With more than 150 deaths, thousands injured and many businesses obliterated after the August 4 explosion in Beirut, the full scope of the city’s damage is still being assessed.

 

For Andrea Wazen, both her store and offices in the Beirut Central District were completely destroyed. But the Lebanese shoe designer is already thinking of how she will rebuild her hometown.

 

And despite the sustained challenges in her home country, where its October Revolution was followed by a sustained currency devaluation, a worsening Covid-19 outbreak, and the explosion, Wazen will be receiving the Emerging Talent Award at this year's digital Footwear news achievement award 2020 on December 8.