Samira Atash is an award-winning entrepreneur, artist, designer, humanitarian with over 20+ years experience launching innovative projects and brands in the fashion, beauty and entertainment spaces.   In 2002, she was considered the first Afghan-American fashion designer in New York City where she launched two independent, award-nominated fashion labels. One of her designs was featured in "Men in Black II". She also reconstructed a burqa into a classic two-piece top and skirt, which caught the attention of the Washington Post, Oxygen TV and National Geographic TV. The design was displayed in a Washington D.C. art gallery.  In 2004, she worked as a costume designer in Los Angeles for a film which required months of research into the history of 13th century Islamic + Central Asian costumes.  In 2004-05, Samira visited Afghanistan several times to help create jobs for Afghan women. Her fashion company was part of the first trade delegation between U.S.A. and Afghanistan at that time. In 2005, she launched a “Silk Road bohemian” line and also designed hand carved wood + stone jewelry made by Afghan artisans. In 2006, she featured her collection “One” at a fashion show in the Washington D.C. area to over 1,000 people. In 2007, Samira and her sisters launched Artizan Sarai, a socially responsible brand that successfully marketed Afghan-made accessories and jewelry to high end boutiques and museum galleries in the U.S.A. including the National Gallery (Washington D.C.) and MET (New York City). 

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In parallel to her work as a fashion designer in NYC, Samira has also designed uniforms for UAE’s largest telecom company, worked as a fashion director for a multicultural magazine, styled several music videos, produced fashion shoots & shows, and designed the branding & corporate identity for several start-ups. She also starred in the independent film "FireDancer", Afghanistan's first film to be entered into the Academy Awards and the Tribeca Film Festival (2003).  In 2010, Samira launched PlanetPix with her sisters, a multicultural media company that united cultures through entertainment. Samira was creator/producer of the FUNatical Comedy Tour and Beauty and the East TV, an online tv show that connected East and West through positive, entertaining stories. In 2013, she launched the first blowout-beauty bar in the Northern Virginia area, an award-winning salon that expanded to two locations. In 2017, she became the first Phibrows certified microblading artist in the Washington D.C area, specializing in permanent makeup artistry where today she is a master artist booked out months in advance through her company Samira Brow Couture.  Her brand RUMI ROSE showcases Silk Road fashion, accessories and beauty products where proceeds of sales sponsor a children's school and women's entrepreneurship program in Kabul, Afghanistan through Nooristan Foundation. She designed a line of exfoliating bath mitts (leefs) which are hand crocheted by Afghan women with the goal of creating sustainable livelihoods.

In 2020, Samira launched a video series called "Afghanistan History + Culture" that has been successful on TikTok, and also explores other topics such as orientalism in fashion/art, Afghanistan + Islamic history, culture, lifestyle, music, beauty, humanitarian causes. She is currently working on a book that will feature the land of Afghanistan's costume and textile history from prehistoric to modern times, another "first of its kind" project. Samira also has a special interest in Islamic textiles/costume/art history.

Samira holds a Bachelor's of Science in Marketing from George Mason University and additional certifications from Oxford University (Islamic Art + Architecture), Parsons School of Design (Fashion Design), Fashion Institute of Technology (Fashion Design), Graham Webb Academy (Makeup Artistry), Esthetics Institute (Permanent Makeup), Phibrows Academy (Microblading).

 

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