Yasmin Abdallah, professionally known as Yasmin Sewell, is an Australian fashion leader, creative director and business founder. She gained respect in London through her sharp eye for emerging designers, senior roles at major luxury retailers and a bold personal style that made her a familiar figure at international fashion weeks.
Her professional story stretches far beyond her brief marriage to British actor Rufus Sewell. Over more than two decades, she helped shape modern fashion retail, supported young design talent and guided creative work for global companies. She later changed direction and founded Vyrao, a fragrance and wellbeing brand that connects scent with mood, emotion and personal ritual.
| Full Name | Yasmin Abdallah |
|---|---|
| Professional Name | Yasmin Sewell |
| Birthplace | Sydney, Australia |
| Date of Birth | Not publicly confirmed |
| Age | Not publicly confirmed |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Heritage | Lebanese-Australian |
| Profession | Fashion executive, creative director and entrepreneur |
| Known For | Influential fashion career and founding Vyrao |
| Former Husband | Rufus Sewell |
| Children | Two sons, Knox and Renzo |
| Current Role | Founder and creative leader of Vyrao |
| Net Worth | Not publicly verified |
Who Is Yasmin Abdallah?
Yasmin Abdallah is the birth name of Yasmin Sewell. She was born in Sydney, Australia, and comes from a Lebanese-Australian family. She moved to London while still young and built most of her professional life in the British capital.
She is best known for her work as a fashion buyer, retail consultant, fashion director and creative executive. Her career has included positions connected with Browns, Liberty London, Style.com and Farfetch. She also ran an independent consultancy and helped create the clothing label Être Cécile.
In 2021, she launched Vyrao, moving from fashion into luxury fragrance and wellbeing. This career change allowed her to combine her commercial experience with her long-term interest in meditation, energy work, scent and holistic living.
Early Life and Lebanese-Australian Background
Yasmin was raised in Sydney within a close Lebanese-Australian community. Her family background gave her a strong connection to food, music, family gatherings and cultural tradition. She has spoken warmly about the support, humour and closeness found within the Lebanese community in Australia.
Both of her parents worked as hairdressers. Her mother also ran a salon, where Yasmin spent time during her childhood. The salon introduced her to style, beauty and personal presentation from an early age. It also gave her a close view of how a small business works and how strong relationships can build customer loyalty.
Her mother had a deep interest in intuition and spiritual ideas. These early conversations helped shape Yasmin’s later interest in energy, emotional health and personal awareness. She did not always discuss this side of herself during her fashion career, yet it remained important throughout her adult life.
Birth Date and Age
Major interviews confirm that Yasmin was born in Sydney. However, she has not confirmed her full birth date through an official biography or personal statement. Vogue described her as 40 in 2016 and 45 in 2021, placing her birth in the mid-1970s. Her Australian nationality and Lebanese heritage are firmly established.
Education and Early Business Experience
Yasmin followed an unusual path into business. She left school at the age of 15 rather than completing a university education. Soon afterwards, she began working for a young self-made businessman.
By the age of 18, she was managing his company. This experience taught her how to make decisions, lead people and handle business pressure while still very young. However, she found the formal office environment too restrictive and wanted a more creative life.
Her career shows that professional learning does not always take place in a classroom. She developed her skills through work, observation, travel and direct contact with designers, customers and business owners. This practical education became the foundation of her later success.
Moving from Sydney to London
Yasmin moved from Australia to London during the 1990s. At first, she took entry-level roles that helped her understand the British fashion industry. Her early work included an internship at Harpers & Queen and window dressing at Browns.
These jobs placed her close to clothing, retail displays and luxury customers. They also allowed her to study how influential stores selected products and created a clear identity.
London offered a very different fashion environment from Sydney. Its mixture of street culture, historic retailers, art schools and experimental designers suited Yasmin’s adventurous taste. Rather than following safe trends, she became interested in designers who offered fresh ideas and strong points of view.
Yasmin Abdallah’s First Fashion Boutique
In 1998, while still in her early twenties, Yasmin opened her own boutique in Soho. The shop became known for carrying designers who were not yet widely recognised. Its selection included creative names such as Rick Owens and Pierre Hardy.
The boutique attracted famous customers, including Courtney Love and Tom Cruise. More importantly, it showed that Yasmin had the confidence to support unconventional work before it became commercially popular.
The business did not last for many years, and she later admitted that it placed her under financial pressure. Even so, the experience established her reputation as a buyer with strong instinct. It also taught her lessons about stock, cash flow, customer behaviour and the risks involved in running an independent store.
Building an Influential Fashion Career
Work at Browns
After closing her boutique and spending a short period back in Australia, Yasmin returned to fashion retail. She joined Browns, one of London’s most respected luxury stores, and rose to a senior buying role.
At Browns, she became known for identifying promising designers before they achieved global fame. She supported Christopher Kane’s early work in 2006 and helped bring his designs to an influential customer base. She also championed Roksanda Ilinčić and other emerging names.
A successful fashion buyer must understand both creativity and business. Selecting a beautiful collection is not enough. The buyer must judge quality, price, customer demand, brand identity and future potential. Yasmin’s strength was her ability to combine these areas while trusting her creative instinct.
Creative Work at Liberty London
Yasmin later joined Liberty London as a chief creative consultant. She helped refresh its womenswear offer by bringing in dozens of designers and creating a more modern shopping experience.
During this period, she discovered J.W. Anderson’s menswear and encouraged the designer to move into womenswear. Jonathan Anderson later became one of the most important creative figures in global luxury fashion.
Her work at Liberty strengthened her reputation as someone who could recognise new talent and connect it with established retail. She was not simply following what was already popular. She was helping decide what customers would value next.
Consultancy and Être Cécile
After leaving full-time retail roles, Yasmin created her own fashion consultancy. She worked with companies in different markets, offering advice on buying, branding, retail strategy and creative direction.
Over ten years, she advised many businesses and gained broad knowledge of global luxury retail. She also co-founded Être Cécile, a casual fashion label known for playful graphics and modern sportswear influences.
Running a consultancy gave her independence and allowed her to work across different parts of the industry. It also prepared her for senior positions in digital fashion.
Style.com and Farfetch
In 2016, Yasmin became fashion director at Style.com, Condé Nast’s luxury shopping venture. Her role involved shaping its fashion identity, meeting brands and selecting products for the platform.
She described her work as a form of curation. Instead of treating online shopping as a simple product catalogue, she wanted the platform to feel creative, lively and connected to editorial storytelling.
She later joined Farfetch as vice-president of style and creative. At the luxury technology company, she worked across creative content, fashion direction and brand presentation. The position brought together her knowledge of physical stores, digital retail, editorial content and global customer behaviour.
After years of demanding fashion work, she stepped away from Farfetch in 2018. She took time to focus on her sons and consider a new professional direction.
Founding Vyrao
Turning Wellbeing into a Business
Yasmin had practised yoga, meditation, Reiki and other forms of energy work since her twenties. She also trained in integrative quantum healing and developed an interest in Ayurveda and flower essences.
In 2019, she decided to build a company that would bring these interests together with her creative and commercial background. Vyrao officially launched in 2021 as a fragrance and wellbeing brand.
The name is connected with the idea of growth, freshness and renewed energy. The company produces gender-neutral perfumes, incense and scented candles. Its products are designed not only for their fragrance but also for the feelings and rituals connected with using them.
Fragrance, Mood and Design
Vyrao’s first fragrances were created with British perfumer Lyn Harris. Yasmin developed each scent around an emotional aim, including courage, confidence, freedom, self-love and transformation.
The brand combines traditional perfumery with colour, plant ingredients, affirmations and spiritual ideas. Its bright green packaging and coloured glass bottles give it a clear visual identity.
Later scents were developed with support from International Flavors & Fragrances and its Science of Wellness programme. Sun Rae, one of the brand’s fragrances, won Best Independent Fragrance at the 2024 Fragrance Foundation UK Awards.
This achievement showed that Vyrao had gained recognition within the established fragrance industry, not only within the wellness market.
Marriage to Rufus Sewell
Yasmin Abdallah met actor Rufus Sewell in Sydney while he was working on the film Dark City. They later moved to London and married in 1999.
Their marriage ended in divorce in 2000. They did not have children together. Although the relationship was brief, Yasmin continued using Sewell as her professional surname.
Rufus later became widely known for films and television programmes including The Holiday, The Man in the High Castle and The Diplomat. Yasmin, however, had already developed her own standing within fashion and retail. Her career deserves recognition as an independent story rather than merely a part of her former husband’s life.
Marriage to Kyle Robinson and Children
Yasmin later married Australian fashion entrepreneur Kyle Robinson, who was connected with the showroom Paper Mache Tiger. The couple also worked together through Être Cécile.
Their first son, Knox Rocket Robinson, was born in late October 2011. They later welcomed a second son, Renzo. Yasmin has often spoken about balancing motherhood with the demands of creative work.
In 2021, British Vogue described her as a single mother of two boys. She has kept later relationship matters private and has not made them a central part of her professional identity.
Motherhood influenced her decision to leave high-pressure fashion roles. She wanted greater control over her time and a working life that allowed her to remain present for her children.
Personal Interests and Lifestyle
Yasmin’s interests include meditation, yoga, Reiki, Ayurveda, interiors, fragrance and emotional wellbeing. She also enjoys colour and uses it boldly in both clothing and home design.
Her East London home has featured bright green rooms, turquoise details and strong yellow accents. For her, colour is not only decorative. She connects it with mood, comfort and personal energy.
She also enjoys preparing Lebanese meals, Ayurvedic dishes and food for friends. Family traditions, music and hospitality remain important parts of her life. These interests help explain why Vyrao brings together scent, colour, ritual and emotion rather than following a traditional perfume model.
Social Media Presence
Yasmin maintains an active Instagram account under the name @yasminsewell. Her content includes personal style, family moments, spiritual ideas, creative projects and updates from Vyrao.
Social media has allowed her to connect her earlier fashion audience with her newer work in beauty and wellbeing. Vyrao also has its own digital presence, where the company shares product launches, fragrance education and brand campaigns.
Her online identity reflects the same mixture seen throughout her career: fashion knowledge, business confidence, humour, colour and personal intuition.
Lesser-Known Facts About Yasmin Abdallah
One notable fact about Yasmin is that she was managing a company by the age of 18 despite leaving school at 15. She also opened her Soho boutique before turning 23.
Her early store attracted major entertainment figures, yet its greatest value was the platform it gave to less familiar designers. She later became one of the first important buyers to support Christopher Kane and encouraged J.W. Anderson to enter womenswear.
Another key part of her story is that her interest in healing did not begin with Vyrao. She had practised meditation and energy work for many years while holding senior fashion positions. The company gave her a way to unite two parts of her life that had once remained separate.
Current Activities
Yasmin continues to lead Vyrao and represents the brand through interviews, events, creative campaigns and new fragrance development. The company has expanded beyond its original perfumes into home fragrance, incense and products shaped by research into scent and emotion.
Recent launches have shown a more playful and confident side of the business while keeping its focus on sensory wellbeing. Yasmin remains involved in the wider fashion and beauty industries, but her main role is now centred on building Vyrao and developing its position within luxury fragrance.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who is Yasmin Abdallah?
Yasmin Abdallah, professionally known as Yasmin Sewell, is an Australian fashion executive, creative director and entrepreneur. She is known for her work with major fashion companies and as the founder of the fragrance and wellbeing brand Vyrao.
2. How old is Yasmin Abdallah?
Yasmin Abdallah’s exact date of birth has not been publicly confirmed. Reliable interviews place her birth in the mid-1970s, making her approximately 50 years old in 2026.
3. Who are Yasmin Abdallah’s parents?
The names of Yasmin Abdallah’s parents have not been publicly disclosed. Both of her parents worked as hairdressers, and her mother also operated a salon in Australia.
4. Is Yasmin Abdallah married?
Yasmin Abdallah was married to British actor Rufus Sewell from 1999 to 2000. She later married fashion entrepreneur Kyle Robinson, with whom she has two sons. Her current relationship status has not been publicly confirmed.
5. Does Yasmin Abdallah have siblings?
Yasmin Abdallah has not shared verified details about her siblings. Therefore, it is not publicly known whether she has any brothers or sisters.
Conclusion
Yasmin Abdallah has built a career defined by instinct, reinvention and creative independence. From leaving school at 15 to opening a London boutique, guiding major retailers and supporting future fashion stars, she earned influence through experience rather than a conventional education.
Her move from luxury fashion to fragrance was not a rejection of her earlier career. It was the next stage of it. Vyrao brings together the skills she developed in retail, branding, design and cultural forecasting with her personal interest in wellbeing.
Today, Yasmin Sewell stands as an example of how a creative professional can change direction without losing the value of past experience. Her influence can be seen in the designers she supported, the retail spaces she helped renew and the fragrance business she continues to shape.
