Alisar Ailabouni (; born 21 March 1989) is a

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

-born

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

fashion model and the winner of '' Germany's Next Topmodel, Cycle 5''.

Early life

Ailabouni moved to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

when she was seven months old and grew up in Amstetten and

Schörfling am Attersee Schörfling am Attersee is a municipality in the district of Vöcklabruck in the Austrian state of Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany an ...

, where she went to school. She played the role of Juliet in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

in the school's drama group. She has two brothers. Ailabouni plays basketball and played in the Austrian U16 team.

Germany's Next Topmodel

After applying to an open casting call in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Ailabouni managed to reach the top 18 and started to dominate the competition by winning several castings. However, due to her shy personality, the judges questioned her limelight ability and saw her struggling several times when she was required to perform out of her comfort zone. For a long time, she was the only non-German top 3 finalist of

Germany's Next Topmodel ''Germany's Next Topmodel'' (often abbreviated as ''GNTM'') is a German reality television series based on the concept introduced by Tyra Banks with ''America's Next Top Model''. The competition is hosted by Heidi Klum, who also serves as the ...

(although former winner

Sara Nuru Sara Nuru (born 19 August 1989) is a German fashion model and entrepreneur. She was the winner of the Germany's Next Topmodel, Cycle 4, fourth cycle of ''Germany's Next Top Model''. Since 2016, Nuru has been running nuruCoffee, a fair trade coff ...

was of Ethiopian heritage she owns the German citizenship), until cycle 10, where Ajsa Selimovic, who lives in

, managed to reach the top 3. In the final, Alisar managed to win, beating fellow-contestants Hanna Bohnekamp and Laura Weyel on a live final held in June 2010. She then appeared on the cover of the German Cosmopolitan in July 2010, and in a commercial for Venus Breeze, a job she won on the show.

Withdrawal from ONEeins contract

Like her predecessor Sara Nuru, Ailabouni did not win a contract with a known modeling agency. She was managed by Günther Klum's Management ONEeins but decided barely after a year to leave the contract due to her feeling that she was given only mediocre, no modelling related work. It marked the first time a winner of the show sued her way out of the contract and obligations, not even one year after her victory.

Career

Ailabouni moved to Paris where she was taken under contract by PARS, the modelling agency of Peyman Amin who was a judge on GNTM but left before her participation. She also managed to get signed with other modeling agencies, Eskimo Models, City Models in Paris, Fashionmodel in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Red in New York and Elite Model Management in London. She played herself in the made-for-television film 'Deutschland gegen Österreich – Das Duell'. She walked for

G-Star G-Star (sometimes also written G*STAR, G★ or G★STAR; ) is an annual trade show for the video game industry presented by Korea Association of Game Industry and Busan IT Promotion Agency in November. Originally held in the Seoul Capital Area ...

SS2011-collection in New York and walked the Berlin Fashion Week the following season. She has also appeared in an editorial for

Vogue Italia ''Vogue Italia'' is the Italian edition of '' Vogue'' magazine owned by Condé Nast International. In publication since 1964, it has been called the top fashion magazine in the world. The publication is currently edited by Francesca Ragazzi and ...

's December 2012 issue. She also walked for 17 different labels at New York Fashion Week in 2012. In 2014, Ailabouni was the winning model in

Project Runway (season 13) ''Project Runway Season 13'' is the thirteenth season of the television show ''Project Runway'', appearing on Lifetime. The season began airing on July 24, 2014, with 19 designers competing to become "the next great American designer." In additi ...

. She won after Sean Kelly, the designer she modeled for, won the season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ailabouni, Alisar 1989 births Living people Austrian female models Germany's Next Topmodel winners Naturalised citizens of Austria People from Damascus Syrian emigrants to Austria Syrian female models