Alisar Ailabouni ( ar, أليسار عيلبوني; born 21 March 1989) is a

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

-born

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

fashion model and the winner of '' Germany's Next Topmodel, Cycle 5''.

Early life

Ailabouni moved to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

when she was seven months old and grew up in Amstetten and Schörfling am Attersee, where she went to school. She played the role of Juliet in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

in the school's drama group. She has two brothers. Ailabouni plays basketball and played in the Austrian U16 team.

Germany's Next Topmodel

After applying to an open casting call in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Ailabouni managed to reach the top 18 and started to dominate the competition by winning several castings. However, due to her shy personality, the judges questioned her limelight ability and saw her struggling several times when she was required to perform out of her comfort zone. For a long time, she was the only non-German top 3 finalist of

Germany's Next Topmodel ''Germany's Next Topmodel'' (often abbreviated as ''GNTM'') is a German reality television series, based on a concept introduced by Tyra Banks with ''America's Next Top Model''. The competition is hosted by Heidi Klum who also serves as the le ...

(although former winner

Sara Nuru Sara Nuru (born 19 August 1989) is a German fashion model and entrepreneur. She was the winner of the fourth cycle of ''Germany's Next Top Model''. Since 2016, Nuru has been running nuruCoffee, a fair trade coffee company, and supporting Ethiop ...

was of Ethiopian heritage she owns the German citizenship), until cycle 10, where Ajsa Selimovic, who lives in

, managed to reach the top 3. In the final, Alisar managed to win, beating fellow-contestants Hanna Bohnekamp and Laura Weyel on a live final held in June 2010. She then appeared on the cover of the German Cosmopolitan in July 2010, and in a commercial for Venus Breeze, a job she won on the show.

Withdrawal from ONEeins contract

Like her predecessor Sara Nuru, Ailabouni did not win a contract with a known modeling agency. She was managed by Günther Klum's Management ONEeins but decided barely after a year to leave the contract due to her feeling that she was given only mediocre, no modelling related work. It marked the first time a winner of the show sued her way out of the contract and obligations, not even one year after her victory.

Career

Ailabouni moved to Paris where she was taken under contract by PARS, the modelling agency of Peyman Amin who was a judge on GNTM but left before her participation. She also managed to get signed with other modeling agencies, Eskimo Models, City Models in Paris, Fashionmodel in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Red in New York and Elite Model Management in London. She played herself in the made-for-television film 'Deutschland gegen Österreich – Das Duell'. She walked for

G-Star G-Star (sometimes also written G*STAR, G★ or G★STAR; ) is an annual trade show for the video game industry presented by Korea Association of Game Industry and Busan IT Promotion Agency in November. Originally held in the Seoul Capital Area ...

SS2011-collection in New York and walked the Berlin Fashion Week the following season. She has also appeared in an editorial for

Vogue Italia ''Vogue Italia'' is the Italian edition of ''Vogue'' magazine. Owned by Condé Nast International, it has been called the top fashion magazine in the world. It's been in publication since 1964. Name ''Vogue Italia'' was first published as ''N ...

's December 2012 issue. She also walked for 17 different labels at New York Fashion Week in 2012. In 2014, Ailabouni was the winning model in

Project Runway (season 13) ''Project Runway Season 13'' is the thirteenth season of the television show ''Project Runway'', appearing on Lifetime. The season began airing on July 24, 2014, with 19 designers competing to become "the next great American designer." In additio ...

. She won after Sean Kelly, the designer she modeled for, won the season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ailabouni, Alisar 1989 births Living people Austrian female models Germany's Next Topmodel winners Naturalised citizens of Austria People from Damascus Palestinian emigrants to Austria Austrian people of Palestinian descent Syrian emigrants to Austria Syrian people of Palestinian descent Syrian female models