{"id":72971,"date":"2026-09-17T14:47:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T10:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/?post_type=articles&p=72971"},"modified":"2026-09-17T15:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T11:03:11","slug":"palestinian-heritage-and-childhood-memories-reemami","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/palestinian-heritage-and-childhood-memories-reemami\/","title":{"rendered":"How Reema Al Banna Wove Palestinian Heritage Into Reemami\u2019s Most Expansive Collection Yet"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: @reemamioffical, Instagam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Childhood VHS tapes, Palestinian tatreez<\/em>, Bedouin dress and family photographs converge in As I Remember It<\/em>, Reemami\u2019s most expansive collection to date. Here, founder Reema Al Banna discusses transforming memory into 65 richly detailed looks – and why joy remains an essential form of expression.<\/p>\n

As I Remember It is Reemami\u2019s most expansive collection to date. What made this feel like the right moment to create something on this scale, and what story did you want it to tell?<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

As I Remember It<\/em> has been in the works since last summer. It became so expansive because I felt the story couldn\u2019t be fully told in a single chapter. My design process usually takes time before it feels complete, and with this collection, I gave myself the freedom to create, explore different variations and keep pushing each idea until it felt resolved.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t actually count the looks until the day of the lookbook shoot – I thought there were around 40, but there were 65. I had entered this flow state where one piece would naturally lead to another. It was like finding a thread and continuing to pull until I reached its end. Everything is created in-house, with all the samples made in our studio. There was a great deal of trial and error, particularly with the prints and their placement. Eventually, the collection became almost the equivalent of two collections, which is why I decided to release it across five chapters. Each has its own identity, but together they tell one story.<\/p>\n

At its heart, the collection says that, as a Palestinian designer, it is okay to have fun. It is okay to be playful, hopeful and colourful – to create and experiment. I drew from childhood memories, toys, traditional techniques, Bedouin clothing, Palestinian tatreez<\/em> and pieces worn by my grandfather, great-great-grandparents and other members of my family. At the same time, I couldn\u2019t close my eyes to what is happening in the world: the genocide and the reality in which we are living. The collection is about seeing and acknowledging that suffering, trying to help and having something to say, while still continuing to create and live. We witness atrocities on social media and in the news, then return to our everyday lives. We see suffering alongside moments of safety, beauty and joy. Those extremes can exist within the same moment, and that contrast remained with me throughout the creative process.<\/p>\n

The collection draws deeply on childhood memories and the visual fragments that have stayed with you. Which specific memories shaped Chapters One and Two, <\/strong>The Memory Box<\/strong><\/em> and <\/strong>Through the Blinds<\/strong><\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Photo: @reemamiofficial, Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I revisited family photographs from the \u201980s and \u201990s, when I was a child and everything felt innocent. My world revolved around play, toys and fun. Much of my childhood was spent at the beach or pool with my brothers and sister. I remember being at Sharjah Beach when my father asked me to sing. I replied, \u201cOh my God, my voice is rusty. I can\u2019t sing.\u201d It was captured on an old VHS camera, and I kept returning to that funny little moment – the colours, the feeling and the entire atmosphere surrounding it.<\/p>\n

My brothers gave me courage because they were always wrestling, and I was the girl trying to join in. Then my sister came along and we began playing with Barbies, making outfits and creating entire worlds through pretend play. As a teenager, my parents even gave me the freedom to spray-paint my bedroom. I created a whole world in there, right down to wrapping the carpet in foil for a pop of silver.<\/p>\n

My father is a dentist. He left Gaza to study in Egypt before moving to the UAE for work, and that journey shaped our family\u2019s life. As an orthodontist, he kept me in braces for much of my teenage years, but he was also incredibly proud of me. He would put me in catalogues for his dental clinic, modelling with a toothbrush. I transformed those photographs through mixed media, and they appear particularly strongly in Chapter Two.<\/p>\n

Through the Blinds<\/em> comes from another specific memory. Blinds were everywhere in the \u201980s and \u201990s, and I remember sitting at our kitchen table as the light created black-and-white shadows across the room. We would sit and play within those stripes. That became an important visual language within the collection, expressed through stripes, shadows and contrasting tones.<\/p>\n

The collection explores memory, play and transformation. How did you balance nostalgia with Reemami\u2019s established design language?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nostalgia was the starting point, but I wasn\u2019t interested in recreating the past or making the collection feel retro. I wanted to take the memories, images, clothes and small details that stayed with me and translate them through the way I design today. That is where the Reemami language naturally enters. I\u2019m always experimenting with proportion, print, unexpected combinations, architectural shapes and details that can transform a garment. An old check, a piece of rope, a childhood photograph, tatreez<\/em> or something worn by a member of my family might begin as a reference, but I then distort it, enlarge it, layer it or completely alter how it is used.<\/p>\n

That playfulness is also inherently Reemami. So many of my childhood memories are rooted in making and experimenting without worrying whether something made sense. I wanted to bring that freedom back into my process, supported by the level of construction and detail that reflects where Reemami is today. It isn\u2019t nostalgia for nostalgia\u2019s sake. It is about taking something I remember and asking, \u201cWhat can I do with this now?\u201d That is where the transformation happens.<\/p>\n

Why did you choose to unveil the collection in chapters, and how do Chapters One and Two introduce the wider story told across all 65 looks?<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

The chapter format came from the sheer volume of work and detail within every piece. Reemami is an independent brand, rather than a huge fashion house with a machine capable of supporting 65 looks simultaneously. If I released everything at once, many of the pieces could easily become lost.\u00a0I wanted to introduce every look properly and give people time to take it in. Each piece has a story and meaning, and I pushed each one creatively, technically and in terms of craftsmanship. Every look deserves its own moment.<\/p>\n

The first two chapters also play with the Reemami language that people already know and love. They revisit elements from earlier collections that helped build our following and customer base, but push those ideas in new directions. There is a sense of familiarity, without simply repeating what I have done before. They create a natural transition into the later chapters, which begin to take the collection somewhere else entirely.<\/p>\n

After spending a year and a half developing <\/strong>As I Remember It<\/strong><\/em>, what does the collection represent to you personally?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It represents a bridge between the past and what comes next. It brings together the playfulness with which I have explored my heritage and personal story\u2014through tatreez<\/em>, family memories, my upbringing and all the smaller ideas I have developed throughout Reemami\u2019s history – and takes them somewhere new and unknown. I feel I have said a great deal through this collection. Once it has been fully released, I will begin again with a completely blank canvas, and I\u2019m excited by that. I\u2019m ready to let these 65 looks go out into the world, close this chapter and move towards something fresh, unexpected and twisted in a very Reemami way.<\/p>\n

Do you have a favourite piece from the collection?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Photo: @reemamiofficial, Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are so many pieces from Chapters One and Two that I love for different reasons. I really enjoyed working with rope piping and clashing stripes and checks with playful Reemami prints. I also brought lace back into denim, using diagonal insertions through the trousers. There is a brown-and-black striped polo top that appears to be printed, but every stripe has actually been stitched together, giving it an almost demi-couture quality. Some of the dresses feature rope spiralling around the body, which took our artisans a long time to perfect. I also loved experimenting with pleats – particularly school-uniform-style pleating and gold knife pleats – and would like to explore that further in the future. I\u2019m especially attached to the scarf stories. I created prints within squares that come together like scarf compositions. I also worked with organza for the first time, printing directly onto it and exploring its transparency, which felt incredibly freeing. There are so many small details and stories embedded within these pieces. I\u2019m excited for people to see every look and discover those elements for themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29103,"featured_media":72973,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[],"yoast_head":"\nReemami\u2019s Latest Collection Is a Love Letter to Palestinian Heritage, Memory and Joy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Palestinian designer looks to childhood memories, family archives and traditional craft for Reemami\u2019s most ambitious collection yet.\" \/>\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\/palestinian-heritage-and-childhood-memories-reemami\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Reema Al Banna Wove Palestinian Heritage Into Reemami\u2019s Most Expansive Collection Yet\" 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