Lara Dizeyee's Kurdish couture

0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. If there was a big red button that would just demolish the internet, I would smash that button with my forehead. From the BBC, this is The Interface, the show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world. This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews. It's about what technology is actually doing to your work, your politics, your everyday life. And all the bizarre ways people are using the internet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

0:46I'm Melissa Grunlund, an arts journalist specializing in the Middle East. And one woman who has become a star in recent years is Lara Dezey, a Kurdish fashion designer based in Erbil. Her work's bold, dramatic, colorful designs drawn from Kurdish traditions that give voice to stories often left off the runway. This year, she's embarking on her most ambitious journey yet. She has been invited to show at Milan Fashion Week in Italy in September. It's January now, and Lara has less than nine months to attract sponsors, set her creative vision, recruit and inspire models, and realize her goal. This is the documentary In the Studio from the BBC World Service, following Lara Dezayi as she brings her Kurdish couture to Milan.

1:49Lara de Zayi is in her early 40s, based in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq. From here, she designs dramatic, culturally rooted couture, and shines a light on Kurdish craftsmanship, history, and identity. Lara exudes determination. She has long, perfectly blow-dried hair, dresses in professional shades of grey, and is the controlled center of whatever storm is brewing in her Erbil atelier. She is a woman who doesn't give up easily. Lara grew up in northern Iraq in a Kurdish family whose story was shaped by displacement, resilience, and deep cultural pride. As a child, she and her family escaped conflict, crossing the mountains on horseback.

2:37My parents were really freaked out. They were worried that if we're going to actually make it there and make it alive. But when you're so young and you each have your own horse and you're in the mountain in the middle of nowhere and you have smugglers guiding you, taking you, like for us, it was an adventure. Now, looking back, I'm like, wow, OK, this was actually a dangerous thing that my family did. But they had to because they wanted a better future for us. They wanted us to go live in the States for a better education. It just wasn't safe during the Saddam regime to live in Kurdistan. So we had to leave.

3:11Your parents must have done a very good job of shielding you. You know, the funny thing is, Melissa, my father's horse was blind. They didn't tell him he had a blind horse until we got to Iran. You know, it's crazy. And I lost a shoe. Imagine on a horseback wearing one shoe, going from one country to another in the mountains. But I didn't care. I was like, you know, this is fun. And that horseback journey, taken as her family fled Saddam's Iraq, still echoes through Lara's work, not just in imagery, but in how she holds tension between beauty and peril.

3:55I designed my first collection in my own room. I didn't have a studio. I just bought a whole bunch of different fabrics. I didn't have a website. I said I just had my fabrics and opened my Instagram page and worked with my very close friend. He's a tailor. And you didn't go to fashion school, so you didn't this kind of trial and error period. Yeah, I didn't go to fashion school, but when I was young, living in the States, all my best friends, they would always come to my house. And, you know, they'd say, let's go to Lara's closet, like Lara's closet, Lara's closet, because I had everything from everywhere.

4:31And I was like, Lara, please, can you trust me? I'm going to this wedding. I'm going to this event. I'm going to prom. So I would just put something together and make sure they looked amazing. and like I would buy a beautiful dress and I would alter it and cut it and just add my own stuff, just transform it into something that wasn't out there. Her work is driven by a deep desire to protect Kurdish dress from fading or distortion, reviving its richness while shaping it for a new generation. I felt like Kurdish costume is going towards a direction that was not Kurdish anymore. They would cut the dress short.

5:10They would cut the trousers short. But like, okay, if I don't do this, it's gonna, Kurdish costume is gonna actually end. So the difference between my designs now and I think what else is out there, it's very grand. It's a statement. Like all of these designs are a statement piece where everybody wants to wear them because they feel royalty. They feel very prestigious. And it's conservative, but very stylish. Well, all the dresses are long skirts. They have, you know, the sleeves come to the wrist. The shoulders are covered. They don't seem hokey. Yeah, no, they're not. Because, you know, the fabrics, you know, that's what Kurdish costumes are.

5:51All the dresses have to be long. All the sleeves have to be long. The trousers underneath the dresses, they can be knee length. right? Because I saw a lot of trousers that were knee length and they used a lot of sheer fabric where you could see everything underneath. I didn't like that. So I wanted to use very rich fabric, very beautiful patterns fabrics. Dramatic and regal. Her work channels the grace and charisma of Kurdish dress with a modern eye. One of Lara's most striking gestures came in her fire collection, a tribute to the Women Life Freedom Movement. They designed three different costumes, three girls, on top of the Safin Mountain in Kurdistan, standing tall, bright.

6:41They're not covered. They have beautiful jewelry, beautiful hair and makeup done, just holding hands and holding the Kurdish flag. They were a mixed Peshmerga attire with Kurdish costumes because Peshmergas are freedom fighters. They're fighting for their freedom. So I wanted to mix those two together to show their strength, their fighters, and not to ever quit, not to give up. And it was just very feminine but very powerful at the same time. Lara's Milan collection will be her fourth. She got a huge amount of attention at her debut in Paris. But that was two years ago. She knows she has to nail this one for her brand to grow.

7:28So how are you? How's it going? Good. How are you, Melissa? I'm all right. So I'm reaching you in Erbil. Yes. It's now early February, eight months out from Milan. Oh, I am in the early stage, actually. I check in with Lara, and it's clearly a stressful time. She doesn't have financial backing, and she knows the clock is ticking. I've been able to secure one sponsor, KCAC. They also sponsored my forest collection, and it's really lovely to be working with them again, waiting on hopefully the other ones to come through. So what's the issue with sponsors then? What are the challenges? The challenge is it's the first time where you have a Kurdish designer being invited to be part of a fashion show outside of Kurdistan.

8:10I did my first fashion show in Paris, which was beautiful. but I think even though it's a lot of great marketing for these companies or because you're really marketing their company globally not just locally but I've had it's been a little difficult because they like to sponsor conferences or donation for mosques but for fashion it's been a little difficult for me I feel like. So you can't do anything to prepare for Milan without the sponsorship? So it's really important for me to at least have two to three months because I will be designing 30 new costumes, very different costumes, different designs.

8:49And in order for me to design those 30 designs, I need a lot of time. And it's important for me to get those sponsors on time so that I can work on my designs. I can't work on my designs now when I don't have any sponsors. So yeah, I need a couple of months for me to prepare before the show and then work with the team in Milan to get the right models, pick the right venue, work with a photographer, videographer, choreographer. Those elements are all really, really important for me. Choose the right music, mix Kurdish music with Italian music, because it's blending two different cultures, the Kurdish culture with the Italian culture.

9:25And so I really want to put on a beautiful, stunning, magical show. It's like sharing your beautiful culture and your heritage with the world. Without sponsors in place, Lara can't move forward. No fittings, no travel, no team, just ideas stuck in limbo. It's clear Milan isn't just another show for Lara. This one matters deeply. I've got everything crossed for her. Okay, well listen, I will let you get on. Thank you for catching up with me. Thank you, Melissa. Coming off the call, I can't stop thinking about how frustrating it must be to have the vision, the designs, the drive, but still be stuck, waiting on someone else to say yes.

10:13I check in again on Lara, and this time, Milan feels a little bit closer. I met with the Consul General of Italy because he's able to get a visa for my tailor, who can actually join me this time if I were to go to Milan, because I wasn't able to take him to Paris, they wouldn't give him a visa to Paris. So the fact that I'm able to take Mr. Ali Kobani, who's the tailor of my company, to Milan. It's just for me, it's very exciting. When you have non-Kurdish assistants, they don't know how to dress these models because you have so many different layers of fabric. I had that problem in Paris, but if I take Ali with me, it'll be a lot easier for him to dress the models with me, as opposed to me explaining to all the different assistants there how to dress them.

11:02Lara has worked with her tailor, Ali Kobani, for years, and now he has become her right-hand man for her business. Where she is full of passion, Allie is patient. If Allie can come, that's a big step for Lara.

11:20It's now March. The afternoons are a bit brighter, and I get an excited phone call from Lara. Hi, Melissa. Hi, Lara. How are you? I'm so happy. Tell me, tell me. I have all my sponsors, so we're ready for Milan. Amazing. Congratulations. Thank you. It's been a lot of work, but the sponsors that I wanted to work with and collaborate with, they all approved, especially this one jewelry line. They're a beautiful local Kurdish jewelry company, and they're launching their own line in June. So I've collaborated with them and they're going to be lending me all of their very high end jewelry for me to use during my fashion show.

12:09So I'm very excited about collaborating with them to use their jewelry. You're so happy. I'm happy now, but I wasn't happy two weeks ago. Also partnered up with a Kurdish fabric boutique and they're sponsoring all of my fabrics. I'm so happy that they're all local because it's important for me to also introduce other brands through my fashion show. And now I'm just going to start designing. Hopefully, first week of April, I need to start designing. And I'm going to need about two months to complete my 30 costumes. So I hope you come. Can you come too? Yeah, I will. I can't wait. You have to come.

12:51You're going to enjoy this. This is huge. it means she can bring her visions of Kurdistan to Milan. I'm Melissa Grunlund, and you're listening to the documentary In the Studio, Lara Dzeyi's Kurdish Couture, from the BBC World Service.

13:24alive. But even though I've got questions, join me, Merrin's Upset Web, every week for my show, Merrin Talks Money, from Bloomberg Podcasts, where I have in-depth conversations with fund managers, strategists, and experts about how markets really work. And join me for a separate episode where I answer listener questions on how to make those markets work for you. Follow Merrin Talks Money on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. When I next check in with Lara, It's like she's a different person. She's not as tense. She's just pure excitement, buzzing from one idea to the next. I'm doing a design tribute to the Erbil Seretal, which is often referred to as the cradle of our civilization, especially by Kurds and locals, because it is one of the oldest, continuously inhabited sites in the world.

14:17It was always in my mind for me to do a design around Citadel. And so I got the fabric. I got it printed in Dubai. And I'm adding my own embroidery. I'm using a beautiful headpiece, and it's going to be dove to symbolize peace. Each design is inspired by Kurdish culture, such as Nauru's, the New Year Festival. During Notos, we celebrate around fire because according to the Kurdish mythology, Kawa, Kawa Asinger, led a revolt against the evil tyrant Zahak. And on the night of Zahak's defeat, Kawa lit a fire on the mountain to signal victory and freedom to the people. That fire became a symbol of liberation from oppression.

15:04Does Ali like the idea of storytelling? Ali loves it. How's Ali?

15:21He's always asking me about where do these stories come from and that he loves these stories. And I write poems too, right? So he loves, he's like, Lara Khan, please, can you share some of the poems that you write for these designs? So he loves the stories behind each design. For the Nauru's design, Lara is creating a dress of black, bright red and orange with a headpiece of flames, like the embodiment of fire itself. The dress, I think, will surprise everyone, but cannot be discussed outside of this interview because I want this dress to be a beautiful surprise. And I think it will be a surprise.

15:59So let me just show you the fabric of the dress. Yes. So Mr. Ali is cutting the dress, but I just wanted to talk about this fabric before you see it. I needed to get this fabric printed because there is nothing like that in the bazaar. And I wanted to do a fabric where there's a girl walking into fire. So the fabric is all the colors of fire, but there's a beautiful girl walking into fire. So that's like combining women with no-dose, their strength, how they face their challenges. they will stop at nothing to reach their goal. And that's how I feel about myself too. So this design is very special to me because it's not only a celebration of Noros, but it's also the celebration of women, Kurdish women, celebrating of myself, my grandmother, my mother.

16:46I know how strong they are. It's now May, and Lara has assembled a team of Kurdish designers who will help create her visions. She's working with Haitian Boutique for the fabrics and Noor Al-Aziz and Muna Darman for the earrings, necklaces, and headpieces. The Kurdish people are spread out across Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran, and their recent history has been one of war and conflict. But now, especially in Iraq, Kurds want to project a different story, one of peace and prosperity rooted in their identity. Lara is one of our inspirations. The jeweler Noor al-Aziz is one of Lara's collaborators.

17:28When I saw her for the first time in Paris, I said, wow, we are both trying to deliver a different message about Iraq in general. So with Lara, she thinks out of the box, so I have to keep it up with her. So it's quite interesting. It needs a lot of details. She's very detail-oriented, and that's the most I like. The most important part is the storytelling.

18:26that I'm presenting something very different. As a designer, you don't want your fashion shows to be the same. Lara's story is part of this revival of Kurdish culture. She wants us to know about the many women of the past, such as the reformer Hapsa Khan. In 1926, Hapsa Khan co-founded the first girls' school in Slemania. She actively promoted education by going door to door with teachers to register students and persuade families to send their daughters to school. and her efforts were instrumental in challenging traditional norms and advancing women's right in the region. She's just an icon. This design that you will see in Milan, it's actually a photo of her that I've imprinted on the fabric.

19:10This design, when people see her and see Noros and the citadel, it's going to be very emotional for everyone because it's our symbol. Kurdish women are Lara's abiding source of inspiration. In my Paris fashion show, my last design was attributed to Kurdish woman Peshmergas. But for Milan, I wanted to do something different. For example, in the end, my last three designs will be attributed to our flag. So I'll have three different models, each wearing a color. One will wear red, one will wear white, and the other is going to be wearing green. And the girl in the middle will be holding the sun in her hand, you know, because we have the sun in our flag.

19:51Kurdish women are very, very courageous. And it was important for me to share their courageousness through these designs. And I think it shows. Anyone who's seen my designs feels the power, but also feels their soft feminine energy. I mean, I know Kurdistan wants to be its own country, but is the flag contentious? I don't think about that. I just want to share it because it is our flag. And one day we will become a country. I'm very optimistic. So it's important. I'm from the northern part of Iraq. We have our own flag. So why not share it on the world stage? After speaking to her often, starting in June, I don't hear from her for months.

20:30She has locked up her shop and is not talking to anyone. She and Ali are in full production mode. But over the summer, I get a WhatsApp invitation to Enchanted at the Palazzo Cerbologni. It'll be her first time at Milan Fashion Week and mine. I'm usually skulking around dusty artist studios, but I haul out my high heels and off we go.

20:59It's the day of the show, and we're inside the 18th century palace, whose walls are frescoed with cherubs and musical instruments. It's a hive of excitement as Lara fits each model with her designs. How's it going? Oh my God, it's hectic. Backstage, models, jewelry, fittings, it's just a lot, but it's perfect. Yes, yes. So you are wearing the Nareen design. Nareen is my cousin, my best friend, someone I've known my whole life. She's never let me down. This design is for those who are always there, for other people. They're always there, and they're there during the good times and bad times. When you have highs and lows, they don't leave your side.

21:45And that's your cousin's name. And that's my cousin and my best friend. You know, it's important for me to explain these designs because they become the character on the runway, and they can feel it. So what are you putting on now? You're putting on a velvet overcoat. So I'm putting on a velvet, beautiful velvet with a chiffon of a sequins dress. But hold on, here we go. Okay, where's the belt for this? Here. Okay. Do you have your heels on? I don't. Okay, we need to get her heels. How do you feel? So good, so good. I really feel it, you know.

22:29The models are trying on the design for the first time, and there are some last-minute hiccups. There are some challenges that we face during the show. Now I'm finding out that some of these models don't have... Pierced ears? Pierced ears, yes. and you know my brand is all about jewelry as well too so now we have to find a way how we can make sure that she wears the earring. It's quite stressful. It's so stressful. But it's going to all work out. Yeah, hi. Another is not tall enough for the dress. Ali has created a beautiful scalloped hem and he is now being asked to cut it right off. That one?

23:05Okay, and then this one. Yes, you're going to cut this one. Bina. You're standing tall? Yes. Okay. No, cut it. Hold it because it's too tall. You're going to flip. So I'm holding it for now? For now, hold it because when you take off, we're going to cut it. Okay. And for now, I'm holding it for the wall? Yeah, because we're going to cut it when you take it off. Okay. The spider's web is beautiful, right? You're always drawn to it, but you look at it in a negative way, right? I want to bring a positive side to the spider's web. You are your own web. You can get yourself out of challenging situations.

23:43You can untangle them. And don't wait for other people to come and rescue you. You be the rescuer of your own life. Everything is designed and then designed on top of design. You see the black flowers. The black flowers are made of velvet and then they're each lined in sequins. Tiny, tiny, tiny little sequins like droplets of a flower. It's like a spider web after it rains. A beautiful one. Oh, I hope Ali doesn't have to cut the bottom of this. No, he won't. Look at these scalloped edges that are all lined with sequins. Even though Lara got funding, she's keeping an eye on the budget. She and her family members brought all the designs to Milan in their suitcases, and it's the first time she's seeing Muna's jewelry designs in real life.

24:24Muna made them in Scotland, bringing an unexpectedly British element to the show. Standing by a table near a window, Muna is carefully laying out the jewelry she has made. Yeah, so I bake them. I've got an aga. I'm sure that you know what they are. Yeah, because I know what an aga is. Yes, I do. I'm lost without it at the moment because in Dubai they don't have it. So it is the one where I used to bake all my... So you bake the designs for the Kurdish fashion show in an aga. Yeah, you see all these flowers and any other flowers that are in the jewelry. These are all baked, everything. It is so funny because in this context of this grand Italianate palace and these fantastical Kurdish designs, It's funny to think of jewelry being baked in a country aga.

25:09In a country aga, exactly, in a country aga. So, yeah, that's where things get done. The day is relentless. It's fitting after fitting after fitting, and Lara does not have a single moment to take a breath. Thank you to the world of Milana Shantin, a dream realized that last day, designer and creative director of Purish of Butcher. Enjoy the Milan show.

26:03Seeing them all together at last, the designs are amazing. The women look regal, powerful. They trail velvet capes and embroidered trains, with gold brocade and rich layering. Long sleeves that tie in the back, and crowns of flowers or jewels on their heads.

26:29One track played is the Kurdish song Ey Waten, here remixed by Dazar Abedi.

26:39The crowd is wrapped. At the end, three women come out in elegant red, white, and green dresses. The model in the center is holding a gold sun. when the audience realizes that they are forming the Kurdish flag. Everyone gets to their feet and applause breaks out.