Feature: Palestinian fashion designer in Gaza dreams of exporting products

Palestinian Nermine Dimiati, 28-year-old fashion designer of Gaza, was wholly engaged in her little atelier in the city, scissoring colorful pieces of cloths and fabrics trying to turn it into fashionable garments and women's dresses and gowns.

Almost every day, the smart woman receives her customers at her humble atelier in a Gaza apartment she has recently rented for her small project, which has always been her dream since she was a child. There are six other workers in the small atelier, and all of them are university graduates in the Gaza Strip.

"The idea has been always in my mind since I was a kid. I always like very much scissoring clothes and dream to change the models and fashions of my clothes," she said as she was measuring the size of one of her customers, who came to the atelier to design a new dress.

The professional fashion designer went on saying that "when I grew up, the idea of fashion designing developed by looking at so many pictures and images on the Internet and various worldwide fashion design websites."

Dimiati, who earned her bachelor's degree in history from one of the Gaza universities, held two exhibitions for her products and she really wanted to market them abroad. She said that she has her own Facebook page on which she publishes pictures of her dresses.

"You know what my dream is? My dream is to enlarge my atelier to become a huge fabrics factory that includes a permanent fashion exhibition and employs so many graduates who can't find a job in the Gaza Strip."

She began her atelier first at home and then she rented an apartment in a building in Gaza city and called it "Voile Moda" which is a French name that means in French the fashion of Hijab (Islamic scarf). She expressed the hope that one day she will be able to join Arab and international fashion exhibitions.

Asked about how the conservative society in the Gaza Strip looks upon her, she said "now we are in 2015 and a professional job for a female has become normal. Women in the Gaza Strip are doing all kinds of jobs, and now it is not a problem at all for a woman to be a fashion designer."

"One of the major problems I face in my career is the lack of materials. For example, tools and clothes are not available in the Gaza Strip because of the Israeli siege that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip for almost eight years," said Dimiati, who called on the Palestinian government to support her project.

The people in Gaza have been suffering from high rates of poverty and unemployment, according to international organizations' figures, because of the Israeli blockade which had been imposed on the coastal enclave following the violent takeover of the territory by Hamas in 2007.

The UN earlier issued a report warning that in 2020, the Gaza Strip would turn into a territory that is hard to live in due to the shortage of water resources, lack of jobs and deterioration in medical, social and educational services.

Dozens of young women visit the atelier of Dimiati to design all colorful dresses and gowns, instead of visiting and shopping in the market that imports all kinds of dresses from Israel and other countries.

Suzan, Gaza female student and one of Dimiati's atelier customers, told Xinhua that she prefers to deal with female designers because she came from a conservative family. She added that "having female workers at this atelier encouraged me to come here."

According to a report conducted by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics in March last year, the unemployment among females in the Palestinian territories climbed to 35 percent, while it was 14 percent in 2001.

Haifaa el-Agha, Palestinian minister of women's affairs in the unity government, told Xinhua that the small projects established by women in the enclave show how they are so strong and determined to face all kinds of difficulties in their life.

"Women in the Gaza Strip are so powerful because they have been able to steadfast amid the difficult living conditions the strip is passing through due to the consequences of the tight Israeli blockade imposed on the enclave," the minister said. Endit