Wikipedia

Najeeba Hayat

Najeeba Hayat (born 1990 or 1991) is a Kuwaiti footwear designer, entrepreneur, and activist.[3][4][5][6]

Najeeba Hayat
Born1990 or 1991
London, England[1][2]
CitizenshipKuwait
Occupation(s)Luxury footwear designer, activist
Years active2013–present

Early life edit

Hayat was born in 1990 or 1991 to a Kuwaiti family of Iranian descent.[7][8][9][10] She graduated from Al-Bayan Bilingual School (BBS) in 2008 and then completed an undergraduate degree in literature and political science at the Wesleyan University in 2013.[11][12] In 2014, she moved to Italy to study technical footwear pattern making at the historical Ars Sutoria school.[13][14][15][16]

Career edit

Fashion edit

Hayat is the founder, designer, and CEO of Liudmila, a luxury footwear company based in Milan.[17][18][19] The Italian company was founded in November 2013 and is sold at international luxury retailers like Browns, Farfetch, and Moda Operandi.[20][21][22] Hayat's company was named after the Russian character Liudmila Rutilova from Fyodor Sologub's The Petty Demon.[23][24][25][26] She was mainly inspired by a Russian literature class at Wesleyan University.[27] Her designs have been influenced by Victorian fashion, fairytale characters, and Iranian painter Mahmoud Farshchian.[20][28][29]

In 2017, she released a collaboration line with celebrity stylist Avigail Collins.[30] In 2018, she was featured in Chopard's Happy Hearts campaign alongside several other Middle Eastern women.[31] In 2019, she was named among the finalists of Fashion Trust Arabia.[32][33] In 2021, she was ranked number 36 in Forbes's Women Behind Middle Eastern Brands 2021 list.[34]

Activism edit

Outside of fashion design, Hayat has frequently utilized her brand's online platform for social justice activism, criticizing policymakers and human rights abuses.[35] Hayat is one of the co-founders of Kuwait's "MeToo movement".[36] She made her voice known in 2021 during women's rights protests after the murder of Farah Akbar.[37] Utilizing social media platforms such as Clubhouse and Instagram, she partnered with fellow Kuwaiti influencer Ascia Al Faraj to create an online campaign, #LanAsket, to raise awareness for harassment, domestic abuse and honor killing. The campaign encouraged Kuwaitis to post a video or photo wearing a black abaya or all-black attire to symbolize mourning.[38] At the onset of the 2023 Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, Hayat became a vocal critic of Israel Defense Forces' tactics against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, prompting her Instagram account @liudmilahq to be suspended for violating community guidelines.

Controversy edit

In October 2023, Israeli media reported that Hayat was directly involved in the removal of Israeli fashion designer Dorit Bar Or from Mytheresa, Net-a-Porter, and Matches Fashion following Bar Or's Islamophobic Instagram story that equated the adhan (Islamic call to prayer) with terrorism during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[39][40][41][42][43][44] In November 2023, Net-a-Porter and Mytheresa reinstated Bar Or after she applogized and clarified "I had not realized this warning video was led by the voice of Adhan in the background, I did not mean to offend anyone by that".[45]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Liudmila is the Kuwaiti Footwear Brand Making Comfort Sexy".
  2. ^ "The Newest Fantastical Shoes out of Italy". Vogue.
  3. ^ "Fanciful Fantasy". Bazaar Magazine.
  4. ^ "Obsessed with Victorian drama? You'll love this Kuwaiti shoe designer". Emirates Women.
  5. ^ "Interview: Kuwaiti Designer Najeeba Hayat on her Free-Spirited Shoe Brand Liudmila". Vogue. March 2016.
  6. ^ "One Shot with Kuwaiti Footwear Designer Najeeba Hayat". 3oud Magazine.
  7. ^ Rivka Azoulay (2020). Kuwait and Al-Sabah: Tribal Politics and Power in an Oil State. pp. 61–65. ISBN 9781838605063.
  8. ^ Mohammad al-Habib (2016). The Formation of the Shi ͑a Communities in Kuwait: Migration, Settlement and Contribution between 1880 and 1938 (PDF) (Thesis). Royal Holloway. p. 331.
  9. ^ The Shia Migration from Southwestern Iran to Kuwait: Push-Pull Factors during the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (Thesis). Georgia State University. 2010. p. 17.
  10. ^ "اسرة جوهر حيات". kuwait-history.net (in Arabic).
  11. ^ "BBS Alumni" (PDF).
  12. ^ "Hayat '13 Discusses High-End Shoe Line, Liudmila Footwear".
  13. ^ "Liudmila Brings The Victoriana Vibe To Footwear". Forbes.
  14. ^ "Najeeba Hayat: Cover Girl". The Talk.
  15. ^ "Editor's AW 2016 Picks From MENA Designers: Liudmila". Khaleejesque Magazine.
  16. ^ Francesca Giorgetti. "interview NAJEEBA HAYAT" (in Italian).
  17. ^ "Emerging Footwear Label Liudmila Unveils Collaboration with Rihanna's Stylist, Avigail Collins". Women's Wear Daily.
  18. ^ "Designer to Watch: Najeeba Hayat of Liudmila". Women's Wear Daily.
  19. ^ "Your New Instagram Stalk: Najeeba Hayat". Refinery29.
  20. ^ a b "Liudmila shoes by Najeeba Hayat". Vogue. March 2016.
  21. ^ "Meet the Kuwaiti Creative Behind Liudmila, the Shoes Rihanna's Stylist Loves so Much". Official Bespoke.
  22. ^ "נסטיה ליסנסקי עושה שמח באינסטגרם". atmag (in Hebrew). 19 July 2016.
  23. ^ "NAJEEBA HAYAT'S LIUDMILA". Visionaire World.
  24. ^ "Liudmila shoes: Interview with founder Najeeba Hayat". Vogue.
  25. ^ "3 علامات تجاريّة و4 نساء متمرّدات يكسرن قواعد الموضة". Marie Claire Arabia (in Arabic).
  26. ^ "20 Emerging Shoe Designers To Know".
  27. ^ To the Stars and Other Stories. Columbia University Press. 2023. ISBN 9780231553407.
  28. ^ "meet the shoe designer turning fairytales into footwear". i-D.
  29. ^ "Liudmila". Tagwalk.
  30. ^ "Liudmila x Avigail's First Shoe Collection Just Launched". whowhatwear.
  31. ^ "Chopard's Happy Hearts Honor Women with a Big Heart". Ayzaa Mode.
  32. ^ "Fashion Trust Arabia announces finalists".
  33. ^ "Liudmila".
  34. ^ "Najeeba Hayat". Forbes.
  35. ^ "Foreigners on the frontlines of pandemic in Arab Gulf states". PBS NewsHour. 2020-05-07. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  36. ^ Cynthia Enloe (2023). Twelve Feminist Lessons of War. ISBN 9781804440292.
  37. ^ "As Kuwait cracks down, a battle erupts over women's rights". NPR. February 21, 2022.
  38. ^ July 14; violence, 2021 | Shaistha Khan | Gender-based; International; women, Violence against. ""I Will Not Be Silenced": Women in Kuwait Fight Back Against Violence - Women's Media Center". womensmediacenter.com. Retrieved 2023-11-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  39. ^ "עיצוביה של דורית בר אור הוסרו מאתרי קניות לאחר שמשפיעניות קראו להחרימה". Haaretz (in Hebrew).
  40. ^ "חרם על דודו בר אור באתרי קניות בינלאומיים: "עומדים נגד אלימות וטרור בכל צורה"". Ynet (in Hebrew).
  41. ^ ""מקדמת תעמולה גזענית": המתקפה האינסטגרמית על דודו בר אור". Fashion Forward (in Hebrew).
  42. ^ "Luxury fashion platforms MyTheresa and Net-a-Porter boycott Israeli designer". Jewish News.
  43. ^ "Major Luxury Fashion Platforms MyTheresa and Net-a-Porter Boycott Israeli Designer Over Controversial Social Media Post". bollyinside.
  44. ^ Conti, Samantha (2023-10-31). "Net-a-porter Suspends Dodo Bar Or Collection Due to Designer's Video Post". WWD. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  45. ^ "Net-A-Porter and Mytheresa reinstate Israeli fashion label after designer clarifies controversial video post". New York Post.

External links edit

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