MUSCAT: Omani designer Rayan Al Sulaimani has been ranked fourth among 30 Women Behind Middle Eastern Brands 2022, a list published by the Forbes Middle East.

The Forbes Middle East list has highlighted brands originating from the six countries in the MENA region. It has also drawn attention to the female founders and cofounders of some of the region’s most successful tech-enabled platforms and apps.

Rayan Al Sulaimani is the CEO and Fashion Designer for Atelier Zuhra, a haute couture house founded in 2015 by her mother, Moza Al-Awfia, and headquartered in Oman and the UAE. 

Her designs have been worn by celebrities including Nicki Minaj, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai. While Paris Hilton wore Rayan Al Sulaimani’s design to the Grammy’s party in 2022.

In 2021, Zahra launched a collection of 50 pieces for the occasions of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, and it sold out within 4 hours.

According to Forbes Middle East, “Women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are progressively taking on leadership roles in the region’s top corporations, but women are also starting their own profitable businesses in greater numbers, with activities in all sectors of the economy. Some of these companies are attracting international interest, and some are undoubtedly changing the fields in which they operate.”