Giving back: This Lebanese fashion designer is creating winter clothes for refugees

Photo: Lebanese fashion designer, Aiisha Ramadan

Aiisha Ramadan had wanted to become a fashion designer ever since she was a young girl dressing dolls with her cousins. Today, she’s dressing celebrities like TV presenter Raya Abi Rached, Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai and Hollywood actress Kristin Chenoweth, and the Lebanese native is now turning her skills towards a new challenge—giving back to the community.

Photo: Celebrities dressed by Aiisha Ramadan

Talahum, which is Arabic for unity is an initiative to eradicate hunger, provide clothing suitable for challenging weather conditions, and create employment through local manufacturing in the Arab region. Aiisha launched the initiative on her birthday last year, signalling a new direction for herself and her work.

She has now partnered with the non-profit Egyptian Clothing Bank to design and manufacture coats that convert into sleeping bags for refugees living in harsh conditions across the region. One of the main objectives of this partnership, Aiisha explained, was to produce these coats regionally, creating employment opportunities that benefit society organically.

“It all started when I won the Sound of Difference campaign by Philips Arabia. Basically, I could donate the winnings to a charity of my choice, so I decided to donate it to end hunger,” she told us. “We faced a lot of political and admin issues in trying to reach refugees, so as a final option, we went to Egypt, which has a lot of poor areas.”

It was there that Aiisha was introduced to Dr Moez El Shohdi, co-founder and CEO of the Egyptian Food Bank. “Dr Moez is an incredible guy, [and he] asked me to branch out in my thinking and design clothing for his clothing banks. I said I would love to, but that I had a dream, and I hoped he would help me to make it come true,” she said with a smile.

Aiisha had read about a girl in the United States who had created a coat that turns into a sleeping bag for homeless people. The coats had been made by female prisoners who were paid for their work, so the entire project was beneficial to the community.

“We realised we need to learn from such things and apply them to our region. In two weeks, I had the samples, and we decided to promote the project aggressively as we needed support from the public.”

Photo: Aiisha Ramadan's "sleeping coat"

Aiisha’s “sleeping coats” are all made by women—housewives, widows, unemployed women, etc.—in their own houses in Egypt. This generates income for these women, whose wages are paid out of donations, and the coats are then distributed to the poor.

“I still remember Dr Moez telling me that once I worked on something like this, I would never be able to step away. Not that I ever want to, but I must say, working to help people is one of the most addictive things on the planet. You get such a high that you want to continue doing it forever,” she smiled proudly.

ROADBLOCKS

But it was easier said than done, especially in this region. For Aiisha, the complication of permits and cultural mindsets makes it difficult to pursue what she really wants to do.

“It’s all much bigger than me though,” she said wryly. “We had an amazing launch, and people were very positive with their feedback about it, but at the end, we have very few donations. Ninety-nine per cent of the people who hear about Talahum say it’s a great idea, but only a handful makes an actual donation.”

The problem, she believes, lies in the mentality in the region. “Take the story of the Syrian refugee who sold pencils with his daughter,” she said. “When it came out, people from the Western world got together and donated money to him. It’s easier for Westerners to get together and actually give money for causes as they understand that with one simple donation you can change millions of lives. In this region, people delay it until zakat time. Zakat is amazing, but what we are trying to say is that you can do more.”

“You can choose your charity—creating homes or donating food or sleeping bags—but we need to seed this mentality of giving into the minds of our children today to make a real difference tomorrow.”

LOOKING AHEAD

But the one lesson Aiisha takes away from this is to never give up.

“A lot of people challenged me on the cost of the bag, saying it would be cheaper if [it were] produced in China,” she continued (a size small coat currently costs EGP 150, or $17).

“Yes, it would be, but then that would beat the whole purpose of the project. We are trying to make this project so big that we give hundreds and thousands of people in the Arab world the opportunity to work and make their living from this. Going someplace else for my production would kill the whole point.”

Photo: Aiisha’s “sleeping coats” are all made by women—housewives, widows, unemployed women, etc.—in their own houses in Egypt whose wages are paid out of donations. The coats are then distributed to the poor.

“It’s ok to listen to feedback,” she added, “but you need to stick to your principles.” Aiisha finds inspiration to go on in herself, as a woman, a mother, and a professional who juggles a job and a business.

“It’s important for me to see the beauty, the positive in everything around me. I stay humble, as I spend my day hearing about what’s happening around the world, and I can feel the pain people are going through.”

A “woman of energy by choice”, as she calls herself, Aiisha feels she is too young to sit back and let the world run unnoticed. “I want the world to be inspired by my dynamism. I want to leave a legacy, not just for my daughter, but for the world as well.”

And this legacy begins with her next project, a whole new clothing line she is designing for the Clothing Bank. This collection of winter apparel will include pieces for the entire family and will be distributed to those in need in the coming year.

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