The self-taught designer is gracing our television screens on the most popular fashion competition, Project Runway.
Batani-Khalfani is bringing her stylish skills to the current season of Project Runway. Her designs are a cultural infusion with bold prints and cuts. She also loves to incorporate headwraps and accessories.
Batani-Khalfani grew up in South Central Los Angeles and has always been into art. Her parents were very supportive of him being an artist as well. They would buy her art supplies and take her to art galleries and events as a kid.
“Ever since I could write, I’ve been drawing. I’ve was always very artistic as a child, so I knew early on what I wanted to do,” said Batani-Khalfani.
Even though Batani-Khalfani loved designing, she went to college to study Economics at UC Riverside, to gain knowledge on business and money. She finished college in 2009 and started acting, dancing, and styling for commercials and music videos. A few years later, in 2012, Batani-Khalfani created her own line and it was successful right away.
“People were buying from all over. It was a ready-to-wear line with everyday clothes, which I liked, but I started to get bored and really wanted to create art with my clothing,” said Batani-Khalfani. “So, I stopped that line last year and decided to focus on my couture dresses and then Project Runway came around.”
The self-taught designer had actually applied to be on Project Runway in 2007, when she was still in college. She didn’t get accepted the first time around and never really thought about the show afterwards. This year, the design competition popped up in her head out of nowhere and when she went online to see the dates, the deadlines was only one day away. She completed everything in that 24 hours and was called a week later for an interview. The producers liked her personality and designs and within two months, Batani-Khalfani was on a plane to New York City to start filming.
“The show has expanded my mind and vision more in terms of design and I had never been to New York City, so that was a great experience,” said Batani-Khalfani. “What I liked most about it was that I was able to connect with all of the designers. We were all able to connect. We were able to help each other and support each other even though it was a competition.”
Batani-Khalfani’s designs are continue to grow in sales and she now has a team around her growing business. Batani-Khalfani also released a couture line earlier this month and will be showing more of her art next week at Gallery 38 on W. Adams Blvd.
“My designs are an infusion of different cultures and different lifestyles. They’re Bohemian, Chic, Edgy and Couture. I like to incorporate some African prints also,” said Batani-Khalfani. “My designs can’t really be put into a box, it’s a mixture of a bunch of things. And I’m not just a designer, I am a dancer, actress and artist as well. I love to create pieces that shock people and take their minds to a new level.”
For more information about Batani-Khalfani, visit iambatani.com and for her fashions, visit batanikhalfani.com