By Jules Lavallee – September 16, 2020
Los Angeles, California (The Hollywood Times) 09/16/2020- Saturday, Sept 19, 2020 at 8 PM PST, you won’t want to miss the Kurdish solo segment “The hidden beauty of Kurdistan” represented by Zarya Azadi at the House of iKons digital show. www.houseofikons.com
House of iKons Fashion Week London live shows have pulled in over 1,000 people per day in attendance, with private clients, buyers, department stores, and boutiques, also in attendance, high-net-worth guests.
Interview with Yadê Couture by Sadiye Demir originally from Mardin, Kurdistan now living in Bern, Switzerland
How did you start your journey?
As a child, I grew up in a region where our everyday life was led by war. My father couldn’t send me and my sisters to school because he was afraid for our lives. As a child, I sewed clothes for my dolls and learned to knit by hand from my mother and sister. When I was around 14 years old, a tailor came to our village to teach us, children, how to sew. I was very happy at the time and dreamed of becoming a fashion designer, although I knew that this dream was far stretched from where I came from. Unfortunately, our tailoring teacher left us due to the war, although she only gave us lessons twice. When she left, I almost gave up on my dream of becoming a designer. My grandmother saw how disappointed I was and had her old sewing machine repaired for me. That motivated me to continue following my dream.
I had hope again and started to learn to sew myself. Over time I have learned how to measure, cut, and sew by hand without any patterns. When I fled to Switzerland, I was finally able to realize my dream and completed my training and further education as a tailor and opened my own tailor boutique in Bern in Switzerland. Today, I am in the process of designing my own first fashion collection for the House of iKons Fashion Show in London for the Kurdish solo segment “The hidden beauty of Kurdistan”.
Tell us about the Kurdish solo segment “The hidden beauty of Kurdistan” represented by Zarya Azadi at the House of iKons.
The Kurdish solo segment “The hidden beauty of Kurdistan”, which is represented by Zarya Azadi, is unique and new in this form, in which several Kurdish fashion designers are presented and can present their latest fashion collections at an international fashion show. I am glad that I can be part of this show because with it I can support my Kurdish community by being able to nourish the art and culture of our people together as a creative team and individually as a designer. Another dream of mine is to give something back to my people by giving women from Kurdistan the opportunity to work for me. I would like to teach them how to sew and give them paid jobs and also provide health support as most of them experienced traumatic events due to the war, rape, and torture. It is therefore an honor for me to take part in the “The hidden beauty of Kurdistan” to get one step closer to my dream of giving back to the community.
Tell us about the upcoming London Fashion Week and the House of iKons. Why is this show so important to you?
The House of iKons Fashion Show during London Fashion Week is very important to me as I can present my very first collection on an international platform like the House of iKons. This fashion show in particular gives a platform to emerging designers like me which I am very grateful for. It is the dream of every designer to be able to take part in an international fashion show in order to be able to prove their skills, talents, and creativity. It is definitely a dream come true.
What do you enjoy the most about being a designer?
Designing is like art for me, being creative, designing, and creating new clothing and finally seeing the work of art gives me absolute satisfaction.
Describe your designs in a sentence.
My own style preference is comfortable and stylish. My way of thinking is: The world is very stressful these days; at least our clothes should be comfortable.