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Early Life
Reem Acra was born to a father who brought water purification to the people of Beirut during the war at the time, and a mother infatuated with textile and design. As a teenager, Reem Acra attended the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, where she was discovered at a party while she was wearing one of her own designs, an embroidered silk dress that she had made from her mother’s dining room tablecloth. When Acra was a young girl, her mother used to take her to the souk and bazaars, which would be her source of fabric. She learned to drape at a very young age and soon her love for beading and intricate embroidery began.

In June 1982, Lebanon witnessed Acra’s very first show in AUB’s green oval, where two thousand people watched. She went on to study design at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York and Esmod in Paris. After her studies, Acra returned to New York where she launched her bridal gown company in 1995.

Career
Her career took off when she designed a wedding dress in three weeks, for a friend of hers who was getting married. The bride was a Saudi Arabian Princess, which led to a lot of media attention and the start of Reem Acra’s Bridal Gowns Company. In 1997, she launched her first bridal collection, and very soon after the release of that very collection, Acra was at the top in the bridal business. Her collection was quickly recognized for its elegance and design. Her use of silk satin, beadwork as well as embroidery is what made Acra’s bridal designs some of the most appealing gowns in the market. The use of embroidery in her designs is Acra’s signature and her talent is what makes her gowns finely detailed and highly demanded by women all across the world, including celebrities and royalty, on their wedding day. Her designs particularly appeal to women looking for sophistication, style and glamour. Acra is also known for her ability to match or fabricate a gown based on the bride-to-be’s personality.

In 2003, six years after Acra’s bridal business success, she launched the Reem Acra ready-to-wear collection also known for its design, ornate and colorful fabrics and patterns. Reem Acra dressed many celebrities such as Madonna, Halle Berry during her appearance at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Beyoncé, Melissa Joan Hart, Christina Applegate, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Eva Longoria, and many more including royal families.

Many big retailers known worldwide such as, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue in the US, as well as Saks Fifth Avenue and Harvey Nichols in the Middle East sell her collections. Her collections are also available across the world including Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Istanbul, Egypt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Korea. Reem Acra also opened in 2003 her flagship boutique in Manhattan, located at 14 East 60th Street off Madison Avenue in New York City. She also opened a boutique in Beirut, Lebanon in 2010 that sells the Reem Acra collection of evening, ready to wear and accessories which also includes a bridal salon on the second floor.