How Palestine Occupation Also Affects Fashion
There is no excuse for indifference. If you value art, sustainability and inclusion, then you must also recognize the Palestinian reality.
Although the media tumult regarding Gaza’s reality started this October, the Palestinian occupation has been going on for more than 75 years. Over all these decades filled with violence, settler colonialism,and destruction, Palestinians have never reacted as powerfully, and consequently the Israeli regime took several inhumane measures.
According to the Times of Gaza, several hospitals, schools, mosques, universities, residential blocks, and refugee camps have been mercilessly bombed. These bombings are just the tip of the iceberg, as there is no access to electricity, food, water, internet, and healthcare services. Fathers are carrying their children's lifeless bodies while civilians try to take off survivors under the rubble. Despite the severe cruelty recorded, documented, and all evidence displayed worldwide, most Western nations remain silent, portraying Palestinians as disseminators of the terror they and their land have persisted for the past years.
While some may consider it a lost cause, Palestinians' resilience and resourcefulness in adapting to these challenges prove their strength, willpower, and hope for a peaceful and generous future. And, although some cultural and social spaces have started to mobilize themselves, either through donations,protests,petitions, and the sharing of information, in the fashion industry, this task is not being carried out as efficiently as it should be.
For many fashionistas and industry insiders, the matter is not fashion-related, and, for them, this assumption justifies their silence, in order not to mix work or entertainment with political and moral principles. But as singer and activist Nina Simone stated once, “An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.” Thus, fashion, as an art that transmits messages, must speak on behalf of the voiceless. And, since fashion is a means of artistic representation that mirrors cultural and historical narratives of society, every facet of it, from production to advertising, is also affected. So, there is no excuse for indifference. If you value art, sustainability and inclusion, then you must also recognize the Palestinian reality.
Palestine's ongoing invasion has concealed individuals' creativity, causing the marginalization of Palestinian fashion designers who struggle to showcase their talent on a global platform. Many of them can't obtain opportunities, highlighting the exclusive aspect of fashion and the fallacious lemma that many publications, public figures, and designers appropriate of diversity and inclusivity nowadays. This pattern of exclusion, as exposed by the award-winning platform Slow Factory, comes from a mainly settler aspect. As the community stated on its social media, the garment industry widely exploits non-white communities by paying little compensation, carrying on the brutal legacy of colonialism, as the continued extraction of wealth under capitalism depends on the submission of non-white communities.
Illustrated by the exploitative conditions in the garment industry for workers in Palestine during Israel's occupation, Israeli clothing companies hire Gaza laborers with equal skills as Israeli counterparts but pay them significantly less. Since the high unemployment rates in Gaza force workers into accepting any pay and working conditions, this exemplifies how race and capitalism are interlaced in the fashion industry.
These racial, colonial, and exploitative motivations, while severe and grave, are rarely addressed by the majority of the fashion industry. Whereas most mainstream media have avoided covering the issue, those few individuals who have attempted to discuss it have encountered opposition. In our evolved and free world, people who dare to speak out on behalf of the victims of Gaza are silenced, ostracized, and even threatened. Most notably in the United States,pro-Palestinian voices are being consistently suppressed.
Model Alex Consani went live on TikTok to share that since she and her fellow models started talking about Palestine, they haven't been able to book a job. The affair, as Consani herself revealed, is not something isolated. One other model affected by the decision not to stay silent was Camilla Déterre. After sharing a ‘’Free Palestine’’ post on her Instagram stories, her modeling agency, Elite, dropped her.
The situation of speaking out and being either silenced, fired, or suppressed also occurred with significant editorial figures. Since Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Vogue Global Contributing Fashion Editor started posting about the ongoing bombardments, harassment, and human rights violations, she has received death threats and had to take shelter in a hotel. In addition, she removed her job title from her Instagram bio, raising speculation on social platforms. A few weeks later, she revealed in The BoF Podcast that she decided to leave Vogue since their values didn’t align with hers. "The truth of the matter is we grow and sometimes our containers don't grow with us. And so I am excited to build a new container for all of these ideas and this energy," Karefa-Johnson stated, using her impact to assist the next generation of designers to make a meaningful change in the fashion industry.
Another censorship case was Samira Nasr, editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar, who had to delete her post and publicly apologize to the Hearst company and her colleagues. The constant targeting continues, with models Gigi, Bella, and Anwar Hadid, who have Palestinian origin on their father's side, constantly receiving death threats for defending their people and asking for peace.
Another muting occasion worth it to mention happened with I-D, a British independent magazine. The media published a stand asking for a ceasefire, but the post was removed after a short period. It is unknown if it was deleted by Instagram or by their own media company team. However, news regarding Karlie Kloss acquiring the publication increased the hypotheses of conflicts of interest. Were they silenced by social media or by the new boss? In the world of fashion, we never know.
While most fashion communication companies remain silent, one seeked to make a change. Editor-in-chief Manuel Arnaut and his team decided Vogue Arabia’s latest cover issue would be a call to humanity. The cover features traditional Palestinian embroidery and includes an article honoring Gaza's brave, bright, and fierce voices who regularly risk their lives to show the world their stories.
Unlike some reporters, mainstream publications, and public figures, many High Fashion Twitter Users have been using their platforms to speak on Palestinian factuality while spreading information and educating their followers. VANITYXVAULT, South-Lebanese fashionista, has been speaking on the Palestinian massacre as 22 years ago, her land has also suffered from occupation, massacres and collective punishment. Mostly active on Twitter, she is educating a variety of audiences, while framing Palestinian fashion in her posts.
“I think fashion becomes inherently political even if we don’t want it to be,” the user started,explaining that she has “... read a WWD article about major fashion firms making donations towards Gaza/Israel … and certain groups gave their condolences only to the Israelis community but failed to even acknowledge Gaza or the Palestinian people by name. Instances like this make it easy for people to understand that a side has been taken, thus making the politics of these fashion brands quite clear.”
The politics of brands are indeed explicit. Many global fashion labels are directly involved in the occupation through funding through their distribution systems. By profiting from the continued occupation of Palestine by purchasing from producers with factories on stolen and illegally occupied land,running their businesses on the same stolen and invaded territory, and through their partnerships that continue to allow the building of illegal structures on Palestinian land, the support of oppression, violence and occupation increases. Not to mention the cultural appropriation that comes with all of this, mainly targeting the crafts.
“I would hope that the industry could behave in a consistent way regardless if it's Gaza, Israel, Ukraine, Congo, Sudan, or any other situation in the future. Censorship for the sake of not upsetting your audience is more like politics than it is fashion.” Vanity Vault later states.
Despite the improper adoption of Palestinian customs playing a significant role in the decline of the artisanal sector, additional factors also contributed to its collapse. Similarly, the occupation has had a severe effect on crafting traditional Palestinian textiles and embroidery, those which are a crucial part of their history, and now face obstacles due to little resources and market access. With deliveries delayed due to checkpoints in all areas and the current blockade in Gaza restricting access to essential supplies such as electricity and materials, factory owners face challenging decisions, which may include decreasing salaries, to stay active.
Dania, a Palestinian fashion commentator who has been a crucial figure in educating the fashion community about the occupation, exposed another relevant fact, where “...many brands…get their pieces made in Palestine, especially Gaza ...'' The commentator kept explaining that the attacks and occupations ''prevent women from making money and creating pieces from our culture,” which can lead to the erasure of Palestinian heritage. Even under threat, many Palestinian creators still fearlessly display their heritage, talent, and passion through fashion.
Dania listed a few pieces from Palestine culture, contextualizing their history, symbolism, and processes. Among these items, the most widely recognized is Tatreez, which is a 3,000-year-old form of cross-stitch embroidery originating from the Canaanite period. Additionally, Dania mentioned Tahrir,a type of couch stitching embroidery. The fashionista also noted that the crafts are directly related to storytelling since Palestinians integrate nature and other details, such as color and adornments, into their patterns, which vary depending on the villages and cities.
''Each thobe tells a story with its embroidery...if I saw something with oranges, I could always assume that the person wearing it is from around Yaffa ... a city known for its oranges." The pieces also display a symbolic meaning in ways that some used to believe that specific designs offered healing and protection. Among all the cultural wonders surrounding Dania, she assures us that her favorite is qarmal, an accessory from her city Nablus, a dangling hair ornament.
From an accessibility and consumption point of view, Palestinians are also vulnerable, though this is not their primary concern. With difficulty in accessing and enjoying the diverse global fashion trends due to their limited resources and restricted movement, they created their concepts of style, which nowadays, with social media, started to transcend borders.
"The political reality for Palestinians is shaped by the military occupation which touches and shapes every element of our lives, including creativity. Isolated from one another geographically, most of the artisans we are working with have never met and even need to work together digitally to bring garments to life, representing a creative endeavor which has triumphed over imposed borders."
Yasmeen Mjalli
Trashy Clothing, by Omar Braika and Shukri Lawrence, is a ready-to-wear anti-luxury brand that conveys the stories of life under occupation. Founded in 2017, the brand seeks to recover Palestinian and Arab identities through its satirical garments. Their mission is to educate their consumers on the history and issues faced by the Palestinian people while displaying Palestinian trends, in Palestinian terms, on a worldwide scale.
Another brand that highlights itself among all the talents in Palestine is Meera Albaba. The label was launched in 2020 in Gaza, and its founder, Meera Adnan, focuses on producing modern unisex pieces that revitalize the Palestinian textile industry and provide more opportunities for Palestinian designers and creatives. Influenced by religious, political, and local references that tell personal stories from the occupied city, Meera incorporates Palestinian design techniques or elements in all the creations.
The most recent collection, entitled "Migration," aimed to reflect Palestine and its condition of displacement, showing a mixture of contemporary and more typical methods such as Tatreez. For this purpose, the label worked with Deerah, a brand specialized in the unique embroidery created by displaced Palestinians in Jordan.
In addition to all these Palestinian talents, the label Reemami by Reem Al Banna must be mentioned. Reemami was established in 2010 by Palestinian-born designer Reema Al Banna, who grew up in the United Arab Emirates. Her goal was to create a brand that could unite Western and Eastern styles in a fresh and innovative approach while reducing waste as much as possible.
Through her collections, the designer showcases the stories of her Palestinian heritage while raising awareness about her culture and the artistic work of many asylum seekers. To illustrate, in the collection "A Tin of Olive Oil," Reem incorporated elements from her roots and childhood, collaborating with female refugees in Palestine who made all of the patchwork in the collection using scrapped textile leftovers.
Although leftovers may not hold much significance for some designers, Palestinians deeply associate with the impact of living under occupation. And while those fragments are the few things some can use to spark their creativity, they are also directly connected to the environment. When Vestiaire banned fast fashion brands from selling on their platform, fashionistas and industry insiders were thrilled. However, where are those same individuals when Palestinian land, their primary materials, and nature are directly suffering from the bombardments? The inconsistency in our global priorities and actions towards social and environmental justice is evident. Same issue, different measures.
Precisely, the Palestinian occupation, followed by several attacks, doesn't only murders people, their talents and ideas, but so does the ecosystem. Since the Israeli invasion, biodiversity has decreased. The state has been implementing what is called green colonialism by removing Indigenous plants from the land to plant European invasive species. This practice damages not only the local distinctive species and biodiversity but also the unique materials used by many Palestinian designers who, even in those times, are doing everything possible to keep the region's art alive.
Yasmeen Mjalli is the designer and founder of the Palestinian label Nöl Collective. With garments mostly made of indigenous natural tints, adorned with typical elements such as Tatreez, Mjalli fashion storytelling has offered a lesson in the dynamics of slow fashion and the realities of life in occupied Palestine. Established in 2017, originally Baby Fist, the label grew out of an installation where Mjalli had a typewriter where women came to share their experiences of harassment.
Once a photo of a jacket with some of the writing imprinted on it went viral, people started asking for their own. And then, the brand was born.Eventually, in 2020, the name changed to Nöl Collective, nöl meaning "tear" in Arabic. Based in Ramallah, the label works entirely with family-owned stitching shops, craft studios, botanists for paints, and female associations in Palestine.
In conclusion, as author Edward Said documented in "The Question of Palestine," the complete eradication of Palestinians could only occur if they lack existence, concepts of representation, residence, and political and national aspirations. Education, promoting exposure, and raising awareness ensure the preservation of the lives and culture of Palestinians who are alive, which assures the freedom of all. Thus, I end this week's newsletter with a question: as an artist or art aficionado, what have you done today to reflect the times?