{"id":35510,"date":"2023-05-16T09:14:17","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T05:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/?post_type=articles&p=35510"},"modified":"2023-05-16T09:14:17","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T05:14:17","slug":"meet-jdeed-the-palestinian-fashion-brand-celebrating-culture","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/meet-jdeed-the-palestinian-fashion-brand-celebrating-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Jdeed, The Fashion Brand Celebrating Palestinian Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jdeed
Courtesy of Jdeed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Hanna Bassil founded the fashion brand Jdeed in 2021, he had a mission in mind: representing Palestine<\/a>. It’s a personal goal for him, as the son of two Palestinian refugees<\/a> who sought sanctuary in Jordan<\/a>\u00a0during wartime. Growing up between Amman<\/a> and London<\/a>, Bassil has grappled with\u00a0diaspora and found a meaningful connection to his roots through fashion.<\/p>\n

Jdeed is a way for Bassil to honour his heritage and support people currently living in Palestinian refugee camps<\/a>. At this time, 35\u00a0women in the Jerash Gaza Camp for Palestinian\u00a0Refugees in Jordan are employed under the Jdeed brand, creating hand-embroidered garments completed with their names sewn onto the exterior. Each piece of clothing contributes to Bassil’s\u00a0larger vision of celebrating Palestinian heritage at this critical time in history.<\/p>\n

“I felt the frustration of\u00a0living abroad, not being able to help Palestinians in their daily struggles and losing touch\u00a0with my origins. Through Jdeed, I spent more time than I ever did before learning about our\u00a0history and culture, connecting with and talking to creatives in and around Palestine and\u00a0sharing our story with the world.” \u2013 Hanna Bassil, founder of Jdeed<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

After a successful first season launch, Jdeed is back with a second collection of clothing that was manufactured locally in Jordan. The collection is vibrant, with its bright colour palette, and heritage-driven, including recognizable symbols of Palestinian culture as well as a unique digital painting\u00a0by a Palestinian calligraphist on the designs. With this second season, Jdeed has, once again, brought Palestinian creative talent<\/a> to the doorstep of an international market with comfortable ready-to-wear clothing for men and women.<\/p>\n

Read GRAZIA<\/em>\u2019s exclusive interview with Jdeed’s founder Hanna Bassil below to learn more about the conception and mission of Jdeed and browse the brand’s second season\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"Jdeed
Courtesy of Jdeed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Grazia<\/em> middle east’s Exclusive interview with Hanna bassil, founder of jdeed<\/h3>\n

Jdeed launched in 2021, but when did you personally decide that this was an important\u00a0brand for\u00a0you to\u00a0create?\u00a0What factors drove this decision?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hanna Bassil:<\/strong> “Being surrounded by brands (both fashion and other) driven by the desire to make an\u00a0impact and social good, I was inspired to do something similar with Jdeed. The planning and\u00a0research started around 2019 when I was exploring ideas to bridge the gap between\u00a0Palestinian creatives and the Western World.<\/p>\n

The main factor that drove my decision to launch Jdeed was wanting to change the\u00a0narrative in the media that skewed heavily against Palestinians, who are living in extremely\u00a0tough conditions under an occupation inside of Palestine or as refugees around the world.<\/p>\n

I wanted Jdeed to encourage people to look at Palestinians from a ‘New’ lens, one focused\u00a0on culture, art, embroidery, photography, calligraphy and all the amazing talent inside the\u00a0region. Palestinians, like everyone else, want to express themselves and have their art seen\u00a0by the world, so I\u2019m using Jdeed as a platform for their creativity.”<\/p>\n

\"Jdeed
Courtesy of Jdeed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Where did your enthusiasm\u00a0for fashion come\u00a0from?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HB:<\/strong>\u00a0“I developed an interest in fashion during my years spent studying the crossover between\u00a0fashion and marketing, where I grew an appreciation for the power of fashion as a form of\u00a0expression and identity.<\/p>\n

My enthusiasm for Jdeed came out of my love of embroidery, symmetry, and patterns.\u00a0When I was young, visiting my grandparents, I found myself drawn to the patterns on the\u00a0pillow covers my grandmother would embroider, and I\u2019d curiously run my finger over them\u00a0and find comfort in the designs that were easy on the eye.<\/p>\n

Putting the two together – I set a plan to showcase these patterns, as well as other key\u00a0elements of our culture, in a fresh way to attract a larger audience. I was committed to\u00a0telling a story through fashion, one that challenges people to appreciate our rich heritage\u00a0while breaking down any misconceptions they may have had in the past.”<\/p>\n

\"Jdeed
Courtesy of Jdeed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Could you give us a bit of insight into the creative process behind the collection? For\u00a0example, how did you select the designs?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HB: “<\/strong>I wanted to design something that Middle Easterners will enjoy wearing and be proud to\u00a0represent, which the Western World will simultaneously be drawn to and want to learn\u00a0more about.<\/p>\n

For the Middle East, it\u2019s like saying, ‘If you know, you know,’ when looking at the patterns\u00a0I\u2019ve extracted from the traditional Keffiyeh, the map of Palestine subtly printed all over a\u00a0camo-style hoodie and iconic symbols such as the political cartoon of Handala, the Key of\u00a0Return and the Watermelon on other pieces. I\u2019ve put a modern twist on these elements in\u00a0the hopes that they remain timeless and honour the story of how they originated.<\/p>\n

For those who may not know what these elements are, I wanted them to look at the brand\u00a0as something they would wear, and when they find out the inspiration behind the collection\u00a0as well as Jdeed\u2019s mission statement, they\u2019ll hopefully buy into it all together while learning\u00a0about our culture!”<\/p>\n

\"Jdeed
Courtesy of Jdeed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What do you consider to be one of the most exciting or fulfilling parts of running Jdeed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HB: <\/strong>“Working closely with some amazing women in the Jerash Gaza Camp for Palestinian\u00a0Refugees in Jordan has been the most fulfilling. While Jdeed draws inspiration from\u00a0Palestinian and Middle Eastern heritage, the core mission statement from the start has been\u00a0to support Palestinian Refugees in Jordan and find ways to give back.<\/p>\n

The first way was by giving 35 women (and counting) a canvas to showcase their impressive\u00a0and iconic hand-embroidery skills to the world. They embroider and sign their names on a\u00a0label that is proudly displayed on the outside of all our pieces.<\/p>\n

Secondly, we take 10% of all proceeds and give back to the camp based on their needs.\u00a0We\u2019ve built 3 zinko rooftops for families who needed to close off parts of their homes,\u00a0helped a young woman complete her university studies and offered year-round aid in the\u00a0form of gas oil coupons, supermarket coupons, paying pharmacy bills and multiple rounds of\u00a0winter donations during the cold season.<\/p>\n

On a personal level, which is something that has been echoed by many guests on GRAZIA<\/em> ME\u2019s ‘Preserving Palestine,’<\/a>\u00a0I used Jdeed to reconnect to my roots. I felt the frustration of\u00a0living abroad, not being able to help Palestinians in their daily struggles and losing touch\u00a0with my origins. Through Jdeed, I spent more time than I ever did before learning about our\u00a0history and culture, connecting with and talking to creatives in and around Palestine and\u00a0sharing our story with the world.”<\/p>\n

\"Jdeed
Courtesy of Jdeed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What are some of the hurdles you’ve had to\u00a0overcome while launching the\u00a0brand?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HB: <\/strong>“The most important hurdle was to tell creative stories around important elements of\u00a0Palestinian culture while respecting the narrative.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of negative connotations associated with certain elements, such as the\u00a0Keffiyeh scarf, so the challenge was to showcase each element (the fishnet pattern, the\u00a0trade route pattern and the olive tree branches) in a contemporary way, explaining the\u00a0importance of each element and their origin story.<\/p>\n

Another hurdle is moving the full production locally to Jordan, which was one of my long-term goals. I\u2019ve successfully launched the second season, which was fully manufactured in\u00a0Jordan, and it was a big step for me to stay true to the brand\u2019s mission statement.”<\/p>\n

\"Jdeed
Courtesy of Jdeed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What\u00a0do you have in mind for the future of the brand?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HB:\u00a0<\/strong>“The next step is to do even more work with the women in the Gaza Camp. The labels\u00a0they\u2019ve designed have been received well by everyone who bought into the brand and I\u00a0want to give them an even bigger canvas to showcase their creativity. From my visits to the\u00a0Gaza Camp and the conversations I\u2019ve had with these incredible women, they are keen on\u00a0getting more involved and I\u2019m committed to supporting them.<\/p>\n

The long-term vision is to provide a space in the camp with all the necessary resources\u00a0where these women (and anyone else) can practice their embroidery and even teach the\u00a0next generation.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31230,"featured_media":35955,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[65,35],"yoast_head":"\nMeet Jdeed, The Palestinian Fashion Brand Celebrating Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read our exclusive interview with Hanna Bassil, the founder of Jdeed, to learn more about the Palestinian fashion brand celebrating heritage.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/meet-jdeed-the-palestinian-fashion-brand-celebrating-culture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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