THE SERIAL DESIGNER: Tala Samman

Miss Tala Samman for Grazia.it.

Beautiful Tala from My Fash Diary who was featured last Friday on Grazia. it. Yes, I am running a week behind, I know! And I am also running late for a dinner so this is a super quick post.

Blog readers who have been following for a little while will recognise London College of Fashion student, Tala, from this post last year. Since then Tala has finished another year of college (she is studying fashion promotion), completed an internship in NYC with Halston in the PR department, travelled back and forth between Dubai and London, and.... attended the Grammy's with her family! Helllloooo the Grammy's! When Tala told me this at LFW in February I think I squealed a bit with excitement: THE GRAMMY'S!!!! Maybe this isn't a big deal to some people but I don't think I have ever met anyone who has had an invite to the grammy's including the rehearsal and afterparty. Oh yeah, and she also had a private dinner with Natasha Bedingfield and recorded a song with producer Harvey Mason Jr (I forgot to grill her about that during our shoot afternoon). Tala clearly has The Connect ;) I can't wait to hear what she gets up to in the next year.

So what was wearing Tala wearing for the shoot? Dress (By Malene Birger from My Wardrobe.com );Platform heels: ASOS black; Hat (Eugenia Kim from My Wardrobe.com)

Neon yellow necklace from Adia Kibur. Grey sweatshirt from Hush, and yellow floral skirt from Boohoo.

Cream shirt (Topshop), and wide leg pants (AX paris). Turquoise ring (YSL) and Triangle ring (House of Harlow 1960).

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Posted in My Fash Diary; My-Wardrobe.com; House of Harlow 1960; By Malene Birger; Eugenia Kim; ASOS Black; Topshop; Grazia.it; Grazia Magazine , Tala Samman

Sitting down over afternoon tea with Tala (gorgeous little lemon tarts, in case you are interested) in her London apartment, is like sitting down with any other beautiful, talented, fashion-loving 19 year old student. Um, except when she lets slip that her mama is the face of Nina Ricci for the Middle East (cue squeaks of delight from me! I met Lina Samman briefly outside the Christian Dior show in Paris in March when I first photographed Tala), she has interned at Grazia, Tom Ford (positively swooning now), freelanced for the Dubai-based online magazine Savoir Flair, she has been featured in Harper's Bazaar Arabia earlier this year, she lives between London and Dubai, and she blogs daily at MyFashDiary no matter where she is in the world (current location: Tuscany).Oh, and she is a full-time student at London College of Fashion studying fashion promotion. And she is impossible not to like (she gets extra scooby snacks for those lemon tarts :))

So where does she get her beauty and style from? Her parents are Syrian but Tala was born in the US, and moved to Dubai when she was just a littlie. After a few more squeaks of encouragement from me, I discovered that Tala's mama, apart from being the Nina Ricci brand ambassador, is one of the most stylish women in Dubai. Which would explain Tala's London wardrobe: peppered amongst the American Apparel, Zara, Topshop, Office, Reiss, H&M, Acne purchases are pieces by Alexander Wang (handbag), YSL (trib pumps and handbag), Balenciaga (handbag and sunglasses), Fendi (handbag), Chanel (handbag), Hermes (Birkin), Mulberry (Alexa),most of which she "shares" with Lina (sort of like a timeshare scheme for handbags and accessories!)

After oohing and ahhing over Tala's jewellery, make-up and sunglasses collection (as well as the little mood wall where she keeps all her invites, thank you notes etc), we went outside to take some photographs. And despite the attentions of passing motorists (I am still recovering from the lascivious stares of one particularly creepy older gent who crawled past us in his car), Tala was a dream to shoot. I think the second photograph from the top captures Tala the best: warm, caring, down-to-earth and with an utterly infectious smile :)

Tala's denim shirt is from Topshop, hat from Sonia Rykiel, black wedge boots from Office and cocktail ring from YSL. In the photographs below her skirt is from American Apparel and her shoes are the sublime YSL pumps. I can't remember where her lace top is from- I will find out for y'all.