Iran – Fall/Winter 2023

Iran is the most personal and meaningful collection I have ever designed.
The idea took shape in late summer 2022, during a period of social unrest and transformation in Iran. After the tragic death of a young woman at the hands of the authorities for her hijab, protests spread across the country, filling the air with both anger and sorrow. Amid that uncertain atmosphere, I felt a growing determination to leave, to begin a new chapter elsewhere.

During those tense days, I continued attending my master’s design classes. In one of those sessions, I started drawing inspiration from the native wildlife of Iran. The first creature that caught my attention was the Siberian crane, Omid (meaning Hope). I completed that design in class, but something within me had shifted.

Every November, the Siberian crane migrates from Siberia to the wetlands of Fereydunkenar in northern Iran, where it remains until March. Like Omid, I too was preparing to migrate, and that parallel became the spark for this collection.

Iran became a tribute, a farewell and a keepsake, both for my homeland and for myself. The centerpiece of the collection is the Siberian crane, followed by designs inspired by other native species of Iran: The Isfahan mouflon, the Abarkooh cypress, the Loristan lizard, and other enduring symbols of the country’s nature and resilience. ¬