist for ease of movement. Their most striking feature is the oversized faux-fur wrap, slung across one shoulder, dense and tactile, hand dyed with tea to achieve its weathered tone, both primal and protective.12 Dancers donned a tailored jacket in muted ivory serves as the defining layer, structured yet restrained against the rough cut of the trousers.
The palette of bone and ash, with its raw textures and unfinished edges, reflects the austerity of the mountain terrain. The faux-fur adds weight and volume, evoking shelter and improvised survival. Beneath, the consistent base of shirts and trousers allows for stealth and agility. The overall effect is one of cohesion and restraint, shaped by necessity and terrain.
Act IV – The Parade
Carmen rejects Don José. In a jealous rage, he kills her outside the arena.
A dizzying contrast. Fifty chorus members, playing festive townspeople, fill the stage in a riot of color, saturated oranges, marigolds, rusts, and deep plums. Their towering cylindrical hats and voluminous robes create a surreal, ceremonial rhythm. The scene evokes a day of spectacle, a “tragic carnival” masking Carmen’s impending death.
The silhouettes are flowing and monastic, both celebratory and foreboding. Uniform in shape, bold in hue, the costumes pulse with theatricality. The headpieces, in bright shades of red, orange, yellow, and purple, extend the body upward and intensify the volume of the robes, reflecting the grand verticality of the columns of the Temple of Jupiter in the backdrop. They suggest festivity but also ritual, the townspeople transformed into a collective procession. Surrounding Carmen, several figures in black break this vibrancy, they to represent fate, death, Carmen’s destiny closing in on her. Their hats are wrapped in layers of black tulle, the fabric falling down to obscure the face like a veil. This treatment marks them apart from the celebrants, spectral and ominous within the parade.
Carmen’s finale dress, a sprawling, glimmering iridescent number, was designed by Rabih and executed by Karim Karam
6. Backstage Execution
Students managed costume logistics, dressing, and last-minute alterations during the live performance.
The project provided hands-on experience in professional production environments.
A Defining Experience
Second year student Sally Zouaia said, “The best way to describe the experience is hectic and fulfilling! I was honored to be chosen by the team to handle the choir backstage in both costume changes and management. I met many great, diverse people, and I consider gaining their trust as gaining a new skill set.”
Despite the expected wardrobe malfunctions, missed zippers, costume mix-ups, and shoes being spray-painted just moments before curtain, the show turned out beautifully, thanks in large part to our students. The transformation was complete: costumes, once confined to sketchbooks, were now sweeping across the stage beneath the ancient columns of Baalbeck, woven seamlessly into the story of Carmen.
Working in such a high-stakes environment challenged the students to adapt, troubleshoot, and collaborate in real time. It tested not only their technical skills, but also their ability to stay level-headed under pressure and support one another through the chaos. It was a crash course in backstage production, creative problem-solving, and the sometimes unglamorous, but deeply rewarding, side of fashion.
Second-year student Sonia Melkisetian, who took the project by the reins and stepped naturally into a leadership role, reflected: “Baalbeck wasn’t just a project, it was a shared high, a lot of heart, and a team I’ll never forget.”
At Creative Space Beirut, we believe the most transformative education happens beyond the classroom, when creativity meets responsibility, and learning becomes a lived experience. For our students, the Baalbeck production offered profound insight into essential aspects of fashion: costume design, large-scale production, leadership, and backstage collaboration. It broadened their understanding of what fashion can be beyond the runway or ready-to-wear, and built confidence in their ability to contribute meaningfully in complex, fast-paced settings.
The collaboration also opened the door to new networks and partners. Second-year student Karim Karam, for example, was offered a summer internship with Maison Rabih Kayrouz, a testament to the strength of his contribution and the value of the experience.
This project was made possible by the vision and generosity of many. We extend our sincere thanks to Rabih Kayrouz for his artistic direction, the Baalbeck International Festival team, especially Executive Committee President, Nayla De Freige, for placing their trust in our students, and to Dalia Salaam Rishani of the Dalia and Ramzi Rishani Charitable Trust for sparking the collaboration. We are grateful to Waleed Jarjouhi, Aline Seukunian, and Joseph Kiwan for their leadership and to every student who gave their all.
Credits
Director: Jorge Takla
Conductor: Toufic Maatouk
Assistant Conductor & Chorus Master: Oussama Mouhanna
Orchestra: Romanian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Choir:Antonine University Choir
Vocal Coach: Denis Dubois
Répetiteurs: Marc Karam / Elias Sawma
Choreography: Anselmo Zolla
Costume Design: Rabih Kayrouz in collaboration with Creative Space Beirut & ALBA
Visuals: Nabil Nahas
Scenography: Jonas Soares
Lighting Design: Gabriel Pederneiras
Sound Design: Isaac De Oliveira
Mapping Director: Gilles Dubu in collaboration with Giovanni Bourgeois
Production Manager: Guy Yazbeck
Assistant of Jorge Takla: Elias Maroun
Artistic Coordination: Noemia Duarte
Artistic Advisor: Jean-Louis Mainguy
Principal Cast
Carmen: Marie Gautrot
Don José: Julien Behr
Escamillo: Jérôme Boutillier
Micaëla: Vannina Santoni
Frasquita: Mira Akiki
Mercedes: Grace Medawar
Zuñiga: Cesar Naassy
Morales: Fady Jeanbart
Le Dancaïre: Philippe-Nicolas Martin
Le Remendado: Jason Choueifaty
