Just months after graduating from Regent’s, Ilyes Ouali triumphed over intense competition to win the reality TV show, Fashion Star Arabia 2019.
The judges loved the young designer’s unique brand – developed in the university’s studios – that he describes as a cross between street style and haute couture. Ouali was born and brought up in Algeria, and his designs fuse the richness and opulence of Arabian culture with the casual, dress-down approach of London and other western cities.
“It was a very surprising moment for me because, as much as I believe in my talents, I’m very convinced that fashion is about taste – and not everyone has the same taste, so I really didn’t expect the win. I was absolutely speechless and happy at the same time, crying and trying to realise that I’m the Fashion Star of 2019,” he says.
Ouali, 27, had no previous fashion experience when he came to London in 2014 from Bilda, a town south-west of Algiers, where he was raised. “I used to look at my mum’s fashion magazines that she kept with her sewing kit. Most teenage boys were interested in video games – my sister was, as well – but I watched hours and hours of fashion TV,” he recalls.
Fashion was not a very popular course in Algeria, however, and he studied English literature and civilisation at university. “Straight after I graduated, I moved to London with big dreams,” he said. He chose Regent’s because of its location at the heart of the city, its emphasis on the practical side of bringing designs to fruition and market, and its small classes. “It was important for me that the groups were small, so I could get direct contact with the tutors at least three times a week,” he says.
Key to his development as a designer was being able to access the university’s studio space whenever he needed it. “They would open the doors for me at any time, even in the summer break, for me to work on my designs, and I can still use them now as an alumnus, which has been a big help,” he says. “Then there’s a particular person to give credit to: Mark Eley, the head of programmes. He has his own successful print studio, and it meant a lot that he believed in me – it pushed me to work even harder.”
Ouali says he didn’t expect to win the show at first, but as he survived each episode without being knocked out his confidence grew. “I took it all very seriously. I needed to show a professional finish and not look like a fresh graduate from university. The pressure was crazy. Sometimes we had two days to design and make five items. But it was an amazing experience, a really fun time. Some people were really stressed, but I thought: ‘I’m so into this competition, I’m just going to get on and do it,’” he says.
“I like to play with feathers and crystal. I love evening wear, and I don’t believe it should be just for the evening. It is very extravagant but, at the same time, very classy and modern. The woman I always look to dress is a very strong and unique woman,” he says.
In just his first year at Regent’s, Ouali’s designs were featured in Vogue Arabia and attracted the attention of buyers internationally.
“I wanted to do something that looked professional, so I designed a range of singlets (a tight-fitting one-piece) and hired a model for £50 and we went to Brick Lane and did a shoot. We were all amateurs, but I put it online and I tried to find people to wear it,” he says. Fashion influencers the Abdul sisters – Thana and Sakhaa, from Medina, who were living in London – took an interest: Thana is a fellow Regent’s graduate. “They wore my outfits at Paris fashion week and they were photographed by Vogue. When they credited the pictures, they were asked where their dresses were from and they said: “Oh, it’s an emerging designer, our friend Ilyes Ouali,” he said.
And it looks like his crystal-studded creations have a glittering future. With prize money from the show – $100,000 (£77,000) – and orders rolling in, Ouali can now get his own studio and start to build his own label.
