Ashley Isham

Ashley Isham (born Eshamuddin Ismail in Singapore in 1976) is a fashion designer. He is currently based in London.

Growing up in a conservative Malay household, Isham had often watched and helped his seamstress mother with her sewing. He started designing his own clothes because he was dissatisfied with the extremely limited designs in local shops. Isham started sewing his own pants at the age of 12 and his sister, Khaty, was often his "live Barbie doll" for his design experiments.

Harbouring a desire to "see snow", Isham ventured abroad in December Ashley left Singapore in 1995, heading first, to Amsterdam. After a year in the Netherlands, Isham travelled to London to pursue a diploma in fashion design at the Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design. Though applications had closed three months ago and the semester had just begun, the school's director was suitably impressed with Isham's portfolio and he started school on the very day that he had applied for admission. Isham's further education at London College of Fashion and Middlesex University were sponsored by Swiss investment bank, Substantia Invest AG; Isham's designs had caught the eye of one of the bank's executives who was at the school's fashion shows.

Ashley’s debut collection launched in November 2000 to critical acclaim and he has continued to show at London Fashion Week each season.

Simultaneously contemporary and classic, the dresses Ashley creates possess a unique handwriting synonymous with the designer and were born to be on the red carpet. Little wonder then that Ashley was the official designer at the 2004 BAFTAs and boasts an increasingly high profile clientele ranging from stars of film and television, catwalk, music and British and international royalty.

In addition to producing collections each season that encompass both pret-a-porter (comprising drape & tailoring) and opulent couture showpieces, Ashley has ‘Aquaint’, a boutique on Conduit Street, London.