Socially conscious Palestyle is for fashionistas with big hearts

When the design-loving siblings Zeina and Ahmed Abou Chabaan teamed up to launch a label five years ago, they were driven by their conscience and not by profit. Capitalising on the skills of artisans across the region, their brand Palestyle is all about paying back to the communities that help produce its collections. We delved deeper to discover how the co-owner, Zeina, is “empowering women, one thread at a time”.

For those unfamiliar with the brand, tell us the story behind it.

I founded the business in 2009 along with my brother Ahmed who is the brand’s creative director. My inspiration was a visit to refugee camps in Lebanon. It was my first encounter with refugee life and I quickly understood what harsh living it was. We’re talking thousands of people living on top of each other in a one-kilometre- square space – that’s pretty intense. The basic infrastructure was very poor, from water and sewerage to electricity systems. On top of that, there were no job opportunities for these educated communities. However, I did meet many inspirational women there, who were doing embroidery, spreading their culture, Arab heritage and generating a source of income at the same time. Through their talent they were being empowered.

How many refugee artisans have you brought into the business?

So far we have empowered about 100 women through embroidery-related job opportunities. We’re focusing on a refugee camp in Amman, Jordan. In addition, five per cent of our sales goes toward the camp and development projects.

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Socially conscious Palestyle is for fashionistas with big hearts