Zarya Azadi is a powerful force for women’s equality globally. She was born in the Kurdish region of Turkey in Diyarbakir and belongs to the Yazidi religious community. During the civil war in Turkey Zarya’s family fled to Germany as refugees in 1990. Zarya is the first woman in her family and community that decided to leave her parents’ home and to study abroad. This was very controversial at the time as the Yazidi community is very traditional. After many months of debate and arguments, Zarya convinced her parents to let her pursue her journey. With the mental support of her family, Zarya moved to Oxford in England and successfully completed her Bachelor’s Degree at the Oxford Brookes University in 2013. During her studies Zarya was working as a catwalk and fashion model in Europe. Today, she is a successful model taking her Kurdish Heritage and Kurdish Designers to the runway during London Fashion Week with the House of iKons.
FWM: How did your modeling career lead you to entrepreneurship?
The lack of representation in the modeling industry and in many other industries related to the modeling business has definitely influenced and motivated me in doing the entrepreneurship that I am doing right now. The fact that models are chosen based on the economic strength of their country to better market the product and better sales obviously reminded me of the political and geographical situation with my country, Kurdistan. We as Kurds are the largest nation in the world without an independent country. Kurdistan is divided between four countries and you won’t find it on the map. I hardly meet people in the entertainment industry in general who were familiar with Kurdistan or our nation in general. For many years during my modeling career, I was always mistaken for another ethnicity, a lot of people even thought I was mixed. These experiences always lead me to the same issue, my identity and my ethnicity. I tried for many years to fit into the mainstream market but realized at a later stage that this wasn’t the right approach. I am who I am and I shouldn’t hide it, apologize for it or feel bad about it because Kurds are considered as a stateless nation. That shouldn’t stop us to participate at international events and competitions in fields like fashion, pageants, music, sports, or any other fields where a country can be represented. Not acknowledging our nation based on the political situation of our government and our country makes us stateless as human beings. We are still over 50 million Kurds worldwide, talented and gifted, and shouldn’t be stopped or belittled for participating in international events. We want to be recognized as a nation with or without an official independent country. In my early twenties, I kept asking myself, ‘Why is the world closing the door on us?’, because that’s how it feels. So we, therefore, I came up with the idea to create an international fashion event in London in cooperation with the CEO Savita Kaye of the House of iKons – Fashion Week London to represent the hidden beauty of my nation, hence the title “The Hidden Beauty of Kurdistan.” This will open the doors for many creative Kurds from around the world to be able to participate and showcase their talents and art at an international event. It’s all about representation. Representation Matters, also for us Kurds.
FWM: Tell us about your work about Yazidi (Êzîdî) struggle and your Kurdish heritage.
As a Yazidi (Êzîdî) Kurd I’ve experienced and seen a lot of struggle. I belong to the ethnic-religious minority group of the Yazidi (Êzîdî) and a stateless nation of Kurdistan. War, Genocide, Persecution, Oppression, Disenfranchised, and Diaspora are a few words to describe the struggle of the Yazidis (Êzîdîs) and Kurds in general. We as people, as Kurds, regardless of our different religions always have to fight for our rights, our equal rights, and our human rights. Within all these struggles there is, of course, always the additional struggle of us women, fighting for gender equality. The struggle of women in this world has been an issue since the beginning of time. The latest genocide on the Yazidi (Êzîdî) community was done by ISIS since 2014. Girls and women were kidnapped and used as sex slaves and sold, boys were taken and brainwashed to join ISIS and men were killed. Now that is what is called ethnic cleansing. Yazidis (Êzîdîs) have count 74 genocides in our history even though we are one of the oldest religions in this world, an ancient, persecuted religious minority struggling to survive in Iraq. Some even say the first Kurds were Yazidis (Êzîdîs) and the Kurds are stateless people across four countries, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. I’m using the platform in the fashion industry to highlight these struggles as well as the art and culture of our nation. It’s about time for the mainstream media to get to know our art and culture. There’s more to us than war and terror and we as Kurds are all craving independence regardless of our differences and religions. Just like the Kurdish poet Cegerxwîn said: ‘’Eger hûn nebin yek, Hûn ê herin yek bi yek.” which means “If you are not one, you will go one by one.”
FWM: You are working with Kurdish Designers for the upcoming House of iKons in February. Tell us about your designers and the importance of this show.
The House of iKons is a platform that supports emerging fashion designers and creatives to enter the fashion industry and to gain international recognition. This was a great opportunity to collaborate together and to highlight the importance of the art and culture of us Kurds. All Kurdish designers have been signed with the House of iKons to receive the best PR support as upcoming designers. It is with pride and high importance, that I can announce the different Kurdish regions all designers are from originally. This is a way of uniting together regardless of our differences. I have just recently confirmed another fashion designer, g.seven and her fabric supplier Yildiz Stoffe, as part of the show, both of them are also Yazidis (Êzîdîs). I’m glad I could get my father’s wish to have at least one Êzîdî designer as part of the show (laughs). Now that I’ve have two participating, he is very happy (laughs). It is understandable that after 2014 it is the older generation in particular who want to see togetherness and representation. I try to comply with this and to fulfill this as it means a great deal for me and my generations as well of course. I am very proud of the Kurdish fashion designers that all took the risk to sign up for the show during an international pandemic, not knowing what could happen next year. This alone shows and proves how much passion, love and pride is behind their work and of course their identity as Kurds. They all got inspired and motivated to be part of this international event and all of them said that this is a dream come true.
Atelier by Khoshkar Horre is originally from Afrin, now based in London, UK. Khoshkar Horre creates from the heart and soul in order to empower women. He is encouraging women to show their femininity, to learn new styling habits, while being taught how to dress, not with just clothes but to dress their spirit with confidence and uniqueness. This is the main ethos of his brand. With the strong yet feminine designs can be worn casually, professionally, and on the red carpet. He is constantly complimenting the female form with high-end fashion and couture fashion. He comes from a family of tailors with established business since the 1850s based in Afrin. Now he has gained a tremendous following and designing for VIP’s and athletes like football players David Luiz, Willian Borges Da Silva, and Giani Franco. Yadê Couture by Sadiye Demir is originally from Mardin, now based in Bern, Switzerland. Sadiye Demir works with a lot of joy and passion to develop ideas for clothes together with her customers. These individual creations and designs are unique for casual and evening wear. She uses feminine colors in combination with masculine mixed cuts to embody elegance. This will be Yadê Couture’s first fashion collection starting and showcasing at the House of iKons Fashion Show London.
We have already seen a huge transformation and progress of her during the last few weeks, she’s a true professional and I personally am very proud of Sadiye’s ambitions and hard work. This is exactly what this fashion show is about, providing emerging designers an international platform. The translation of Yadê means mother. The designer Inci Hakbilen is originally from Haymana, now based in Hamburg, Germany. Inic Hakbilen is mainly focused on bridal and evening wear but also designs traditional Kurdish clothing and streetwear using Kurdish fabrics. The combination of modern style and traditional patterns are extremely interesting and beautiful.
For the last 5 years, Inci Hakbilen has been creating modern streetwear using the colors of Mesopotamia and traditional fabrics for her own fashion shows. I personally like to see more of this on the runway. She’s been in the fashion industry for over 30 years and would like to create a fashion show in Diyarbakir or Istanbul as one of her last fulfilling dreams as a fashion designer. I would like to support her with this dream. á la mode by Ala Hadji is originally from Zaxo, now based in Berlin, Germany. Ala Hadji is very diverse in her work; she not only designs her own collection of modern, elegant and western fashion but also Kurdish traditional clothing. She also offers her services to various designers from Berlin for the completion of their collections for the Berlin Fashion Week and also teaches sewing classes 1-2 days a week. Her customers range from a normal audience to designers and VIPs. She has designed clothes for one of the judges of Germany’s Next Top Model by Heidi Klum and also the international music singer Ilira.
g.seven by Gülistan Taylan is originally from Batman, now based in Hannover, Germany. She has been a fashion designer for many years, started at a young age. It’s been a family tradition in her family but she’s the only one in her family who took over the skills as a dressmaker, next to her cousins and aunties. She uses light, transparent, satin, silk, tulle, and full embroidered fabrics to create modern evening gowns using a touch of Kurdish fabrics and colors. Her fashion style embodies elegance, romance, femininity, and self-confidence. Gülistan has accomplished her training in fashion design and as a professional tailor, even had her own trainees when she was self-employed since the age of 23 running the family business on her own. Later she accomplished her Master’s in Fashion Design but took a break to raise her own little family and has started again by rebranding her business. g.seven has been working with the fabric supplier Yildiz Stoffe for many years and will be creating her new collection for the February show together with Yildiz Stoffe. Yildiz Stoffe by Yildiz Tüzün is also originally from Batman, now based in Celle, Germany. She opened her business 3 years ago, with her daughter being in charge of the buying department. She wanted to continue our traditional love for special fabrics in Germany. Her target group is especially Kurdish girls who like to wear traditional clothing. So it turned out that international Kurdish customers like to wear these fabrics as well as supplying them to countries like Switzerland, France, Norway, Austria, and Netherlands. The styles of the fabrics are a combination of traditional and modern fabrics and patterns. “Only heavy fabrics are good fabrics,” our mothers used to say and that is her motto. She’ll be showing her newest fabrics at the exhibition room during the show as well.
JoJo Braut & Abendmode by Nesrin Hassan originally from Rojava, now based in Bochum, Germany. This fashion brand only focuses on bridal and evening wear with a specialty in haute couture bridal dresses. Nesrin Hasan designs the dresses, fits them, and also accepts special requests. Her bridal dresses are princess-worthy gowns. Her customers travel from various countries from Europe to choose a wedding dress and have it adjusted according to their wishes. JoJo Braut & Abendmode will be closing the Kurdish solo segment “The hidden beauty of Kurdistan” with her extravagant and royal-looking wedding dresses. There have been few more Kurdish designers that reached out to me and we are currently in the negation process and hope that they’ll be able to participate as well.
FWM: Tell us about your blog, “The Hidden Beauty of Kurdistan.” What do you want the world to know?
The Hidden Beauty of Kurdistan is a way to showcase the beauty of our art and culture in the international fashion market and be recognised as Kurds. The Kurdish designers that have been signed with the House of iKons so far are all originally from all four parts of Kurdistan, Bakur, Rojhilat, Basur, and Rojava. The lovely Kurdish host at Kurdistan Podcast, Lorin, described it in my latest podcast interview so beautifully and almost ironic, and I quote: ‘’You united Kurdistan within fashion at the House of iKons.’’, and we both couldn’t help but started laughing. She is also in charge of PR & International Relations at House of Kurds that is an independent platform supporting the Kurds to be recognized as a nation. The importance behind this show is that we as Kurds are allowed to participate as a nation at an international event. There is a whole solo segment dedicated to us and we will be showing different arts and designs and even have music performances. This hasn’t been done before and I have already received a lot of positive feedback from Kurds all around the world. Another important fact is that we as Kurds unite regardless of our differences, religions and political views. It all doesn’t matter here. We as Kurds matter with all the talents that we can offer with our art, creativity and skills. All of the Kurdish designers are very talented and have been in this industry for many years and have their unique life story of how they moved, escaped or fled from Kurdistan to Europe and how they pursued their dreams of becoming a fashion designer with all the hardships they faced. I am immensely proud of each one of them as they all have come a long way. As I mentioned earlier all designers and creations are unique in every way. This is not a competition but rather a celebration of the uniqueness and diversity we share as Kurdish people as one nation.
FWM: In your opinion, is their potential for more Kurds to have a global presence in fashion?
There is definitely a lot of potential for Kurds to participate at various international events to show their art, skills, and talents. We just haven’t been recognized as much. I speak from experience when I say, that I too did tiptoe around my identity in the fashion industry not to scare off people. It shouldn’t be that way. Fashion is very popular in our community, just look at our weddings; it’s a celebration of the newest fashion trends even at our Yazidi (Êzîdî) weddings in the West. There is a great market for fashion designers and other creatives to market their products; it’s just a matter of how to do it properly. Costumers look for good quality, uniqueness, not off the rail but still affordable. It’s a challenge to find a new outfit for every wedding, and believe me we have many weddings every year, with the exception of the corona pandemic of course. We spend a lot of money on new clothes, traditional dresses or modern dresses it doesn’t matter. Kurdish weddings are the biggest events in our communities and are celebrated as such. The newest makeup trends, hairstyles, accessories, shoes, and dresses of course are always up to date. The biggest struggle is to find those fashion designers and creative. We hope that with the Kurdish solo segment we can promote some designers within our Kurdish community but also internationally.
FWM: Kurdish dresses which have such a long history, do you think that International Designers are aware?
I don’t think a lot of people are even aware of our nation let alone our traditional dresses. This is why we are doing this show to show the world our heritage. We know about other ethnic traditional dresses, like e.g. Indian sarees. I’ve even worn them at a fashion show myself and we know them from movies and friends wearing them casually. They are beautiful traditional Indian dresses. I personally love them. I’d like our Kurdish women to also feel comfortable wearing them casually in the West without feeling ashamed. Our traditional dresses are very colorful with lots of different beautiful fabrics and patterns and most importantly, they are very comfortable and easy to wear.
FWM: What is your hope for 2021?
First of all, I really hope that 2021 brings back normality and routine to all of our lives again and to get out of this corona pandemic safe and healthy. I also really hope that 2021 will be full of opportunities for us Kurds to be recognized as people, as one nation, and work together to support the Kurdish question at the United Nations as the Treaty of Lausanne comes to an end in 2022 and will be renegotiated. It is our duty to work together to fight for independence.
www.zaryaazadi.com
