Born in Dublin, raised between West Africa and London and originally from Lebanon, REEM KANJ has definitely been around for someone who’s only 22 years old. She studied Fashion Portfolio and Surface Textiles at LCF and since having graduated has had a brief stint in modelling, blogs and has recently started a label with her sister Natalya, called House of Rena.

Reem gave up modelling because of her height. At a petite 5’5” I asked her what her opinion was on a recent season of American’s Next Top Model where all the model hopefuls were 5’7” and below; I wondered if she’d go back to modelling if she wasn’t discriminated against because of her height. “Modelling was a lot of fun; I tried it for a year and got signed to an agency regardless of my height. However booking jobs was not the greatest for me and clients never looked past my 5?5 mark so it was seemed to be a hopeless case.” She started her site – 5?5 girl in a 5?10 world in the same month that season of ANTM launched, to break down some of the height barriers in modelling – seems like she and Tyra were on the same wave length.

She has always had an interest in fashion and design, her late grandmother was into textiles and as a young girl was drawing clothes that she wanted to own and wear. She and Natalya launched House of Rena in Dubai last year and have dressed a couple of celebrities including Alesha Dixon for The Brits 2009. Reem says they try to go back to Dubai at least twice a year; “We find Dubai very inspirational, it is known for wealth and luxury and we want every woman who wears our clothes to feel she is draped in something beautifully luxurious”.

What can we expect to see from Reem in the future? “I have so many plans! I want to take my fashion blog to the highest level it can be. It’s still less than six months old and when I think of where it could be in the next six months I just get very excited! Natalya and I are also working very hard on House of Rena and we would love to see our label grow into something incredible”. Reem is one very hard working lady and has said that giving up early is the easiest way to fail. “I have always gone for what I wanted and so far it has done me good, obviously there have been nervous breakdowns and some tearful times but the point is that I’m still here doing what I want to do and refusing to settle for something that won’t fulfil me. It’s all about making things happen and working hard for it to succeed”.

Written by Ekaete Inyang