How do you know when you’ve created a coveted collection? A good indication is if Instagram baddies can’t get enough of it. Such is the case with Raga Malak. the Lebanese label first landed on my radar in a major way while I was indulging in my favorite pastime – browsing SSENSE – and then popped up again on my Instagram feed, courtesy of English rapper Shygirl, who posted a backstage photo from her Australia tour wearing the ready-to-wear brand’s beige Zida crop top and miniskirt. The label’s pieces have also been spotted on a handful of stylish cool girls, including YouTuber and Kylie Jenner’s BFF Anastasia Karanikolaou, Regina Ntahompagaze, Tatiana Chudnovskaia, Savannah Hudson, and Nura Habib Omer, who were pictured in the brand’s bust-enhancing corsets, ultra-flattering bikinis, and matching sets.
View this post on Instagram
Raga Malak was co-founded in Beirut in 2019 by best friends Gadir Rajab and Raquelle Saba. Due to political and economic unrest, the designers relocated to Melbourne to continue creating their subversive, Y2K-inspired ready-to-wear collections infused with details and techniques drawn from the designer’s Lebanese roots. From asymmetrical candy-colored pink chiffon dresses to some of the most covetable corsets to live on the internet, Raga Malak’s clothes are just the kind of inherently cool, nostalgia-filled creations that feel of the moment.
As the children of immigrants that fled to Australia during the Lebanese Civil War, Rajab and Saba aim to celebrate their Middle Eastern background by incorporating Arabic writing and artwork in their clothing self-described as “too Arab in the West, too western in the East.” For their first campaign shot in Berlin by photographer Viktor Naumovski, the designers street-casted Middle Eastern models to further use their clothing brand to support Arab creatives and put their tradition and culture at the forefront. Designs like the “Tripoli” midi-dress and “Haifa” minidress are no doubt a sartorial nod to the second-largest city in Lebanon and Haifa Wehbe, the Lebanese-Egyptian pop singer known for challenging conventions and marching to the beat of her own drum despite the criticism thrown her way.
Since launching nearly four-years-ago, Raga Malak has grown to viral popularity over the years with a combination of need-it-now fashion and complex messaging. A youthful fusion of Western styles and Middle Eastern heritage, the designers have managed to craft clothing that is basically catnip for Instagram baddies and allows you to feel like you’re part of a cool girl gang while wearing.
View this post on Instagram
