“…in Palestine designers stitch tales of identity, loss, and resistance into their clothes.”
Stitches tell stories and in Palestine designers stitch tales of identity, loss, and resistance into their clothes. In the vibrant tapestry of Palestine’s history, fashion has always played an important role as both a significant part of women’s lives as a representation of the resistance movement. In a place that has seen so much strife in the last century (and before), fashion has served as a powerful form of expression. It has been a medium for telling stories, a tool for resistance and a way to carry the traditions and history of the region.
One cannot discuss Palestinian fashion without detailing the embroidery practices which have been a foundational part of Palestinian women’s lives. Palestinian embroidery, or tatreez (تطريز), is a centuries-old art form. In 2021 UNESCO added the practice to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The traditional Thobe, a loose fitting robe, is often colourful and embroidered with great detail and is one of the main canvases for tatreez. The practice has been handed down for generations from mother to daughter. There are claims that it traces as far back as 1200 BCE, as ancient artwork depicts clothing with what appears to be tatreez-like patterns.
“the Palestinian fashion of today combines tradition and transformation, incorporating Eastern and Western fashion.”
Items of clothing are hand stitched with colourful threads, showing patterns and symbols such as the eight pointed star, birds and leeches. Often the clothing communicates something about the woman and her background. The materials used are a reflection of her social status, and the symbols and patterns might represent the area or village she is from. Before 1948, the tailoring and fashion design sectors were flourishing and growing as traditional markets and garment factories couldn’t account for the needs of the population. There were many new seamstresses and women led sewing workshops in their homes, adding to the labour market and the cultural fabric of the region.
In 1948 at the end of the Arab-Israeli war, the withdrawal of the British forces resulted in Israel declaring independence and engaging in war with Palestine (among other countries). This led to the mass displacement of Palestinians. Palestinians refer to this event as the “Nakba” (النكبة) meaning “catastrophe” where an estimated 700,000 people fled their homes or were expelled. With a large segment of the population gone from the region, the “Nakba” dispersed and fragmented the growing fashion sector and every other element of Palestinian society. Hundreds of Palestinian towns were depopulated and thousands of Palestinians lived in refugee camps. Today there are millions of Palestinians living abroad, mostly in other countries in the Middle East. After 1948, Palestinian women had less time and resources to devote to the highly detailed and individualised patterns like before so tatreez patterns became more simple. Today tatreez patterns are worn by people in the Palestinian diaspora to display their identity and heritage and tatreez has become a symbol of Palestinian identity and displacement.
“To understand the Palestinian identity and the diaspora, you need only look to the designs so carefully and lovingly crafted by Palestinian designers.”
After flying the flag of Palestine was banned by the State of Israel in 1967, women began embroidering the flag and its colours through their clothes. In 1980 Israel banned artwork composed of the four colours of the Palestinian flag. Similarly, the keffiyeh, a traditional headdress, has also become synonymous with Palestinian resistance and demands for sovereignty. This was worn by Palestinian fighters and most famously by Yasser Arafat (chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and former President of the Palestinian National Authority) when he addressed the UN General Assembly. Today, it is a widespread trend in Palestine and many people around the world wear the keffiyeh to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.
In an effort to protect these traditional practices, many Palestinian brands are working today with tatreez and putting their own contemporary spins on it. Here are some prominent Palestinian brands that you can support today:
Meera Adnan.
Meera Adnan was founded in 2020 in Gaza. The brand is unisex, with the clothing incorporating tatreez traditions. According to their website the brand “focuses on reclaiming narrative and is influenced by religious, political, and local references”. The latest collection ‘Migration 23’, that was made in collaboration with Deerah, is all about reflecting the displaced Palestinian people by “using old and familiar techniques to create relevant and modern pieces, a practice our ancestors used to create their traditional clothing”. Meera Adnan’s clothes are contemporary and modern, while still honouring the thousand year traditions of Palestine to make unique garments which are something old and something new. Meera Albaba, founder of Meera Adnan says that the goal is to revive the Palestinian textile industry and to share her heritage with the world. She says that it is near impossible to try to operate a fashion brand within Gaza and so the collections are produced in Jordan and Turkey.
Deerah.
Deerah is a tatreez brand founded by a couple with roots in Palestine. They work to preserve and draw attention to the traditional embroidery practices of Palestine by working with Palestinian women in refugee camps. They add tatreez patterns and symbols to modern silhouettes to make clothes which look both timeless and fresh. Sustainability is very important to them, and they transparently trace all their threads. Similar to Meera Adnan, Deerah operates and produces all their clothes in Jordan.
Trashy Clothing
Trashy Clothing was founded in 2017 by Palestinian designers Shukri Lawrence and Omar Braika. According to their website, “The label’s goal is to address difficult political circumstances by conveying design statements of anti-colonial resistance and joyful artistic militancy. In the face of the ongoing occupation, joy is weaponized through fashionable humour to actively resist colonial attempts of erasure.” Their aim is to tell stories by using fashion to challenge dominant narratives around Palestine and the Arab world. They want their clothes to go beyond being aesthetic symbols, and be vehicles for inspiring and teaching customers. Their debut collection in 2018 had a wall built on the set around the runway to symbolise the wall surrounding the West Bank.
Their Spring Summer collection for 2023 ‘Desert Delights’, inspired by the book ‘Desiring Arabs’ by Joseph Massad, is all about the diverse modes of sexual expression in the Arab world as a counter to orientalist one-dimensional views of the Arab world and sex. The clothes feature odes to Arab sex symbols and are satirical and campy. The brand is also inspired by tatreez in how their pieces aim to tell stories. Their T-shirt line provides a more affordable way to wear their designs and features graphics which are fun and incisive. The brand has been spotted on high profile celebrities such as Bella Hadid and Julia Fox.
Reemami
Reemami is a United Arab Emirates based brand founded by Palestinian designer Reema Al Banna. The founder Reema Al Banna is from Gaza and is part of the Palestinian diaspora. Despite only being able to visit Gaza a couple of times due to restrictions, she thinks of herself as deeply Gazan. The collection ‘A Tin Of Olive Oil’ is fully inspired by her Palestinian identity – weaving in the symbolism of the long tradition of tatreez as well as elements of Palestinian cuisine and daily life. The brand is all about being playful, fun, bold and positive. The clothes are colourful and whimsical, incorporating lots of fun designs and pops of colour. The Olive Oil Vest and the Black Tea Short Dress are particular stand out pieces, and are both from the ‘A Tin Of Olive Oil’ collection. Their designs will be appreciated by lovers of the colourful designs of Mayamiko or Lirika Matoshi.
Reemami are also very sustainable and fully trace their supply chain, like Deerah. They believe in seasonless fashion and strive to create clothes which can be used forever. They keep low inventory levels by producing in small batches to order, which minimises waste, an issue that plagues most of the fashion industry.
Nol Collective
Nol Collective is a brand that makes their clothes within Palestine. “From the villages in the hills of Jerusalem to Gaza, Ramallah, and Bethlehem, we work with family owned businesses, artisan workshops, and women’s cooperatives to produce our beautiful Nol collective creations.” What makes them so unique is their focus on majdawali weaving. Majdawali fabric has been a staple of Palestinian traditional dress for centuries. The fabric comes from Gaza, particularly al Majdal, one of the towns depopulated around 1948. The town was a huge hub for the textile industry and made much of the clothes for the whole region. Though every village had their own tatreez styles and symbols to represent their village, majdawali fabric was found in all. Many families in the town were famous for their weaving, and their descendants live across the diaspora today with some still practicing the endangered art. Nol collective works in one of the only artisanal studios left in Palestine. They also practice traditional hand embroidery and use dyes from natural sources like plants. Unfortunately their most recent collection was the first to not use majdalawi fabric because the weavers have been displaced from Gaza. The founder Yasmeen Mjalli says she focuses on the people behind the clothes and how they work. As well as clothes, you can find tatreez patterned pouches, chokers and tote bags at Nol Collective.
As these brands have shown, the Palestinian fashion of today combines tradition and transformation, incorporating Eastern and Western fashions. There are elements of the displacement of the Palestinian people in how designers must operate in other countries in addition to how they incorporate non-Palestinian elements such as Trashy Clothing’s camp elements and Nol Collective’s chokers and tote bags. However, despite these hurdles, the resilience of the Palestinian people can be seen in their continuation of old Palestinian traditions like tatreez. It shows the designers commitment to reflecting their Palestinian culture and heritage through their art. The importance of holding on to these traditions cannot be understated; governments change, populations are replaced, buildings fall and are rebuilt, attitudes shift, and the land itself is constantly evolving. Art is one way to carry on celebrating a culture and keeping traditions alive. Fashion is about how we want to be seen as much as it is about how we are seen. It is important to shine a spotlight on the rich and vibrant tapestry the Palestinian people have been weaving for thousands of years.
Links for the brands mentioned:
https://www.trashyclothing.shop/
(T-shirt line https://www.trashyclothing.shop/shop/tshirts/2)
https://nolcollective.com/collections/shop-all
WORDS: Leah Kelly
