Assalamu alaikum - Palestinian designer Ayham Hassan holding on to culture with Im‑Mortal Magenta
Assalamu alaikum - just wanted to share this story of Ayham Hassan, a Palestinian designer who used his graduation show to speak for his people.
He graduated from Central Saint Martins in London and put out a collection called Im‑Mortal Magenta: The colour that doesn’t exist. The show was tense - L’Oréal sponsored it and there were protests outside - but inside Ayham’s work was a clear voice about life under occupation. He used a strong magenta across the looks and worked with traditional tatreez patterns, hand‑embroidered by women in the West Bank.
He explains the title simply: magenta is a colour our mind creates, it “doesn’t exist” in a pure wavelength, and for him that felt like a fitting image for the Palestinian state - something that exists but is denied. The colour became a kind of second skin, a protective layer, and the embroideries were like shields against the nightmare of war.
Ayham is from Ramallah. A tutor at Birzeit spotted his talent and urged him to apply to Central Saint Martins - he was one of about 50 chosen out of more than 3,000 applicants. Raising the fees was another battle: a crowdfunding plea was reshared by well‑known figures and eventually a sponsor covered part of his costs. He’s grateful for the help, but also struggled with the idea of studying fashion while people are suffering back home.
He says he found it hard to be creative at first - how do you make a fashion collection out of genocide and displacement? But by turning anger and helplessness into design, he started to address history, loss and modern displacement. His collection became a way to show “our reality as Palestinians,” the displacement, the daily horrors, but also the beauty and resilience of the people.
Some details from the collection: a lightweight magenta top with very long sleeves knotted at the chest, a full skirt with gossamer netting and a head covering edged in pink, inspired by lost Palestinian majdal silk. Protective motifs hand‑embroidered in Ramallah trim scarves. A glossy cerise dress with geometric embroidery, a chunky pink‑and‑grey scarf his mother knitted with bullets and flower motifs, a piece made from hundreds of thousands of rubber bands referencing slingshots used by children, and an oversized quilted jacket covered in tatreez that feels like armour and embrace.
One look was chosen for Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine at V&A Dundee, and the graduation show got big attention in the press. He says it felt powerful to see outlets name Palestine and speak plainly about what’s happening. Ayham also won some awards and funding opportunities to help him set up a studio in London and to support more work for women in the West Bank. He was offered a prize from L’Oréal but turned it down on moral grounds - he couldn’t accept it in good conscience.
At the degree show, while protests were outside, many of his models from the Palestinian diaspora wrote “Free Palestine” and “Divest Now” on their hands and raised them as they walked - it wasn’t planned, it was their choice, and that moment made the show more than fashion.
May Allah make things easy for those suffering and grant justice. I thought this was a moving example of using art and faith in culture to keep a people’s story alive.
https://www.thenationalnews.co