Layal AlRaee
Fashion Design BA Hons
Regent's University London
Graduates: 2026
Specialisms: Menswear / Womenswear / Apparel
My location: London, United Kingdom
Layal AlRaee
First Name: Layal
Last Name: AlRaee
University / College: Regent's University London
Course / Program: Fashion Design BA Hons
Graduates: 2026
Specialisms: Menswear / Womenswear / Apparel
My Location: London, United Kingdom
Website: Click To See Website
About
Layal, a 20-year-old designer from Bahrain, grew up immersed in fashion through her family’s fashion house, “Al Methaleya.” Inspired by her mother’s work and shaped by IB Art studies, she developed a strong visual voice early on. Naturally creative and hands-on, she also explored event planning and marketing, which helped hone her leadership and branding skills.Influenced by designers like Rick Owens and Issey Miyake, Layal’s work is defined by a bold, conceptual aesthetic, using volume, distortion, and construction to shape and transform the body. In 2020, she co-founded “Social Diary” with her sister, a label focused on chic, comfortable designs for an outgoing lifestyle. One of her proudest moments was curating a fashion pop-up in collaboration with a local coffee shop.As she graduates in fashion design from Regent’s University London, Layal is focused on refining her creative direction and expanding her presence within the industry. Her practice continues to evolve through material exploration, structured silhouettes, and a balance between concept and wearability. Alongside growing “Social Diary,” she aims to take on a leading role within her family’s fashion house, Al Methaleya, carrying its legacy forward while shaping it through a contemporary, global perspective.
This collection is a tribute to my grandmother and her experience with illness, where the body gradually shifted into something unfamiliar, quietly reshaped, and overtaken by an unseen force. It reflects on that slow loss of control, where presence remains, but the body feels altered and no longer entirely its own. The garments translate this through exaggerated, encasing silhouettes that compress, distort, and envelop the body. Inflated volumes create a sense of internal pressure, while uneven structures disrupt natural proportions. Yarn appears throughout the collection as a quiet reference to my grandmother’s knitwear, carrying a sense of familiarity and care. Once associated with warmth and protection, it is reworked here into something more restrictive, wrapping and extending across the body.