New Creative Attempt of Young Afghan Designers

Surpassing the boundaries Afghan women still want to be free to wear clothes with style and younger generation trying to revive traditional handicrafts and art.
Though Afghan society ravaged by years of war and till deeply conservative stream of customers comes through the doors of the fashion studio of Rahiba Rahimi. The bold, intricate designs of her are applied to mannequins and hang on rails around her showroom in Kabul.

Rahimi, 25, is the lead designer and co-owner of Laman, a clothing label that she helped build five years ago in the Afghan capital. Her clients are mostly Afghan women and men, along with a few foreigners who work in the aid-driven economy of Kabul.
“We often work together and design together with customers because Afghans are very good at fashion. Even now, when you see on the street, you will see how Afghans express their creativity in colors and styles. We are here to help with the quality of that expression, with design, details, fabric.”
“I have not studied fashion design, it came about based on my love of colors and patterns and, in a broader sense, my love of culture and heritage.”

Clothing styles in the country have traditionally been influenced by social norms formed over decades of conflict, violence, and extremism. Yet that hasn’t deterred a younger generation of Afghans from pushing the boundaries, while also attempting to revive traditional handicraft and art.
“Fashion for me represents a strong statement in a conservative society. It is an expression of myself as a woman and as an Afghan youth. I should have the right to wear the colours I want to wear. It is a sign of freedom,” Rahimi explains.
>Juthy Saha