Iraqi Designer Tara Babylon Draws from Theatricality & Experimentation

Hailing from Britain, residing in New York City, and of Iraqi descent, fashion designer Tara Babylon is a paradox of identities. A multidisciplinary artist and textile expert, she is also a dancer—and yes, a certified fire performer. Babylon is a vibrant amalgamation of her varied interests and upbringing. Specialising in evening wear and ready-to-wear collections, she also helms her eponymous label.

Growing up in South Yorkshire, England, Babylon was immersed in British influences, from sprawling dark fields to the grunge subculture. At home, she was equally surrounded by the richness of Iraqi and Arabic culture. “My parents were proud Iraqis—from the food we consumed, to the music we listened to, and the way our house was decorated,” she tells Scene Styled. Babylon recalls vivid memories of her home during Arab gatherings: her grandfather soulfully playing the violin, her grandmother’s paintings, and a wide-eyed young Babylon marvelling at the glamorous outfits worn by the women.

“As a kid, I started to mix British and Arabic aesthetics,” she says. “Arabic glamour meets Yorkshire-British grunge teenager was the beginning of my creative endeavours.” Now, Babylon embraces all of her eclectic influences under one eccentric title: ‘extraordinary alien,’ a term coined by U.S. immigration for her visa status. “My paperwork is ‘extraordinary alien in fashion design,’” she says with a humorous tone. “I thought, wow, I’m running with that!” The title suits her work perfectly. One look at her designs reveals a vibrant explosion of colours, textures, and eccentric silhouettes—a giant bubble bursting with surreal creativity.

An alumna of Central Saint Martins and Parsons MFA, as well as a finalist in the Fashion Trust Arabia Evening Wear category, Babylon has honed both her creative vision and technical skills. Her expertise integrates seamlessly with her passion for performance art. “If you look at Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, and Alexander McQueen’s early shows, they all had showmanship,” she explains. “Beautiful clothes are important, but the way they are presented for me is, and should be, a form of entertainment.”

Babylon draws inspiration from theatre shows like Burlesque and studies of performers such as Charlie Chaplin and Ruth St. Denis. She combines the beauty of fashion with the artistry of performance. How do these themes translate into fabric and form? For Babylon, it involves experimenting with unconventional materials like leather and taffeta, or rugged textiles that are rarely used in clothing. She explores the often-overlooked genre of demi-couture—a style that bridges the gap between ready-to-wear and couture.

Tapping into both feminine and masculine shapes, her work is a dynamic playground for contrasting concepts, featuring richly textured, surreal, and exaggerated abstract forms in three-dimensional silhouettes. “I design creatively with no limits, and for that reason, I see my work encompassing all people and all bodies,” she says. “What I hope to convey is that anybody can participate in my story of fashion.”

Boundary-pushing and experiential, Babylon’s designs emerge from a rigorous process of trial and error. Her starting point involves testing fabrics in small samples, visualising them on Photoshop, and imagining how they would look on a human body. “It really is a case of exhausting every avenue before I commit to a decision with my fabrications,” she explains.

For Babylon, instinct is paramount. “Nothing is random. Ultimately, I trust my taste and instincts 100%. And the rest is having fun,” she tells Scene Styled. She often experiments on her own body, researching and dressing up in vintage shops. She pairs her findings with her samples, photographs them, and uses these images to create collages. She rearranges these collages to finalise her concepts and shapes.

Babylon has gone from using herself as a mannequin to dressing celebrities like Doja Cat. The American rapper and singer wore Babylon’s Big Fluff coat during an MTV performance. “It felt amazing to see my work in action on a baddie like Doja,” Babylon shares gleefully. “I also thought to myself, has anyone ever worn Arabic writing on American MTV? That was a cultural moment.”

The coat, emblazoned with the word ‘Babylon’ in Arabic, carried deep emotional significance for the designer. “It felt right—exactly how I envision my pieces being worn and performed in,” she says.