Darzah, Creating Economic Opportunities for Refugee and Low-income Women artists.

Darzah is not like other shoes and accessories projects. This special project is a non-profit, ethical fashion brand specializing in Palestinian “tatreez” embroidery, a centuries-old art form, traditionally passed down from mother to daughter. It’s based in Zababdeh, a village located in the northern West Bank. This project was established by Dr. Janette Habashi and her aim was to create economic opportunities for refugee and low-income women artisans and to celebrate tatreez embroidery and Palestinian cultural heritage!

What makes this project very special and unique is their aim to provide training and job opportunities for some of the most marginalized women in the northern region specifically, where poverty rates are especially high. In 2015, unemployment rates for young women in the West Bank were as high as 63%. They aim, primarily, to create sustainable economic opportunities for refugees and low-income women in Palestine.

Want to know another reason why this project is very unique? It’s 100% made in Palestine. All of the leather in their products is sourced from a family-run leather manufacturer in Khalil/Hebron. Their artists in the Zababdeh region collaborate with highly skilled shoe and bag makers in Khalil/Hebron to create beautiful, high-quality products that are fashion-forward, ethically made, and inspire conversations about tatreez. 

All of their beautiful hand-embroidered products scream Palestinian Heritage. Darzah, which means stitch in English, is such an important symbol of Palestinian cultural heritage. Darzah team makes tatreez embroidery more fashionable with their incredible shoes and accessories designs. They see a huge opportunity for Palestinian tatreez embroidery to thrive in the fashion and home decor categories.

Each Darzah product is a conversation piece, designed to celebrate the art of tatreez and women’s empowerment in Palestine.

“We need to create opportunities for refugee tatreez artists to develop their embroidery and design skills so that tatreez artists throughout the West Bank can find jobs.” Darzah Team

Each motif has significance in Palestinian culture, and it’s so important to create demand for hand-embroidered products so that they can be known and create jobs for women artists.

As a non-profit, building a brand is a lot of hard work, and it requires resources. They have successfully launched the first collection of handbags, scarves, jewelry, and shoes, but they need funding to build inventory and market the products so that they can create a sustainable business. You can see more of this unique project and help them to grow on Darzah.