Central Asia: Afghanistan

Afghanistan is primarily located in Central Asia with the population of around 30 million. Afghanistan has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road and human migration. Archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation from as far back as the Middle Paleolithic (200,000 to 45,000 years ago). Urban civilization may have begun in the area as early as 3,000 to 2,000 BC.  Afghanistan is at an strategic location that connects the Middle East culture with Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent the land has been home to various peoples through the ages and witnessed many military campaigns, notably by Alexander the Great, Arab Muslims, Genghis Khan, and in modern era Western forces. The land also served as a cradle for many major empires that had risen over the centuries. Over 99% of the population is Muslim, today. Islam came to Afghanistan in 7th century with Umayyad Arab Muslims. Prior to this time there as a number of religions practiced in Afghanistan including Zoroastrianism, Judaism,  and others.

Traditional dress
Traditional Afghan clothes vary by regions and by different ethnic groups. A country with such history cannot have a traditional dress, and it would be impossible to do a fair justice to all of them in one blog post. Therefore, I decided to give an example of a Pashtun dress since Pashtun is the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. In general, most traditional Afghan attire for women consists of a long colorful dress with round skirt. Girls at a young age begin to cover their head with a light piece of cloth so that males don't see their hair.

Vintage Pashtun dress from 1930s-1970s

Zarinas.com

Zarinas.com

Pashtun wedding dress

There is a great blog that shows off all kinds of Afghan and Pasthun dresses for those wanting more information about these amazingly colourful traditional dresses.


Ms Zolaykha Sherzad of Zarif Design
Ms Sherzad was born in Afghanistan. She was a teenager when her family fled the country in the 1980s during the Soviet Union invasion. Ms Sherzad went to study architecture in New York and then completed New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology. Ms Sherzad returned to Afghanistan in 2000 where she began collecting fabrics and bought traditional pieces of clothing from the local markets. Ms Sherzad created 20 pieces for a pilot fashion show, and exhibited back at home. The response was so positive that she got inspired to create Zarif Design in 2005. Soon, Sherzad’s clothes were being sold internationally at agnès b. stores in Paris, New York and London. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai wear some of her clothes. Ms Sherzad continues to use Afghanistan textiles and embroidery accessories like buttons cast from ancient Persian coins.
Ms Sherzad employs many Kabul housewives, training them on how to use the sewing machines and understand design. Women work from home producing suits, jackets, evening gowns and wedding dresses on Singer sewing machines in the same area where Ms Sherzad’s main office is.

Other Kabul designers
Ms Sarah Rahmani of "Sara Afghan" and Ms Sarah Takesh of "Tarsian and Blinkley", are the other two Kabul-based designers who source workers locally. Ms Rahmani dresses international workers and Afghan women who live overseas as her clothes are too expensive for locals to buy. Since she set up in August 2004, the business has expanded to employ 12 full-time machinists and up to 60 part-time embroiderers
Ms Takesh's label has managed to vault out onto the international stage. She provides work for about 300 people. The results are exquisite clothes with hand-stitched embroidery and beadwork, sequins or crochet. It is possible to buy her clothes as wholesale from the company's website.

There are a lot of challenges for these designers in every day life: unreliable power supply, hassles with generators and difficulty in sourcing local material and finding trained staff. Operating a fashion business in Afghanistan surely takes grit and persistence with a dash of insanity.

Courtesy of "Tarsian and Blinkley"

Courtesy of "Tarsian and Blinkley"

Fashion show in Kabul

Yes, exactly, the fashion show in Kabul. In February 2013, in a restaurant located on one of the muddy streets of Kabul, Afghan models paraded in front of the mixed crowd of men and women showing off creations by Ms Shahar Banoo Zeerak. The fashion show was organised by Young Women for Change, an independent, nonprofit Afghan organisation dedicated to empowering Afghan women and improving their lives. Most of the 10 models, including three young men, who showed off 33 designs including colorful short-sleeved dresses, jeans, tunics and more traditional outfits — were Afghan women who volunteer for the group. Despite fears of violence the organisers still went ahead with the parade for two reasons.. One was to raise money for the advocacy group and the other was to gradually change attitudes toward women. Below are the pictures from the fashion show.

Related video - "Zarif Design" short story

Related reading

When Afghanistan was in Vogue great article about Afghan women embracing the Western dress whilst European designers looking for inspiration in Afghanistan in 1960s

Rare Afghan fashion show seeks to empower women article about the fashion show in Kabul discussed above.

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