Sharp, fresh and witty, Ceem Haidar launched her communications firm, the Commery, with former colleague Dalia Ghawi in 2013. Under 30, the rising multitasker also designs jewelry and teaches at the Lebanese American University, her alma mater.
White shirt, Topshop I typically only wear black and white, and accessories are the pop of color. I own a lot of white shirts, long sleeve, short sleeve, everything.
Bracelets The wrench bracelet is from Pop Up Concept. The Allah bracelet I designed myself – I also have a jewelry brand called Chafai. The third bracelet was a gift from my sister. It’s a diamond shape because “diamonds are made under pressure.”
Jeans, J Brand It’s my favorite brand of jeans.
Shoes, Karen Millen These go with everything and can be worn day and night.
Describe a day in your life. I work in communications so it’s really fast paced; a lot of office work but also meetings with clients. Sometimes it’s 10 to 5, other days we stay on site till 5 a.m. for events.
Is this a new office? We are moving into a bigger space – I like strolling around! I’m kidding, we have new partners on board so we need more space. We have a kitchen now too.
How often do you go shopping? Every week I tend to buy something for myself. It doesn’t do well for the bank account.
What should be the most important item in a man’s/woman’s closet?Anything black, a good pair of jeans, a good jacket – things you feel good in whenever you wear them.
Do you ever have to dress formally? Because we are young women, we need to put forth an image of professionalism to be taken seriously, especially at work functions. Plus I teach a course at LAU so I need students to respect me. You know how they can be.
Is it hard being a woman in your field? Our field (PR) is female driven, in Lebanon at least. It’s not as hard to be a woman, not anymore. When you are not shy and put yourself out there you are taken seriously.
You design too? In 2007 I started Chafai. I guess I always had this talent and people kept asking me to customize jewelry for them so I decided to launch it with my sister and mother from there.