Therese Raffoul’s latest collection “May We Shed Fear” explores catharsis through transformation

Therese Raffoul is a London-based Lebanese womenswear designer and creative director whose practice is rooted in narrating the realities of Arab femininities rather than the fictions shaped by a Western gaze. In her own words, she creates fashion for women who bite back.

For her sophomore collection, Raffoul grappled with balancing artistic expression amid the horrors unfolding around her. The past two years have been marked by relentless violence that left many paralysed. Through this reckoning, she felt compelled to keep creating—a defiant act that inspired the collection. “At its core,” she explains, “it is a shed and a response to the atrocities unfolding in the world around us, a reflection on what it means to keep moving, creating, and existing in the face of unimaginable horror. It captures the fragility and ferocity of that act.”

The collection draws inspiration from the serpent, dissecting its mythology and lore as a symbol of transformation and defiance. To Raffoul, the serpent mirrors femininity itself and the doomed fate of women who dare to transgress. May We Shed Fear is a story about confronting one’s own skin, brought to life through her long-time creative partner, Yasmina Hilal. Their dynamic is one of artist and storyteller, with Hilal’s lens translating Raffoul’s vision into an image.

We spoke with the creative duo about the collection, their process, and where Raffoul hopes her journey will lead next.

Zein Karam: So, where did the creative process start?

Theres Raffoul: The way I envision a collection is through a story, an energy that needs to come out. I often imagine a scene or an image before I even imagine a garment. The process began with exploring the symbolism behind the animal, a creature that embodies rebirth and confrontation with one’s own skin. How Eve bit the apple because of the snake, how women are seen as snakes when they express anything other than docility and daintiness.
So I wanted to embody that, the multiplicity of the term, and translate it through the medium of fashion. I constantly reject the industry-standard norms of femininity and desirability. I am committed to the grit and reality of the women around me.

ZK: And how was the narrative incorporated into the pieces?

The way I approached this collection was like a creative exercise. In the past, I’d find it difficult to create commercially viable clothing; through the years, my relationship with what I wore became more embodied. So I wanted to make clothes that are both potent with emotionality and the identity of the storytelling, while also being something practical that helps you move through your life. I realized that if you have a bulletproof identity, you don’t need to worry about over-designing; the identity is there in the simplest cuts. It wasn’t about making the loudest volumes or the most complex patterns; it was about hoping the women who come across these pieces feel emotionally connected and live their lives in them. The hero piece of the collection is a lycra dress embellished with vintage black beads and obsidian, peeking in and out of the drapes. This dress looks like flesh shedding off of you. It was a beautiful process to make something slowly, as opposed to just focusing on the prêt-à-porter. The silhouette of the cobra, the binocular snake prints, the fangs, they’re all there, whether printed or imbued in the pattern cutting.

ZK: And how did this come through in the shoot?

Yasmina Hilal: This is our fifth or sixth shoot together, I lost count. Therese came to me, as she usually does, with her idea for the new collection. I feel very comfortable working with her as we’ve become very familiar and trust each other’s processes a lot. Her ideas push me further to explore new ways of storytelling, straying away from the romantic. In turn, I push her as well to see the story through my photographic lens and composition. I feel this shoot is a lot about transcendence and evolution.

ZK: How was the creative collaboration between you two?

TR & YH: We feel very comfortable working with each other because we are both very similar in what we create. Our process is like an ongoing conversation between mediums. Therese’s world-building is enhanced by Yasmina’s romantic and narrative photography. The combination of these two elements makes for a rich, cinematic world. We stray away from the usual sterile fashion photography. Also, both being Arab women in our respective industries, with no backing, we appreciate the rare trust we have in each other to create a succinct vision. For this shoot, we had Chantal, who is an actress, crying on camera, which felt like the amalgamation of everything. She captured the rich emotionality that this entire shoot was built on. Having her trust us to access that feeling was a testament to the environments we create during these sets. Nothing about it is impersonal or a means to an end. It is highly intentional and real; all the relationships are palpable. Therese is primarily a storyteller, and Yasmina is an artist; this is where the work finds its depth.

ZK: What is the campaign trying to convey?

TR & YH: Therese is primarily a storyteller, and Yasmina is an artist; this is where the work finds its depth. We want to show that there is a space for substance and emotionality in such hardened and commercialized industries. There is an urgency to convey the truth and take agency over our own narrative. That itself can resonate much deeper with anyone than seeing a generic, pretty picture of a sexy garment. You can see it in the casting. We previously would shoot younger age groups, people in their 20s,  but the models here are women ranging from their 30s to 50s. One of the models is Therese’s mother; we wanted to include the life experience of such a powerful woman, and that energy emanates in the images. All in all, this campaign takes agency over mourning, despair, and then rebirth. It gives space for a woman to resonate and not turn away from the all-encompassing world within.

ZK: Where do you see the brand in 5 years?

TR: Well, the fashion industry is almost impossible to navigate if you don’t have financial backing, so the brand will exist in the contexts that it can, and collections will happen whenever there is a chance to create them. I am not interested in plugging into the market’s immense oversaturation. My practice is an ongoing exploration and research of my mission statement, which is to get a seat at the table as an unabashed and uncensored Arab woman.
This year, I began my own research and design studio, where I brand-build and design for others as well. I hope to see that grow and to use the potency of my vision for myself and others, as a gun for hire. With this project, I continued on the visual creative and art direction, but I also made my first step into writing, directing, and producing my own fashion film.

All this to say that in five years, I want the world-building I am capable of doing to reach new horizons and new opportunities, within fashion and beyond.