When Hadia Ghaleb attended the American University in Cairo, the bright economics student wore very noticeable outfits to school everyday.She became known around campus as the “girl wearing unusual stuff.” Shortly after, the 23-year-old became one of Egypt’s breakout fashionista bloggers and a successful entrepreneur making the most out of her social media fame. But Ghaleb is just getting started! 

Her Instagramfashion and lifestyle page attracts some of the highest number of followers; 209,000 to date. On her Instagram page, HadiaGhaleb,she simply does what she loves. She features her unique fashion style, bold colours, chic garments with a touch of a glamorous sporty style in exotic locations whether on the beach or atop a high-rise in Las Vegas as she travels the world. 

Her blog also attracted a great interest from international fashion brands, such as Guess, L’Oreal Paris,and Vince Camuto, to advertise with her. Now, her company, Ghaleb Productions House (GPH),offers various businesses integrated marketing solutions to launch local and international brands on social media and on the ground, including media production, fashion consultancy, event production and public relations services. Still, Ghaleb tells me she still has miles to go.

Ghaleb dreams of becoming the Egyptian Chiara Ferragni, the 28-year-old award winning Italian breakout blogger, model, and fashion designer who used her blog as a platform to launch a multi-million dollar business putting her on Forbe’s 2015 30 Under 30 List. 

Ironically, the recent economics graduate of the American University in Cairo had different dreams when she was a kid: She wanted to be a “professional NBA player.” She recalls from her childhood days:“I spent my childhood playing basketball and wanted to pursue it as a profession”. Fashion, though, was still part of it. “I used to be the girliest one on the team and found it very exciting to get dressed up for every occasion.” Perhaps her sporty chic style in fashion today is an expression of her old passion for basketball! 

Ghaleb credits her mom as the “original fashionista in the family.” She literally “got it from her mama,” Ghaleb continues. Both, daughter and mamashared the same wardrobe,she reminisces, “it was always an inspiration to see my mom all dressed up.” Today, you still see photos of Ghaleb and her mother on her Instagramblog. For example, the mother and daughter pose happy together on a sunny day in a green backyard as they happen to feature Bulgari jewellery and accessories. On the post, Ghaleb also pays tribute to her bestieon Mother’s Day, writing “may you always be the person I look up to!”

Her father also is her “backbone.” She just “can’t imagine her life without him.” He has been very supportive of his little daughter literally in “everything she does.” Both parents raised Ghaleb to be “hard working, disciplined, committed, but also happyand fun loving. 

She notes on her blog: “Life is too short for ‘sticking to the usual gown-heels look,” so she pairs a long white sparkly Yasmin Mansourevening gown and Fendisunglasses with white sneakers. Of course the look unleashes some unhappy but devoted fans. Remondaraafat responds: “Being a fashionista doesn’t mean wearing stuff that don’t match just to be different! Big difference between thinking outside of the box and not being able to find the box itself… It doesn’t mean that I am not a fan! Actually I am a big fan. I just think u take it too far sometimes.” But that is exactly what draws many to Ghaleb’s blog. Her motto in life: “If I feel good in it, I wear it.” For Ghaleb, fashion is a self expression and that outfit screams: bold, feminine, sexy yet sporty and comfy in a day full of standing, walking, and socializing.

If social media wasn’t around, Ghaleb would have still pursued a career in fashion to be a stylist or fashion editor. But riding the wave of the fashion boom in Egypt that evolved with the popularity of Instagram in the past two years put Ghaleb on the social media map. In those days, there very few people who were seriously into posting their fashion photos regularly. Ghaleb was one of the early ones to make a splash and a name for herself.  “I don’t fashion blog or fashion write,” she says, “I only showcase my daily outfit on social media and it all started when I was in university.” 

Her growing popularity gained her 6000 followers, which was a “a huge number back then in 2013.” The fashionista star realised she really made it when Vince Camuto contacted her. Ghaleb orchestrated the social media campaign for the store opening of the famous American designer brand in Egypt… and the rest is history.

In our culture now, where many people don’t really read a lot, Instagram became a fun and quirky way to share one’s life - and fashion - with others through pictures. This gave fashion lovers, like Ghaleb, a chance to pose like fashion models in their outfits and start their fashion blogging. And, marketers jumped at the chance of finding real people like Ghaleb with many followers to pose in their brands. It is a cost free opportunity for brands to market their product. 

Typically fashion bloggers would post pictures in exchange for gifts. But Ghaleb decided to open her company and ride the wave of this fashion boom at its peak. Her company became a one-stop-shop for marketing those big international designer brands as well as the local ones online and on the ground. Her company set a successful business model where bloggers and brands collaborate together in marketing products. And Ghaleb became one of the first bloggers in Egypt to get paid for her postings.

The black-haired beauty advises bloggers to be “consistent, engaging with their followers, and keep posting inspiring pictures” in order to remain successful. She emphasizes, “it is not always about the clothes,” telling me some of her most popular photos were “close-up selfies of her face” and “photos with family and friends.” She also adds, “gym pictures are really appealing as well.”

The fashion scene in Egypt is already growing exponentially, Ghaleb notes, thanks to the “Internet and social media.” Yet, the streets of Cairo, she cautions, “are not tolerant to the concept of fashion yet.” She hopes that fashion blogging can further expand in order to improve the fashion sense and education of people across the country.

For now, Ghaleb is satisfied with where she is today but she still has “miles to go.” She loves what she does but not the stressthat comes along with it. Ghaleb works “80% of her waking hours. “I find myself waking up at 4 am for no reason just because I am thinking of work!” As she contemplates the future, the fitness freakblogger hopes to continue in this field but by “doing something else like owning my own brand,” just like Italian fashionista blogger and designer Chiara Ferragni.