Creative phenom Maneli Nourbakhsh brings her international experience and creative genius to the next generation of fashion warriors at Blanche Macdonald Centre, Canada’s Top Fashion School.
“Instructing is one my favorite things I have ever done. I love my students. Teaching is just so inspiring”. That is genuinely saying something, coming from the Iranian born beauty Maneli Nourbakhsh. From the Lab at Lululemon to the design studios of the late Alexander McQueen, Maneli’s accomplishments and imprints on the world of fashion will be echoed throughout time.
Having graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in political science, Maneli Nourbakhsh was on a fast track to law school before dramatically shifting gears to the world of fashion design. Crediting a long overdue visit to her native Iran as the catalyst for her brazen move, the would-be lawyer threw caution to the wind and gave up the slick veneer of a political science career for the glossy pages of fashion magazines and Paris runways.
“Everything in Iran was so beautiful. I completely realized I was burying my artistic abilities and there was no way I would ever be able to go to law school… so I went to design school instead.”
Despite her intensive studies throughout University that would make most keel over with exhaustion, Maneli coasted through with ease earning an impeccable straight A average. It wasn’t until starting design school would she be put through her paces.
“When I was in grade 6, I had a really difficult teacher… an amazing teacher, but very difficult. Her classes were so demanding that relatively speaking, I found I never had any hard times throughout high school and UBC. I had straight A’s and it was very easy for me… until I went to fashion school. As soon as I got there I had to work extremely hard. It was good! I liked it, I loved it and I needed it!”
With a design diploma under her belt and visions of grandeur, Maneli made the bold move across the Atlantic to try her luck with the fashion giants of the United Kingdom.
“My two favorite designers at the time were McQueen and Dior. I graduated in June and I was in London by the end of August. I felt like I had to prove to myself and possibly to my family and friends who said I was crazy for dropping out and not going to law school, that I made the right decision. I saw London giving me that validation, so I moved there.”
Like most roads less traveled, the journey can be tumultuous and tiresome. Getting your foot through the door in a fashion capitol as competitive as London can be arduous at best. Maneli certainly rose to the challenge.
“At first I wasn’t getting call backs. I kept applying to so many different places and I got to the point where I was questioning myself. 'Why did I come here? Oh ya, McQueen!' I hadn’t applied, so I decided to work my butt off and get there. If it didn’t work out I would know that I tried my best and would come back to Vancouver. I researched them, found their contact details and got a call back!
I started off at McQ, the diffusion line, and it was a very small team. The lead designer quickly got promoted to Alexander McQueen ready to wear and asked to take me with him. At that same time, McQ offered me a studio manager position, which was an amazing role. It was conflicting because I wanted that job but at the same time I wanted to go to McQueen ready to wear. I thought to myself ‘I have come this far… I need to move up.’ So, I joined the print design team at Alexander McQueen.”
Working with fashion legend Alexander McQueen is something nearly every fashionista dreams of yet very few had the chance to experience. Her collaboration with the fashion maven will quite literally be etched into the fabric of fashion history; with iconic dresses she helped create living in museums and art books around the world.
As a member of the print design team, Maneli illustrated a stunning array of prints for Lee McQueen’s final full collection before his untimely passing; an honour that simply cannot be topped. “Plato’s Atlantis”, one of McQueen’s most directional collections broke through barriers, being the first live-stream fashion show in history, bringing his genius to an entirely new audience.
The collection that fills Maneli with the most pride is the AW 2009 “Horn of Plenty” show.
“I have a lot of memories from the Horn of Plenty collection. There was a tribal looking dress that I did most of the prints for. I worked a lot of hours on that one. There was another red feather dress I worked on and sketched a lot of the birds for the collection. It was so much fun. We would sketch things, send it to the Gucci factory and two days later they would send it back on silk fabric. So amazing!”
After leaving McQueen, Maneli began working with the Iranian Film Festival in London doing original costume design and studio management duties. Wanting to focus on her own line, she decided to return to the west coast, but the Iranian beauty didn’t let the urgent pace of London leave her.
Since her return, Maneli has been busier than ever. She hit the ground running, landing a lead costume designer role for the film Ambrosia, which was recently nominated at the Montreal film festival. Shortly after she found herself on the design team at iconic yoga wear giant Lululemon to which she credits an intangible amount of personal and professional growth.
Maneli’s need to design could not be bound and has recently been balancing multiple consulting gigs. She is currently working with Season 9 So You Think You Can Dance winner Chehon Wespi-Tschopp, designing his first capsule collection of multifunctional dance/ street wear.
“As long as the universe is sending me these amazing projects I am going to do them. But at some point soon I am going to start my own label.”
Between her current Fashion Editor role at Hush Magazine and myriad design gigs, Maneli still finds time to teach future generations at Blanche Macdonald Centre, Canada’s Top Fashion School.
“We recently did this project about inspiration and future goals. One of the students had me crying! Her presentation was so amazing, and I am not an emotional person! It’s just so rewarding. I don’t think people understand.”
As Maneli’s accolades and accomplishments pile higher and higher, we look forward to her classes and contributions as one of Blanche Macdonald’s many bright and rising stars.
