Although fruitful for finding embroiderers and weavers, her Facebook search hadn’t led her to an ideal suits and blazers tailor just yet, like the one she would need to create Aftab’s piece. In February 2021, Mjalli was strolling through the old city in Nablus when she serendipitously struck up conversation with a friendly tour guide, Basel. Mjalli was on the hunt for a new tailor when she met Basel. In true Arab hospitality he invited Mjalli along with him on a trip through Nablus, to meet some of the artisans he knew. It was then that she was introduced to Khalid, Amin, and Hamdi (who, like Basel, prefer not to share their last names), three brothers living in the Askar refugee camp. The trio would eventually tailor Aftab’s outfit for her performance at Barbican Hall.
“I’ve never seen such detail-oriented and excellent work when it comes to suiting,” Mjalli says. “All of our suits and blazers are made in the Askar refugee camp. Our embroiderers work also in a small village outside Nablus. All of our T-shirts and sweatshirts are made in Bethlehem and we have weavers who make fabric in Gaza and weavers who make bags in Hebron with additional tailors in Ramallah.”
While Nöl’s story is deeply tied to its Palestinian roots and history, it cannot be separated from its Palestinian reality living under the Israeli occupation. Now, 75 years after the Nakba, the movement of people and goods among Palestinian territories remains highly restricted.
Without the freedom to mail and ship products between tailors, weavers, and artisans, Mjalli pays taxi drivers an extra fee to transport Nöl’s materials from territory to territory. When that’s unavailable, Mjalli gets behind the wheel herself and spends hours—sometimes days—moving her textiles back and forth. Despite this, she’s never been able to meet her weavers working out of Gaza, and when it’s time to ship her products out of Palestine, Mjalli can only do so in her home city, Ramallah.
“Shipping is always a nightmare,” says Mjalli. “Our products are often randomly detained by Israeli authorities and held up in checkpoints for days or even weeks at a time. With unexpected border closures by the Israeli military and national strikes, I can never guarantee to my customers when their product will actually arrive.”