Layal Balubaid is designing for human connection

PHOTOGRAPHY Charlie Barclay-Harris
SPECIAL THANKS TO Salomon

This interview features as part of BRICKS #15 I Support You issue’s Portrait series. You can view the full series here, and order an issue now from our online store.

Layal Balubaid approaches fashion as an expression of human presence. The Saudi designer, now based in London, builds her work from everyday encounters, conversations with strangers, traces left on fabric, and memories embedded in clothing. At just 22, her practice is defined by a balance of sincerity and play, embracing the whimsical, the grotesque and the absurd alongside deeply personal narratives. For Balubaid, clothing is about connection, with the body and the lived experience of the wearer remaining at the centre of her design process. 

Most recently, Balubaid showcased her work through Graduate Fashion Week’s Accelerator programme, an initiative supporting a select group of emerging designers as they transition from education into the industry. Offering mentorship, industry guidance and public presentation, the programme marked another step in Balubaid’s emerging career as she continues to develop a practice centred on the relationship between clothing and the body, which has already captured the attention of musician Erin LeCount, stylist Magda Kaczmarska, and has been worn on the streets of Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week by Eve Lily.

Has there been a moment where someone’s support tangibly changed your path? 

I remember my decision to pursue a fashion education being difficult for my parents to accept at the time. I come from a very STEM background, and I only discovered that I wanted to do fashion towards the end of my high school education. I did end up studying medicine for a year with plans to reapply after (COVID and such… studying fashion online didn’t seem ideal); however, my parents were still a bit resistant. 

My mom had a (quite successful) fashion designer friend who was previously in the medical field. She called her for some insight, and within that five-minute call, she convinced my mum to trust me with taking that leap. A woman who was a stranger to me is the main reason I was able to study fashion with my parents’ confidence – and I am so grateful for that. 

You know everyone, but you don’t actually know anyone. It’s a strange type of loneliness.

What’s the least glamorous part of sustaining a career in fashion right now? 

You know everyone, but you don’t actually know anyone. It’s a strange type of loneliness. A lot of relationships in fashion feel purely transactional; few people seem to want to cross the boundary of a “work” relationship into a more personal friendship. 

Who are you designing with in mind when you’re working? 

I really don’t know – I always struggle with this. I guess I think of myself, in a way? Yet sometimes I look at things I make and would never wear them myself. I guess I think of what feeling I want people to have when wearing something I make. I think of someone fun and unashamed and joyful. I love it when I’m able to make a custom for someone because that gives me the exact person to think about. Their whole look is made for them, but through my perception of them – it almost feels like a fun mental exercise where I’m trying to decide what they like before they even know they’d like it. 

What are you doing alongside your creative work to keep it sustainable in the early days? 

Using what I have and spending the least amount of money possible on making things, especially in the development process. It allows me to save up quite a bit so that I can splurge a bit when making the final pieces. I would take up any offer or job that would make extra money and generally try to only spend on what is completely necessary; I only finally upgraded to an industrial sewing machine this year!  

I love it when I’m able to make a custom for someone because that gives me the exact person to think about… it almost feels like a fun mental exercise where I’m trying to decide what they like before they even know they’d like it. 

What does meaningful support actually look like in fashion right now? 

Meaningful support means showing up for your friends. Not on Instagram, but physically showing up for your friends when they ask. 

Also, funding: stylists that can pay, stylists with budgets. While I understand that stylists are sometimes just the middlemen with not much power in that decision, ‘exposure’ unfortunately isn’t much of a return. An Instagram tag by the artist would seem like the bare minimum, but oftentimes, I never see the result of a loan until I go looking for it. The industry depends on designers, yet we are treated like a nuisance for asking for compensation or credit. Our clothes are the reason the talent, shoot or campaign looks good – credit us and pay us! 

Meaningful support means showing up for your friends. Not on Instagram, but physically showing up for your friends when they ask. 

How do you try to support others coming up behind you? 

While I do feel like I’m still also trying to come up, I also feel very privileged to be where I am right now within my practice. I try to be as helpful as I can to people around me who are also going through their own journey. I never see it as a waste of time to put my time towards someone else’s growth; I feel like it can only enrich my own practice and open up new perspectives towards how I interact with my work. I do try to insist on being extremely truthful about the reality of my line of work – I want to be transparent because it’s quite easy to appear like I have everything figured out. I do heavily believe in faking it till you make it, though; it always works! 

What moment have you been most proud of in your career, and how did you celebrate it? 

I don’t know if it’s proud or just significant (because I mostly just find it funny), but once I started getting styling request emails for insane talents. A lot of them fall through, but I still see it as a win. The fact that someone considered putting Kim Kardashian in Layal is hilarious to me. I always ‘celebrate’ that type of request by instantly texting my sister the moment I get an email like that, and maybe I let a lil yippee out. 

I felt most proud once I started getting styling request emails for insane talents. A lot of them fall through, but I still see it as a win. The fact that someone considered putting Kim Kardashian in Layal is hilarious to me.

You’ve described fashion as being less about perfection and more about presence grounded in touch, memory and everyday human interactions. How do those small, intimate moments translate into the way you design a garment? 

I like to imagine how someone would perceive themselves when wearing the garment. Less noticeable fit details, like specific shaping of the waist, hip and breasts without any boning, are something I absolutely love. I also like to use fit models who feel real to me, whether they are my friends or strangers I’ve met outside of fashion, because these are the people I see around me and who I want to see wearing and existing in my clothes. 

I’m also short, and I love my short girls, so designing clothes not made with someone like me in mind feels a bit impersonal. 

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