Influencer Session with Raya Ktiesh

Socially Powerful interviewed costume designer, stylist, and fashion influencer Raya Ktiesh (@rayaktiesh) to get her expert insights about fashion trends and brand collaborations. Raya prioritizes sustainable fashion practices by merging ethics with style, and she constantly educates her audience on sustainability. She uses Instagram and TikTok, with a preference for TikTok due to its organic reach. Raya’s content spans fashion, celebrities, fashion history, and culture. She defines influencer marketing as creating stories and relationships rather than just promoting products. Raya emphasizes working with brands that align with her values and believes influencer marketing will continue to shift towards micro and nano influencers. She aims to be a positive influencer globally in the future.

Raya Ktiesh @rayaktiesh

We caught up with costume designer, stylist and fashion influencer Raya Ktiesh to discuss her influencer journey, the responsibility of sustainability as a designer, and the good and bad sides of social media.

Check out the full interview below!

1. Tell us about your background and how you started to build your following. 

I studied fashion design in ESMOD and I started my career as a Costume Designer and TV Stylist, as people were interested in my work and collaborations with celebrities. Major MENA Media production started following me and they became very interested in my content as it includes fashion, celebrities, style and fashion history, and culture.

I don’t talk only about trends on my platform. I always spread useful pieces of information, and talk about important causes and highlighting major things in the world of fashion.

I have learned a lot from my followers, about their cultures and different backgrounds, and met very interesting people through the years. I feel my responsibility gets bigger with every new person that joins my online community—I don’t use the word followers for my community.

2. As a fashion designer, how important is it for you to implement sustainable fashion practices into your work?

That’s a very interesting subject for me. I’ve been studying and doing my own research in all possible aspects starting from social to environmental impact, I also took a course on Sustainability in Luxury Fashion at London College of Fashion to understand more.

As a Designer I believe that design is not just about product, design is about responsibility, and ethical fashion recognizes that there are human beings behind the clothes made.

As a Stylist I always try to introduce my clients and team members to real sustainable action and how 100% organic or recycled doesn’t equal sustainability, and how each one of us can reach it in our own way and there are no fixed standards in that.

I can talk about that for ages… as Mahatma Gandhi says “there is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness.”

3. Which platforms do you predominantly use? Which is your favourite?

Mainly I use Instagram and Tiktok. My favorite recently is TikTok as the reach there is more organic.

4. What type of content do you create, and which type works best for your audience?

Everything about fashion and style. It depends mainly on big life events (including mine); my audience is interested in fashion and celebrities, but they also love the culture of fashion and history.

5, How would you define “influencer marketing”?

I believe in one thing. People do not buy goods or services. They buy stories, relationships and magic.

6. How do you decide which brands to work with?

It depends on the product, quality, and story behind the brand.

7. How do you think influencer marketing will change over the next 12 months?

As the market size has more than doubled since 2019, brands are collaborating with influencers more than ever. Brands are also more interested in collaborating with micro and nano influencers as people have lost trust and connection with them, plus consumers cannot relate to mega influencers’ lifestyles anymore.

8. How has influencer marketing changed since you began working within social media?

There’s a good and bad side to social media. Social media influencers encourage consumerism and put unreal beauty standards on the younger generation, but we also see body positive influencers and bloggers who highlight greater issues like the importance of mental health. We now also see the positive effect of social media on artists and small businesses.

9. Do you use any software to help create and edit your content?

Yes, plenty! CapCut, InShot, Snapseed, Picart, Canva, and my life-long friend Photoshop.

10. How do you balance your online and offline lives?

I love my privacy and I try to keep my private life separate from my online presence. The balance is not something I think of as social media is a part of my everyday tasks.

11. Which influencers inspire you?

Kanso, Mthayel Al Ali, Ghizlan Quenez, Blaire Adiebee, and Nina Sandbech, come to mind immediately.

12. Where would you like to take your career as an influencer?

I hope to be a good influence on people’s lives. It’s difficult to say as I have plenty of things to share with the world: the knowledge I learn and give daily, life experiences from my adventures and travels, and work experience and advice as I have 10+ years of experience in media and fashion.

I hope I can reach as many people as I can. As simple as that.