Luna Amani

I had an intricately nomadic upbringing. I was born in west Wales to an Iranian mum and Welsh dad, but before my first birthday, I was relocated to Iran with my mother. I lived in Tehran and Shiraz for seven years, before heading to Munich, Germany for a few years and then back to Wales by the age of 10. I returned to Germany in my late teens and had also lived in London.

I work in fashion and have my own label, designing handbags, accessories, shirts and jumpers. It allows me to express myself and use my heritage to inspire the designs. I'm grateful of the success. It has enabled me to travel to China frequently and sell my passion across the world. 

Away from fashion, I am also a DJ for clubs and private events. Music is a big love of mine and it's another way to promote my heritage - it's really connecting with people. 

I owe all this to my mum, an artist herself. She encouraged me and my brother to follow our hearts, and it cultivated my creative expressiveness from an early age. We have collaborated together which I've used for some of my collections and I'm grateful that we are able to share our creativity together.

My mum always had that artistic edge. When she first arrived to west Wales in the early 1970s, she painted on every single wall in the family house she moved into. She’s really into symbolic representation and what it means, so she would draw symbols that she felt would protect the house. She even painted motifs on the wooden floorboards in the hall. My love of colour and Iranian motifs have definitely come from her.

I'm settled back in Cardiff now, with my teenage boy Marley and life partner, Will. Here, I'm able to appreciate the best of both of my worlds - my Welsh side which is rich of culture and goodness, and Persian side where I can connect with incredible people, sharing our passion for wanting everyone in Iran to follow their dreams without fear of persecution. We live in hope that everyone there can live the lives they truly desire. My boy is getting very interested in learning more about his Persian background, as well as his Welsh and I'm more than happy to show him. Hopefully one day I'm able to do it freely at the source.