Johnny Farah

Johnny Farah’s early influences came from Copenhagen. Living there in the

70s, he developed a particular interest in the simplicity and practicality of Scandinavian architecture and furniture design, and more specifically in the way different materials like concrete, iron, wood or leather were put to their full formal and functional potential.

That time was also marked by Johnny’s life-changing encounters with architects Arne Jacobsen and Hans Wegner, after which he decided to leave mechanical engineering school and concentrate on his leather designs which, up until then, were only a means to support his studies. JF hardly ever uses embellished leather.

Other than Copenhagen, Johnny Farah has worked and lived in Beirut, New York and Istanbul. He opened his first JF shop in Beirut and, in the late 70s, another outlet in New York that mainly sold European and Japanese designer labels like Jean-Paul Gaultier and Yohji Yamamoto. JF Soho today hosts the highly acclaimed work of Comme des Garçons, Dries Van Noten, Martin Margiela and Paul Harnden Shoemakers and continues to play a distinct role in the New York fashion scene. From 1990 to 1994, he launched and developed Donna Karan and Donna Karan Man lines of accessories.

Today, Johnny owns five JF shops between Beirut, New York and Dubai and a Johnny Farah shop in Beirut. He lives and works in Lebanon, the place he calls home, where he also owns an organic farm and two restaurants for which he frequently cooks and creates dishes.