Sitting on the beach with friends watching the setting sun, lazing by the pool with a new book, having an impromptu dinner… we could go on and on creating scenarios where donning a CALM caftan or pareo would be the perfect choice.

CALM is a line of one-of-a-kind modern and classy caftans created by Carole Marshi and Alison Levasseur and made in Beirut. We were lucky enough to meet these two amazing women at the Indagare Souk in New York, and we got the inside scoop on how CALM came to be.

Carole, a native of Lebanon who now summers there with her own children, was familiar with the problems created by a country filled with war and conflict. She saw first hand how the women suffered to survive. Together with her friend Alison, a successful interior designer in New York, these two worldly women joined forces to promote international feminine pride and dignity. Through a collaboration of culture, Lebanese women hand-make the traditional caftans with vibrant Egyptian cotton and yarn sourced all over the world.

The opportunity to create and work encourages these underprivileged and often widowed women to become empowered and to support their families. In addition, working from home allows them to continue to act as caregivers and fulfill traditional family obligations.

Each caftan embodies style and versatility, as it can be worn over a bathing suit or with a pair of heels! From solid or printed caftans to pareos ($150-$275), each item is lovingly crocheted and sewn. Delicate hand beading enhances the cloth that is dyed in shades of raspberry, jade and cream, or patterned with the traditional floral motifs of the ancient Ottoman Empire.

These women deserve a kinder, calmer world – it isn't difficult to support this line, the difficulty is deciding which caftan to buy!!