Mideast Culture

Fashion Line “Mohajababes” Brings Kaftan Couture to the Masses

With the rise of Middle Eastern-inspired fashion and the blend of “modest” dressing with high fashion, kaftans are no longer reserved for covering up at the beach.

International designers such as Camilla Frank, Emilio Pucci and Missoni have already refashioned the kaftan as couture according to Western silhouettes and textures; but, now young Americans of Middle Eastern heritage are reviving the kaftan to cater to the growing modest Muslim fashion market by using traditional embroideries and less revealing cuts.

Searching For Peace, An Iranian-American Filmmaker Finds His Voice

“There we were, climbing on top of this 30 foot concrete wall: right leg facing Israel, left leg dangling over Palestine–security cameras whirring away.” How did a couple of American kids end up on the fault line of the Middle-East’s defining conflict? “Just one of those ‘one-thing-led to-another’ sort of deals,” says Sohrab Pirayesh, 30, with a smirk and a few scars on his face.

Who’s Afraid of Abulkasem? Language Meets Race and Identity in Award-Winning Play INVASION!

“A man who has a language consequently possesses the world

expressed and implied by that language.”

~ Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks

When you hear the name, Abulkasem, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Think about it for a minute without any politically-correct editing.

I Heart Hamas: A Conversation with Palestinian-American Actress Jennifer Jajeh

Being a single woman in America is hard enough at times. But being a single Christian Palestinian-American visiting Ramallah at the start of the Second Intifada? With the ever-present backdrop of global politics and Israeli-Palestinian conflict, you’ve got grounds for a serious tragicomedy.

Scarves That Don’t Apologize: An Interview with 16R’s Nancy Hoque

Back in June, Aslan Media covered the Fashion Fighting Famine show in Irvine, California that left our style correspondent Alnas Zia thoroughly impressed with the variety of scarves, abayas and kaftans featured by local and international mideast fashion vendors. One brand stood out, SixteenR (16R), whose statement-making scarfs dominated the runway. Aslan Media sat down with the brand’s founder and Creative Director, Nancy Hoque, to discuss how she views the scarf as a “tool of empowerment” for women, and how her company redefines scarf-wear with a variegated range of edgy designs and artistic forms.