81 Designs x Naqsh Collective

From a young age, Palestinian women used to learn how to sew their clothes and decorate them with traditional cross-stitch embroidery. Influenced by the cultural diversity of the historic Silk Road and spice routes, they would learn how to stitch traditional motifs derived from nature, especially the local flora and fauna of Palestine and the region.
Over time, Palestinian women were inspired to create their motifs and develop a visual vocabulary of their own, as the decoration became increasingly defined by the distinct geographic origins of the makers. They also began to add other personal touches to tell their life stories: not only speaking about where they were from but also reflecting their social standing, such as marital status, number of children, and prosperity.
Embroidery, therefore, became a manifestation of identity for Palestinian women from the nineteenth century onwards, acquiring even greater importance due to the turbulent twentieth century, enduring until the present day.
Fusing naqsh collective’s artwork subject and details with Beit Dajan thobe structure was naqsh’s personal attempt to summarise centuries of culture and imagination in the threads of its stitches and to show the agility of a traditional art form in documenting more stories in its details.
Nisreen and Nermeen’s endeavor in creating their Palestinian thobe is to envision living their missing experiences of beloved Palestine; jumping of Acre’s cliff... going on a fishing trip by Jaffa’s port, all of that and more by allowing these threads to connect them with their grandmothers through these thobes, yet passing them as a tradition to the following generations.
The synergy between 81 Designs and naqsh collective is rooted from the ideal to modernize yet preserve tradition through the time-honored embroidery technique Tatreez. Through this collaboration, 7 Thobes are hand-embroidered by Palestinian refugee women employed by 81 Designs to reflect naqsh collectives designs.