Glitter and Glamour: Sulaimani holds Kurdish fashion design contest

SULAIMANI (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province was wrapped in sparkle and beauty on Friday as dozens attended a Kurdish fashion design contest to select the best Kurdish traditional style and award the best designers.

Many local Kurdish officials and intellectuals attended the event, which Kurdistan 24 sponsored.

The designers showcased women’s Kurdish traditional dresses in a more modern style with four judges deciding on the best, trendiest outfits.

Kani Yassin won the contest for her exquisite design. Emadelddin Ahmed and Awara Jamal finished in second and third place respectively.

“I am ecstatic and proud that my hard work has paid off,” Yassin told Kurdistan 24.

The contest winner explained that her dress was a Sulaimani design based on Hapsa Khan’s style, “but it has been modernized to attract and motivate today’s Kurdish women to wear it.”

Hapsa Khan was an early Kurdish feminist, teacher, and nationalist leader who founded the first female school in Iraq and established the Kurdish Women’s Association. She was born in 1881 and passed away in 1953.

Kurdish traditional dress is still fashionable among men and women in the Kurdistan Region with many people wearing it on a daily basis. Moreover, the designs and styles often vary from one area to another.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany