For Alaa Alaradi, winner of Fashion Trust Arabia’s Franca Sozzani Debut Talent Award in 2025, fashion began with movement. Growing up between Bahrain and Switzerland, she would ask her mother for “weeee dresses” pieces that spun, lifted, and came alive with the body. Long before she understood fashion as an industry, she was instinctively drawn to how clothing feels, how it holds you, and how it moves. This sensibility comes through in her graduate collection, Further Deeper Softer Closer, where sculptural yet fluid silhouettes explore a femininity that is strong, grounded, and self-assured.
What is your earliest memory of fashion, and when did you realise it was the path you wanted to pursue?
Dresses were an activity in themselves. I used to call them “weeee” dresses, my way of telling my mum I wanted a dress that moved. Drawing and sketching was prime activity, I knew how to entertain myself. It was far from ‘editorial fashion’ I didn’t know fashion in that way, I didn’t own fashion magazines or know any designers, it was truly just admiring clothes for clothes in a naive way.
You were born in Bahrain and grew up between the Gulf and Switzerland. How has navigating these different cultural landscapes shaped your identity and design language?
I often felt alienated in both places, not Arab enough in Bahrain and not Swiss in Switzerland. Moving between cultures made me appreciate their qualities: Switzerland for its neutrality, my anonymity and freedom, Bahrain for its values. Being between both gave me the freedom to create my own identity while home always reminded me of my roots and heritage.
Your older sister, Noor, played a pivotal role in supporting your journey into fashion. How did that early encouragement shape your confidence and creative freedom?
Noor had to figure things out early, she was independent by 17, working hard to support herself alone in Switzerland. When she had the space, she always made room for me by her side. She set an example of strength and resilience that gave me the confidence and freedom to follow my own path regardless of expectations and financial circumstances – she gave me a home, and even when things were hard she made sure that I never missed out on an opportunity. She is the strongest woman I know.
Your graduate collection established a clear design DNA. What emotions or ideas were you hoping to capture through that body of work?
I wanted the collection to feel light, feminine, raw and strong. It was important to me that femininity was portrayed beautifully without being mistaken for softness. I wanted strength and femininity to coexist.
There is a recurring balance in your designs between strength and lightness. How do you approach building silhouettes that hold both qualities at once?
It takes a lot of styling and ongoing conversations during fittings, constantly asking how it feels when worn and what she needs. It’s about refining that balance until the silhouette feels complete.
How do you imagine the wearer interacting with your pieces when they wear them?
The way a garment holds you can actually lift you, that’s done through how it fits, move and feels on the body. I want the wearer to feel good, more so than look good.
How has the Fashion Trust Arabia recognition influenced the way you think about the future of your brand?
FTA was an immediate launch into thinking on a much larger scale. Until now, everything has been one-of-a-kind and made entirely by me. This recognition is opening up new conversations, new opportunities for growth but most importantly marks a beginning.
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