Fashion

6 North African Designers You Need to Know Right Now

BYYassine Hariss

June 1, 2026

Casablanca, Algiers, Tunis, Cairo, and Tripoli aren’t the first cities that come to mind when you think of global fashion capitals. For decades, the industry’s attention has remained largely fixed on Paris, Milan, London, and New York, leaving much of the region—North Africa especially—flattened into either vague “Arab” aesthetics or tired orientalist clichés. But beneath the surface, an entire generation of designers has been quietly—and sometimes not so quietly—creating work that feels far more connected to their realities than anything the Western fashion system has traditionally projected onto the region. Below, five names you should have on your radar right now.

Leila Roukni (Morocco)

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

Une publication partagée par Talel طلال (@talelparis)

After spending more than a decade working behind the scenes in Parisian leather ateliers, including at houses like Chloé, Moroccan designer Leila Roukni co-launched her own accessories label, TALEL, in 2019. Since then, her sharply architectural handbags have slowly become some of the most distinctive accessories currently emerging from the region, clinching the Accessories Award at the 2025 Fashion Trust Arabia (FTA) Awards. Worn by the likes of Beyoncé, her creations reject conventional ideas of femininity altogether, leaning instead towards silhouettes designed for people “who aren’t afraid to take risks and break the rules,” as she once put it.

Lilia Yasmin (Algeria)

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

Une publication partagée par ATLAL FROM GALBI (قلب) (@atlalfromgalbi)

Through her label Atlal From Galbi, Algerian designer Lilia Yasmin has made it her mission to explore North African identity through clothing. Launched in 2019, the Paris-based project pulls directly from Algerian history, Arabic culture, and diasporic experiences, creating pieces shaped by questions of identity, memory and cultural inheritance. Having previously worked at houses including Louis Vuitton under Virgil Abloh and later at Balenciaga, Yasmin eventually shifted towards building a label unapologetically North African from start to finish. Through collections like Utopia 62 — inspired by post-independence Algeria during the 1960s and 70s — she continues to revisit questions of freedom, belonging, and representation through a distinctly personal lens.

Camelia Barbachi (Tunisia)

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

Une publication partagée par Camélia – كاميليا (@cameliabarbs)

Since the launch of her own label Chez Nous, Camelia Barbachi has been building a fashion project rooted as much in identity politics as it is in clothing itself. Created as a response to the lack of representation she experienced growing up as a woman of North African descent, the brand explores themes of diaspora, belonging, and multiculturalism through elegant, understated silhouettes produced between Lille and Djerba. Blending ethical production methods with references to Tunisian culture and immigrant identity, Chez Nous feels less interested in chasing trends than in creating space for people who, like Barbachi herself, have long existed between multiple homes, languages and realities at once.

Mabrouk Ali (Libya)

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

Une publication partagée par mabruk (@mabroukmabruk)

Arguably one of the fastest-rising names from Libya’s still-developing fashion landscape, Mabrouk Ali is part of a generation helping place the country into conversations it has historically been absent from. Through his label Medina, the British-born Libyan designer reworks traditional North African garments and visual codes through a more contemporary lens, blending flowing silhouettes, muted palettes and stripped-back tailoring with references to Libyan architecture, desert landscapes and everyday life across the region.

Serag Elmeleigy (Egypt)

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

Une publication partagée par Serag (@seragelmeleigy)

Cairo-born designer Serag ElMeleigy approaches fashion as both a research project and a form of cultural preservation. Through his London-based label Suez Studio, the Egyptian-Iraqi creative has built a practice centered on reworking traditional Arab textiles, techniques, and histories into contemporary garments that are anything but purely nostalgic. From transforming keffiyehs into bucket hats to repurposing centuries-old Khayamiya fabrics into modern jackets, ElMeigly’s work consistently bridges heritage with present-day streetwear sensibilities. At the core of his practice sits a wider desire to challenge the Western fashion industry’s tendency to exoticize—or outright overlook—craftsmanship from the region altogether.

Ahmed Shareef (Sudan)

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

Une publication partagée par Shareef | شَريف (@shhareeff)

As one of the co-founders behind SN3 Studio, Ahmed Shareef has been instrumental in positioning Sudanese creativity within wider conversations around fashion, art, and design. His creations can already be spotted on the shoulders of some of the region’s most exciting artists— from Sudan’s Soulja to New York’s A$AP Ferg— helping introduce a distinctly Sudanese visual language to audiences far beyond Khartoum.

6 North African Designers You Need to Know Right Now

Suggestions

Articles

Topics

6 North African Designers You Need to Know Right Now

Related Stories

More From Fashion

Suggestions

Articles

Topics

Newsletter

The only newsletter you won't unsubscribe from

Follow Us