'First' fashion shoot in Libya for Maltese magazine

The new issue of Modern Elegance, which will be distributed with The Times tomorrow, features fashion shots taken on location in the Roman ruins of Sabratha, near Tripoli in Libya.

The magazine's publishers say this was the first time Libya has been used as the location for a fashion shoot.

Maltese models, a stylist, a make-up artist, a hairdresser and a photographer were flown to Tripoli and took with them several suitcases of clothes from fashion retailers in Malta.

Sarah Borg, the magazine's editor, said Sabratha was preferred to Leptis Magna because it is closer to Tripoli. Sabratha is one of the three ancient cities that made up Tripolitania (Greek for "three cities") and from which present-day Tripoli takes its name.

The earliest stone structures there date back to the 4th century BC, but the city is a lot older than that. Then a Phoenician city with a considerable Greek influence, it was mentioned by the Greek traveller known as Pseudo-Scylax in a 6th century BC list of Mediterranean harbours and landmarks. By the 2nd century BC, Sabratha was a thriving centre with a large population and its architecture and impressive size are indications of the wealth that had already been accumulated by many of its citizens.

Most of the ruins that can be seen today are of buildings of the Roman period. They were built after much of the city was destroyed by an earthquake in the first century AD and include all the standard public structures of Roman cities: the forum, basilica, theatre, temples, baths and market place. Sabratha, besides a theatre, also has an amphitheatre.

Maritime trade was the source of Sabratha's wealth. There are countless images of laden ships carved on the remains of walls of public buildings and private houses. In one of the theatre arcades, ships are even seen being loaded and unloaded using a crane. In those centuries, Malta shared its culture with Tripolitania, and some of those ships must have been destined for the people who lived here.