Sami Suliman-Popesco (born November 3, 1985) is a Sudanese-British fashion designer, best known for her role as Balmain's creative director since 2011. If she looks vaguely familiar, that's because 30 year-old Sami Suliman has been gracing the red carpet with her director hubby for over ten years. Her politely private media interactions may have left you underwhelmed, but Suliman has been very busy ever since graduating Central St. Martin's. After several years at Roberto Cavalli and several more working under Balmain's former creative director, Suliman inherited the prestigious position vacated by Christophe Decarnin. Since then her designs have dominated fashion week conversation as well as the red carpet and the most followed social media accounts. Suliman is excited to represent the young, female, and most importantly, brown part of fashion's upcoming superstars.
Sami Suliman was born in Khartoum, Sudan, and was raised in Brighton, England. She attended Central St. Martin's for fashion design, and began working as an intern for costume designers. She achieved a position at Roberto Cavalli upon graduating, and was eventually promoted to head of women's wear. She married director Paul-Henri Popesco in 2003. In 2009, Sami left Roberto Cavalli and took a position at Balmain, where she rose quickly in the ranks, and in 2011, she was named as the label's new creative director. Sami credits her husband's steadfast support for much of her professional success.
Born in politically tumultuous Sudan in 1985, Samiye Suliman spent only the first four years of her life with her parents before she was sent to England with hopes for a better education and future than could be found in the warring nation. Samiye lived with an auntie, one of several children cared for by the same woman, and attended school successfully. She integrated fairly quickly and made friends with girls of similar backgrounds. Samiye looked most forward to the weekly telephone call with her parents, the only time she spoke more than rudimentary or broken Arabic.
There was just enough money to cover Samiye's school costs, housing, and food, so a trip home would have been out of the question, and Samiye never asked. To make pocket money, as she didn't receive an allowance, Samiye began to sew for friends, mending tears, hemming trousers or skirts than fell too long. She excelled in sewing classes at school, and resolved she would attend university for fashion design. Samiye's grades were good enough for several scholarships, but the price to attend Central St. Martin's exceeded Samiye's abilities, and she was forced to take out loans in order to complete her schooling and stay afloat. While in school, she worked odd jobs, including a lot of babysitting, as it allowed her to study and sketch during downtime.
Sami, as she now went by, lost touch with the auntie who'd defacto raised her, and scraped by with several roommates. With her completion of her degree impending, Sami had nothing but poorly paid internships to rely on. One such internship involved the costume designer on Swept Away. Sami happened to be present during a visit by the director, Paul-Henri Popesco, and they talked briefly before he left. After the disastrous reception of the film and his own highly publicized divorce, Popesco contacted Sami with an offer. He would pay off her school debt and support her financially while she finished her education and found a footing in the fashion world, if she would marry him and provide a positive headline, media interest, childcare for his three year old son, and fulfill other wifely duties as they agreed. It was an audacious idea, but not one she was in a position to turn down. Financially undereducated without a familial support system and the threat of returning to her parents empty-handed giving her anxiety migraines, Sami agreed to Paul's offer. They married in 2003, when she was eighteen.
Unburdened financially but now juggling a domestic life, Sami finished her schooling and attained a position at Roberto Cavalli, eventually working her way up to the top of the label's women's division, where she became creative director for women's ready-to-wear. Sami served in that position for five years, during which time she became more intimately familiar with her husband and benefactor. If fame and fortune had been Sami's ultimate goal, she had more or less reached it through Paul, as she attended premieres with him and was afforded all the luxuries of an A-list director's wife. But Sami continued to work diligently on her own career, and the positions she accepted afforded her experience and further education if not exceptional notoriety.
The same year Paul's career took a swift upturn, Sami was offered a position at Balmain, and she bid Roberto Cavalli adieu. She worked closely with the house's creative director, spending more time away from their London home, especially as her stepson no longer required close supervision. Sami spent three of every seven days with her husband, a deal worked out in part to keep up appearances while both of their careers began to take off. In 2011, Balmain's creative director stepped down, and Sami replaced him. She was twenty-four years old.
Sami's fame has risen along with Balmain's - through high profile celebrity fans and a hugely successful H&M collaboration, she has established herself as one of fashion's new stars, with years of potential ahead of her. She uses 'Sami Suliman' as her professional, working name, as she would prefer to retain a distance between her identity as Mrs. Suliman-Popesco the director's wife, and Sami the designer. Sami has visited her parents in Sudan twice since 1989; once after her marriage, and once after she was promoted to creative director of Balmain. She assists them financially out of her own earnings.
First and foremost, Sami is a hardworker. She has no qualms about getting down and dirty, nor staying late. If something needs to be done, she'll do it. She feels a great deal of responsibility to succeed on behalf of her parents, and to make the best of the opportunity that was gifted to her. Sami has remained grateful for both her professional and personal triumphs. She is can be deceptively quiet, and can be perceived as passive, though she simply prefers not to engage in antagonistic behavior. That's not to say she's a pushover, however, while mild mannered she can be stubborn and defensive. Despite her position on paper in the world, Sami is quite independent, and has juggled responsibilities beyond her years. Because of her living situation, i.e. under the care of a fierce Muslim auntie, Sami never got the chance (nor had the desire) to experiment in the average teenage way, and because of her young marriage remains naive about some aspects of the world. Despite having left Sudan at four years old, that fierce Muslim auntie instilled choice teachings that continue to affect her decision-making. When she isn't under the scrutiny of colleagues or the media, Sami is more relaxed, more open, generally a warm, accommodating person. She is politely private about her personal life.
Sami is currently Vogue's darling. Balmain is the go-to designer for career celebrities like Kim Kardashian, and Sami's designs are the chosen uniform for the entertainment industry's pop stars, rap stars, do-nothing bitches, and models, especially if they're non-white. She has niche recognition among the general public as "That Director's Wife" but is has little name/face clout among those not invested in the fashion industry. Sami is more popular with young, social media savvy people of colour.
» While she can still speak conversation Arabic, she has lost the ability to read and write it.
» She is one of few designers of colour, and one of the youngest heading a major fashion house.
» Became a naturalized British citizen prior to her marriage.
» Thrives under pressure, always likes to be busy.
» Born to Muslim parents and raised by a Muslim woman; doesn't currently identify as a practicing Muslim but it's left its mark.
» Is generally quite low-maintenance and practical in her living.
» Splits her time between working in Paris and being with her husband & stepson in London. Also travels for select events and her husband's premieres.
» Likes to watch anime while she works. Her favorite is Hunter x Hunter, and her favorite character is Canary. She also enjoys Dragonball, DBZ, One Punch Man, Attack On Titan, Death Note, Knights Of Sidonia, and Psycho-Pass.
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