“When young people see me, they also want to wear these clothes. We must not forget our origins,” Aleda Eva Ablay, a Kurdish designer from Turkey, told Rudaw’s Hevidar Zana on Thursday.
A few days ago, footage of Ablay donning Kurdish clothes in Istanbul’s world-famous, bustling Istiklal Street surfaced on social media. The images and videos went viral on several social media platforms.
The designer said she personally designs her Kurdish clothes and walks through the streets of Istanbul wearing them to remind people of the history of the Kurds.
Her work has inspired many Kurds around the world to wear their traditional attire.
“They are asking me [for the clothes] from here to Europe and the US,” she said. “Even when they ask, money is never a problem. They say 'we want to show people our Kurdish identity and not forget our origin,'” Ablay said.
Originally from the city of Kiziltepe (Qoser in Kurdish) in Mardin province, Ablay moved to Istanbul to pursue a modeling career and open a shop where she sells her products, including Kurdish clothes.
