Shardz Hourani has been arrested for indecent assault.

Shardz Hourani has been arrested for indecent assault. Photo: Facebook



Sydney fashion designer Shardz Hourani has been arrested and charged with five counts of assault following allegations he groped, harassed and exploited young female models.


Fairfax Media reported in June that dozens of aspiring models had rallied together to expose the degrading treatment they experienced at the hands of the 31-year-old club promoter and would-be fashion designer.


A photo posted to the Facebook Page

A photo posted to the Facebook Page ‘Say NO to Sanija Fashion’. Photo: Facebook



Photos of female models being man-handled by Hourani during a swimwear photo shoot were posted to the Facebook page with the advice to “Say NO to Sanija Fashion”, run by Sydney model Tayla Novelli.


The photographs allegedly show Hourani groping the models’ breasts, buttocks and thighs.


“A man posing as a fashion designer has been charged over allegedly assaulting models and committing acts of indecency in Sydney,” NSW police said in a statement on Tuesday night. 


A photo posted to the

A photo posted to the ‘Say NO to Sanija Fashion’ page. Photo: Facebook



During an investigation by detectives from the Eastern Beaches Local Area Command, two women aged 20 and 22, whose identities have been withheld, reported acts of indecency that took place in April and May this year.


Hourani was arrested at about 9.50am on Tuesday at a shopping centre in Bankstown, where he worked by day as a salesman in a men’s fashion store. 


He was taken to Bankstown Police Station and charged with five counts of assault with act of indecency.


Hourani was granted strict conditional bail and is due to appear at Waverley Local Court on Thursday, 30 July 2015.


In June, Novelli and fellow model Tia Wright told Fairfax Media they had experienced appalling and degrading treatment when they posed for Hourani’s swimwear photo shoots.


Wright, 19, said she was very happy to hear Hourani had finally been arrested.


“I’m just so glad we were able to get this result,” Wright said. “All the girls are. It has been such a positive experience to see so many girls come together to share their experiences and stand up for themselves.” 


Hourani was under intense public scrutiny after Wright spoke to Fairfax Media about her experiences working for Hourani. 


“He’d yell at me and the other models, and get up very close, right up against your body, and grab your hips, and arse, and your chest and twist your body into poses,” she said.


Wright decided to speak out after she was contacted by a younger model who said she had experienced similar treatment.


“It’s not fair,” Wright said. “Young girls new to the industry don’t know they shouldn’t have to put up with this.” 


Aspiring model Maddy, 18, told Fairfax Media that Hourani had also groped and harassed her during the four to five months she worked for him in 2014.


“He called me a ‘stupid fat slut’. He kept swearing at me, calling me awful things constantly,” said Maddy who requested her surname be withheld. 


“It was scary. He acted like he owned you,” she said.


Maddy said Wright’s Facebook post prompted her to tell her father about Hourani’s behaviour. Her father immediately notified the police and officers from Mascot police station spoke to her on Wednesday night.


More than 3000 people have joined the ‘Say No to Sanjia Fashion’ Facebook page since it launched last month. Dozens of models have posted on the page, describing their own negative experiences working for Hourani. 


One woman said Hourani “touched me inappropriately, tried kissing me and told me if I didn’t kiss him back then he would be angry … grabbed my hand and made me touch his erected penis!


“I legit went home and cried. We need to stop this,” she wrote.


Several women have also posted screen shots of messages they say they received from Hourani. The messages became increasingly hostile after the women rejected his sexual advances.


Fairfax Media also spoke to a photographer who worked with Hourani on the condition of anonymity who said that Hourani would insist on groping the models to arrange them into poses.  


“He would touch them inappropriately. I kept thinking, ‘Why do they let him touch them like that?’ ” he said. 


“It made me very uncomfortable. I stopped working with him after two days and I’ve told other photographers and models not to work with him.”


Sanija Fashion does not have a website, and its Facebook page has been removed. Hourani’s personal Facebook page has been removed from public view.


According to his pagelous.com page, which has now been taken down, “Shardz Hourani looks at modelling in a progressive, exciting and unique way. With over 60 models and new models being hired everyday”.


“You can be assured to be given a professional and beauty focus answer to all your modelling, fashion, event, PR, and runway needs,” it read.


Hourani refused to comment. When Fairfax Media called his mobile phone a man, who said he spoke on Hourani’s behalf, told Fairfax Media to “contact our lawyers” and hung up.


Police inquiries are continuing.