Kurdish clothing rising in popularity

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – The expanding Kurdish diaspora in Europe and the United States have increased the demands for the ready-to-wear Kurdish customs in Western countries. The garments are decorative and also serve as a symbol of national identity.

During the recent years, social media has also helped popularize Kurdish fashion in the diaspora.

A sewing workshop in Diyarbakir, also known as Amed among Kurds, tailors Kurdish clothes that are exported to the US, France, Norway, and Portugal.

The workshop manager, Muhammad Kaymak in an interview with Turkish Anadolu News Agency said they receive orders for an average two hundred Kurdish outfits from Europe per month. Each garment costs between fifty to four hundred Euros [about $55 - 437].”

“People [Our Kurdish customers] are particularly interested in the styles that are common in Diyarbakir, Shirnakh, and Hakkari provinces,” Kaymak explained.

Kaymak says that he and his employers are not exporting Kurdish clothes only for profit but also for introducing the beauty of Kurdish culture to the world and for attracting tourists to Kurdish cities.

Though for many years wearing Kurdish clothes were forbidden in some parts of Kurdistan, especially in Northern Kurdistan (Turkey), Kurds insist on maintaining their culture through cherishing their language and traditions.

In late March 2015, Turkey’s Party of Justice and Progress (AKP) banned Shal u Shepik and Puci, a kind of scarf that traditionally Kurdish men use, calling it “uniforms for illegal organizations,” referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). It also announced that people who wear them will be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

In response to the banning, some Kurdish Parliament Members in Turkey wore Shal u Shepik to work, declaring this is not “a uniform,” rather “our cultural heritage.”

The many different styles of Kurdish clothing, especially the variety in women’s dresses, have made it suitable to present them in fashion shows for the international audiences. For instance,Kurdish Women’s Society showcased  Kurdish clothes during a Kurdish Film Festival in Melbourne, Australia on March 21 and in Vancouver, Canada,  in August 11, 2007. The society also arranged a Kurdish clothes show in Hackney Museum as part of their Kurdish Cultural Heritage Project in the same year.