Spend five minutes with creative director Noor Alazzawi, and you’ll understand why artists trust her with their image, their identity, and in many cases, their entire creative direction.
Most people know her by her handle, @By.Babylon, a name that’s become shorthand for a new wave of styling–one that’s proudly regional, unmistakably modern, and entirely uninterested in chasing Western validation. “I’ve always believed we don’t need outside approval to be great,” she says. “Our culture has always been the source.”
Design Studios and Magazine Mastheads
For Noor, the idea that success must be validated from the outside has never made sense. She grew up with a traditional Iraqi upbringing that taught her both pride and discipline, and, ironically, how to turn limitations into fuel. “Maybe those limits were supposed to hold me back,” she admits. “But I let them drive me.”
Before the glossy magazine work and the viral covers, Noor was 17, studying design management, and taking on a side gig at Abjad Studio in Dubai. It was supposed to be temporary, but it turned into a crash course in creative industries, government campaigns, luxury events, art direction, and account management. She learned every role in the building.
“I’ve always been the person who wears multiple hats,” she laughs. “Design, production, management…you name it.”
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Then came the pandemic, which prompted a shift. Noor left agency life behind and moved into fashion and music editorial. She had one goal: “I really wanted to be an editor. I wanted to work with brands directly,” she says.
And it paid off. After COVID, Noor made the leap to full-time fashion editorial work, landing roles at GQ Middle East, Billboard Arabia, and contributing to other regional fashion editorial brands such as Vogue Arabia and Sayidaty.
But the moment people really started clocking her? When she pulled off GQ Middle East’s viral Marwan Pablo cover, one of the first mainstream magazine covers in the region to spotlight an Arab rapper.
According to Noor, no sponsor wanted to touch it. Some brands literally told her, “We don’t care about this market.” She pushed anyway. “We almost got cancelled for it,” she laughs. But the cover sold out, and became a cultural reset button for the region. That cover was also the start of his Diesel relationship”, she adds.
Championing Artists No One Was Looking At
If there’s a pattern in Noor’s career, it’s this: she bets early. And she bets hard.
She’s worked with Wegz, Ali Najm, Ugly Moss, Mond, Ahmed Basyoni, and even legends like Majid Al Mohandis, not as one-off styling gigs, but as long-term collaborators. “I don’t care about doing a quick job for a big name,” she says. “I care about building something with them. If you grow, I grow.”
And perhaps Wegz is a clear example of that. Noor, who recently got married to the artist, began working with him early on, long before he became the star he is today. From the outset, she wasn’t interested in playing it safe. Nor is she now.
On Gadwal El Darb, Wegz wanted to lean into rage music, she explains, a sharp pivot from the album he’d been working on for years and the one fans were waiting on. Still, Noor backed his vision, shaped the campaign and rollout to match that sound. The EP didn’t get the warmest reception at first, still, Noor stood firm by it by saying “people really misunderstood those seven songs,” and that it represents what the younger generation is listening to.
Another anecdote that showcases their creative relationship is when Noor styled Wegz back in 2023 for his Al Alamein show in a look inspired by chess. “That year, he was really obsessed with chess and he was doing crazy chess competitions, and he would battle people in random places,” she explains.
Wegz was in what she calls “his chess era,” challenging people to matches on the spot or in the studio. “How I approach those things is I try to make it personal, so it can be fun,” Noor says. She built an entire visual concept around his interest in the game, working with a local Egyptian tailor and just one assistant. “We were just having fun,” she recalls. The outfit generated buzz. “I think people really liked it,” she says. “It was nice to see that it caused so much fuss.”
What the Region Lacks from a Style Standpoint
Ask Noor what the region’s styling scene is missing, and she’ll tell it to you straight: originality. Not because people lack talent, but because too many look West for permission.
“We act like modern means Western,” she says. “Meanwhile, the West is getting their trends from us, our makeup looks, music, and silhouettes.”
She lights up talking about cultural fashion: Moroccan kaftans on stage, Sa‘idi jalabiyas as everyday wear, Sudanese and Iraqi tailoring woven into streetwear silhouettes. Some of her best looks weren’t borrowed from luxury houses; they were made with neighborhood tailors using holographic scarves, traditional fabrics, or hand-dyed trims.
“The best stylist isn’t the one with the best brand access,” she says. “It’s the one with the best ideas.”
A Female Creative Working Against the Odds
Being a woman in her field hasn’t always been smooth. Noor has been dismissed in rooms where she was the creative director. She’s had her instructions ignored, only to be taken seriously when a man repeated the exact same note.
“It happens a lot,” she admits. “Some people just aren’t used to women leading these roles. But things are changing. The next generation is braver.”
Her advice to women entering the industry? “Be persistent. Don’t gatekeep. Help each other. Ask questions. Share information. And don’t give up just because the path isn’t guaranteed yet.”
A Future Built in the Region, for the Region
With a portfolio of work from abroad, Noor still prefers to work between the UAE, Egypt, and the wider region. The energy here, she says, is unmatched. The community is real. The culture is rich. And she feels understood: linguistically, artistically, emotionally.
She’s currently building her own brand, jewelry, clothing, and eventually full creative direction for film and video. “I’m tired of static visuals,” she says. “The next era is cinematic.”
“Everything I do is for Iraq”
Everything Noor does (and everything she pushes) ties back to Iraq. Not as nostalgia. Not as branding. But as an identity. “It’s everything to me,” she says. “My work, my name, my brand…it’s all for my country and my people.”
Noor isn’t just styling artists. She’s restyling how the region sees itself. And maybe that’s why her work resonates: it’s fashion, yes, but it’s also reclamation, representation, and rebellion wrapped in one.
An Editor at Complex MENA.
