Dubai: Dubai-based Zeina Abou Chaaban loves pursuing what she calls her “social business”. Palestyle, her “social luxury” brand of bags, accessories and clothing, is perhaps more relevant now than ever before.
Ask her why and she promptly explains: “Palestyle has become one of the industry’s most recognised fashion brands today. But for every Palestyle design that is endorsed, a woman in a Palestinian refugee camp is being empowered.”
Of Palestinian origin herself, Zeina launched Palestyle along with her brother Ahmad Abou Chaaban five years ago. An alumna of the American University of Dubai, she gave up her job as a logistics planner with a prestigious corporate to find her social calling after a visit to a Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut where she was inspired by the embroidery crafts of some women.
The result was the fresh concept Palestyle which not only provides refugee women with embroidery job opportunities but also ploughs back a percentage of the sales into development projects in these camps.
“This is what gives us a social edge,” says Zeina, taking pride in the purpose behind the purses which are sold in such high-end department stores as Bloomingdales, House of Fraser and Etoile and seen on celebrities like Eva Longoria and Gwyneth Paltrow. “We’ve empowered over 100 refugee women by providing them with embroidery job opportunities. Not just that, over 4,000 refugees benefit as five per cent of our sales goes into social projects like the water tank exchange programme and olive tree plantation programme in the camps.”
Social responsibility
Zeina says over 250 olive trees have been planted in the West Bank to support farmers, and old water tanks have been replaced with new ones at the Al Baqaa refugee camp in Jordan. “We’ve also provided three schools with water pumps.”
Zeina says she was moved by the lack of infrastructure at the Al Baqaa camp, which prompted her to do something about it. “Around 200,000 refugees live in a one square km camp. They don’t have jobs, infrastructure or clean drinking water. So we thought it would be a good idea to install new water tanks.”
About the uniqueness of the Palestyle bags, Zeina says they employ fine leather with a touch of heritage. The colours are usually flashy, the cultural influence strong. “We use handmade embroidery and gold-plated Arabic calligraphy with messages celebrating the beauty of women. The idea is to feel special.”
The prices of the bags range from Dh1,500 to Dh4,000.
Besides handbags, Palestyle has also made a mark with its line of clothing and accessories. Here too, every piece draws from Arabic calligraphy and hand-made Palestinian embroidery.
Zeina says a new collection designed by her brother has been inspired by street design, incorporating other elements that are typical of Palestyle.
