More often than not, the model-influencer-entrepreneur moniker is an imbalanced equation for many Gen Zers. But Louai Alama appears to be living up to that professional triad.

Born in Lebanon and raised in Dubai, the 24-year-old’s tousled hair and chiseled face is recognizable to many fashion types and TikTok followers. Others know his surname, due to his famous father Ragheb Alama and his mother Jihan, who started the jewelry company Djihan 20 years ago. Globe-trotting from a young age has widened Louai Alama’s world view, which he now applies to his three main pursuits: modeling, social media and jewelry design.

Reached by the seaside in Glyfada, Greece, outside of Athens, Alama hadn’t retreated to the place that he has owned there for eight-plus years to relax. “When I’m in Paris, it’s always super busy so to get the admin work done, I need to be here,” he explained, seated in a white Under Armour shirt and wearing a few bracelets from his Djihan line.

Although he started modeling professionally through a deal with IMG in 2021, he is now represented by D’Management in Milan, Models 1 in London and Marilyn in Paris. Alama said he decided to part ways with IMG, because “we didn’t have the same goals. I have two sides — modeling and social media. A big agency like IMG would always try to take you toward the influencer style stuff,” Alama said. “That wasn’t really what I was all about with all of my ventures.”

From his view, the modeling industry has a lack of models of Middle Eastern heritage, especially male ones. Looking to use his modeling “to be that bridge between East and West,” Alama said most of the brands he meets with are interested in just that, due to the shortage. Having made his runway debut with Giorgio Armani in June 2023, his portfolio includes Dior Beauty content and a Vogue Man Arabia cover last year.

After graduating from the Lebanese American University in Beirut, he studied in London, New York and Miami. Alama also has lived in Paris and Madrid, and routinely returns to Dubai, where he was raised, to see his brother Khaled. Alama and his mother spend a good amount of time together working on Djihan, when she is not with her singer husband. Alama also cofounded Plus Two Ventures “to incubate and operate” influencer and celebrity brands. Djihan is within that entity.

What’s most intriguing to him in the fashion specter now is how “all these fashion brands are trying to be a part of TikTok trends, and to grow their platforms in different ways. Look at Loewe. It makes you think of a nice fashion brand that does not have a low price point. But if you look at their TikTok, it’s all of this really humorous stuff,” he said. “Jacquemus set the tone for all other brands to follow that rhythm, including myself to build a community. Everything in the world right now has a big Gen Z touch, which has made things not so serious somehow.”

His lip-syncing has led to a few viral moments including a TikTok video of him singing “Slowly Drifting” on a beach with a sunset in the distance that has racked up more than 7.2 million views. Djihan’s branding is sunset-inspired including a gradient-colored box. “Let me show you,” he said, before going to another area in the room to find a Djihan shopping bag. Watching sunsets is something that his close-knit family enjoys doing together, he added. “Even in the logo, after the D, there is a dot that is made up of four little cubes, which of course is relevant to the Cube Mirage collection. But it’s also because we’re a family of four and I believe my family is the core of everything. And four is a lucky number,” Alama said.

Rather than drop a full collection, Alama has created “Cube Mirage,” a compact assortment of bracelets and necklaces, so that shoppers know to buy now or they will miss out. The second drop will debut Tuesday with prices starting at $1,900 for 18-karat rose, white or yellow gold bracelets and capping off at $19,800 for an 18-karat rose, white or yellow gold pavé pendant necklace. There will also be rings and earrings. Alama also designs jewelry with colored diamonds and other high-end pieces for private clients, including many who have been loyal to his mother for 20 years.

Djihan aims to open its first pop-up store in August at the luxury hotel Cavo Tagoo in Mykonos. Aside from the high-season timing, the Greek island is prime territory for sunset watching. He’s considering opening a temporary shop during Paris Fashion Week in March where he hopes to replicate the success he’s already had with the brand. The first Cube Mirage drop was said to have sold out within hours.

Interestingly, Alama said he is “very surprised” that most of Djihan orders are coming from the U.S. But as a result, his goal is to make the brand “the new Van Cleef [& Arpels.]”

Instead of linking up with retailers immediately, Alama, who has mentor friends Stateside, is focused on building the community for his brand to maintain its exclusivity. Alama added that Galeries Lafayette and Mytheresa reached out. He also has befriended Naomi Campbell, whom he met through mutual friends during Paris Fashion Week, and wound up in the same social circles at the amfAR Gala and other events at the Cannes Film Festival. “She’s like a big sister to me. I love her so much. She was not letting go of me [laughs.] She was so cute. We just really vibed a lot,” he said.

Campbell has offered Alama “lots of advice and she’s obsessed” with his jewelry, so the designer is planning some pieces for her, he said. What the pair really bonded over was her life advice. “We were talking about how people who get into drugs or alcohol go on a certain path. She was very happy to see that I don’t drink or do drugs. Drinking is fine. All my friends drink. I’m really young, but people my age have the tendency to be dragged into something that’s bad for them,” he said. “The reason I am so focused about everything I do is because I am sober in every way possible. That is something that I really appreciated about Naomi.”

Alama also has Campbell to thank indirectly for his latest brand campaign. While celebrating at Campbell’s birthday party aboard a boat in Monte Carlo, the Russian model Natasha Poly spotted the necklace he was wearing. “Natasha was obsessed with it. She said, ‘Since I can’t buy this now, let’s do a mini campaign right now,’” he recalled. The duo grabbed another party guest, the photographer Matthew Brookes, and went downstairs and styled an impromptu “mini shoot. It just happened It was really hilarious,” Alama said.

Alama, who works out for five or six times a week, gets a lot of social media attention for his fitness posts, too. His secret is that any day of indulgence should always be followed by a day of clean eating — a trick he learned from his mother. “And obviously, working out is the best thing ever for the mind. I burn out without working out,” Alama said, adding that his hour to 90-minute workouts include a few Pilates session each week.

“It’s important to also do things that keep you flexible. As much as I can lift at the gym, Pilates is not the same. During my first days of Pilates, I would look around and all of the girls were performing so much better than me,” he said. “It really works different muscles that you’d never feel otherwise. Doing different things like that is really important as well.”