Palestinian social entrepreneur Noora Husseini always knew she wanted to start a business that gives back to her people and country. But it was only four years ago that Husseini decided to leave her stable job to pursue her dream. May El-Habachi meets her.

Inspired by Palestinian embroidery, Noora Husseini founded Taita Leila in 2015 to revive these long and rich traditional designs in modern clothing. Taita Leila, or ‘Grandmother Leila’ in Arabic, refers to Husseini’s grandmother Leila, who wrote the book: ‘The Art of Palestinian Embroidery’.

“My grandmother is a great source of inspiration for me,” says Husseini. “She is quite modern and embraces technology, yet she also respects and enjoys handicrafts and the way artisans work.”

An engineer by profession, Husseini was always interested in fashion. She believes that the clothes people wear say a lot about who they are. It is for this reason that the designer decided to make clothes that contribute to celebrating Palestinian heritage.

“This idea was always on my mind,” she reveals. “I was at my engineering job and constantly thinking about how to expand this concept. I felt that I just had to try it.”

REINTERPRETING EMBROIDERY

Embroidery is an important symbol of Palestinian history and culture. Palestinian women used to have distinct embroidery on their clothes to represent their village, family or way of life.

Taita Leila tells these stories of Palestine by adopting and reinterpreting these traditional styles of embroidery.

“It’s not just about the pattern,” says Husseini. “It’s about the heritage, which is more important than anything else. Although our style is modern, we are keeping embroidery alive by adapting it. We want to show people that there is huge history and wealth that is captured by these costumes.”

So far, the clothes have appealed to younger generations around the globe. Not only are Palestinian women wearing Taita Leila, but women in the United States, Australia and Nigeria among others have also purchased their clothes.

“We ship to all corners of the world because our clothes are for anybody and everybody,” says Husseini. “Although it’s particular to Palestinian heritage, it also appeals to women everywhere.”

Despite Taita Leila’s success, the organisation has encountered its fair share of challenges.

WORKING UNDER THE OCCUPATION

To make the embroidery, Taita Leila employs Palestinian women from villages, refugee camps and women’s societies in the West Bank. While this gives women an opportunity to become financially independent and use their unique skill set, it also creates logistical challenges for the company.

“Working under the occupation is difficult,” says Husseini. “From the materials we get, when we can meet and even talking on the phone, it becomes challenging getting things in and out of places to produce our clothes.”

Husseini also sources all the fabrics from local factories and vendors in the West Bank. She explains that it would have been easier to import materials from abroad, but she was adamant about having her clothes made 100 percent in Palestine.

“It would have been easy to give up, but the clothes had to be completely sourced and made in Palestine, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it.”

Given these challenges, Taita Leila was not able to keep up with the fashion cycle of producing pieces every season-summer, fall, winter and spring.

“We put our clothes out there when we can, even if it takes a year. The important thing is to be there.”

PALESTINIAN CHIC

Taita Leila’s fashion style has evolved throughout the years. Now in its third collection, Taita Leila is becoming more urban and fashion-conscious.

“In our first collection, we were very cautious,” says Husseini. “Our designs therefore turned out to be more classic, which still appealed to many women, but now we want to be more fashion focused.”

Before going urban, Taita Leila will feature its traditional collection this summer. Focusing on the anatomy of the thobe, or the traditional dress that Palestinian women wear, the collection will showcase unique and distinct embroidery to tell stories of Palestinian culture and tradition.

In all its collections, Taita Leila usually names pieces after a Palestinian city, drawing inspiration from the city for the designs and colors. For example Bethlehem is influenced by the church, Jerusalem by the Ottomans and Jaffa by the Arab city’s famous oranges.

“We are celebrating a side of Palestine that people know little about,” says Husseini.

Following the anatomy of the thobe collection, Husseini plans to unveil a new one in early 2019.

“That will be our last traditional collection before we go funky.”