Tala Raassi is an

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian-

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

fashion designer born in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, United States and raised in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. When Tala Raassi turned sixteen, she attended her Sweet 16 at a friend's house wearing a

mini skirt A miniskirt (or mini-skirt, mini skirt, or mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a dress with such a hemline is called a minidress or a miniskirt ...

. It was not long before the party was raided by the religious police and she and her friends faced the punishment of five days in jail and forty lashes. In 2000, right after the punishment, Raassi moved back to the United States where she currently lives.

Career

After moving to the States and studying fashion marketing, Raassi opened a high-end boutique in Washington DC where she oversaw all aspects of business from construction, buying, and merchandizing to finance and payroll. While shopping for her boutique in São Paulo, Brazil during fashion week, Raassi became inspired to design her own line of swimsuits, Dar Be Dar. Raassi later left the store and started traveling the world to find the best fabrics, manufacturers, and suppliers, ultimately selecting Medellin, Colombia for production. Since its inception, Raassi's line, Dar Be Dar, has sponsored the Washington Wizards Dance Team and was the official swimwear sponsor for the

Miss Universe 2010 Miss Universe 2010 was the 59th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on August 23, 2010. At the end of the event, Stefanía Fernández of Venezuela crowned Ximena Navarrete of Mexic ...

pageant. Dar Be Dar means door to door in Raassi's native language,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. In slang it means someone who is all over the place. “It represents me as a designer, because I had to go door to door to figure out the process of starting a fashion business.” In 2012, Raassi was called “One of the Most Fearless Women in the World” by Newsweek Magazine. Tala Raassi has stated that she "aims to celebrate the beauty of the woman’s body through her designs and empower women all around the world to follow their dreams." For Tala Raassi, “fashion is freedom.”.

Appearances

Tala Raassi was on the program to appear in 3 events at the 2017 Brisbane Writers Festival in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

References

External links

* Living people American people of Iranian descent Year of birth missing (living people) American fashion designers Iranian fashion designers American women fashion designers Iranian women fashion designers {{Fashion-designer-stub