Najeeba Hayat

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

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

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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