Kurdish designer’s haute couture showcased at Paris Fashion Week 2023

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In the presence of cheerful attendees, models on Monday presented the haute couture designs of Lara Dizayee for the first time in France’s Paris Fashion Week.

Several guests from the Kurdistan Region attended the famed show, where Kurdish designs were presented to a global audience for the first time, along with high-end brands such as Fendi, Dior, Valentino, and Giorgio Armani.

“As a Kurd, I am happy and proud that my Kurdish brand is showcased along with global brands,” Dizayee, wearing a Kurdish outfit, told Kurdistan 24 in Paris on Monday.

She was contacted by the show’s organizers after Vogue Arabia, the Middle Eastern version of the US fashion magazine, wrote about the Kurdish designer in late April, Dizayee told Kurdistan 24.

Dizayee’s colorful clothes aim to preserve traditional identity amid the rapidly evolving fashion industry.

Agir [Fire], Zarya [Ocean], and Khawn [Dream], each of which has its own story, were the design collections that Dizayee presented at the show, she said.  

The designer is the daughter of the renowned Kurdish poet and singer, Homer Dizayee, whose music was played at the event.

“It is a source of pride for Kurdistan first, then her family and herself,” the singer told Kurdistan 24. 

Coming from the renowned Dizayee family, Lara has always sought to bring traditional Kurdish wear to the global stage. She currently works in the oil and gas sector, in addition to her fashion business.

To introduce the Kurdistan Region’s historical and natural landmarks, Dizayee showcases her designs and models at the ancient Erbil Citadel — a 6,000-year-old continuously-inhabited settlement — as well as at Safeen Mountain.

“[I] share the story of my people through fashion,” she has previously told Kurdistan 24.

Additional reporting by Kurdistan 24 Europe reporter Barzan Hassan