[1][5] Apart from two years of tuition from the London Saint Martin's School of Art,[6] in her youth, Shirin Guild is a self-taught fashion designer.
[8] She had an "Abba coat" similar to a style worn by holy men in Iran and a "Kurdish"–style pant.
Guild is renowned for utilising unconventional materials and manufacturing technologies, which she combines with traditional fabrics and craftsmanship.
Guild's innovative, minimalistic garments are made of uniquely devised fabrics, based on yarns made from cashmere, silk, linen, wool, cotton, stainless steel, copper, hemp, bamboo, pineapple and even paper, or combinations thereof.
[11] Other leading fashion designers of her generation with non-European origins include Hanae Mori, Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Hussein Chalayan, Rifat Ozbek, Azzedine Alaia, Vivienne Tam, Eskandar, among others.