Najeeba Hayat Explained
Birth Date: | 1990 or 1991 |
Birth Place: | London, England[1] [2] |
Citizenship: | Kuwait |
Occupation: | Luxury footwear designer, activist |
Years Active: | 2013–present |
Najeeba Hayat (born 1990 or 1991) is a Kuwaiti footwear designer, entrepreneur, and activist.[3] [4] [5] [6]
Early life
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
Fashion
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
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
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
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Liudmila is the Kuwaiti Footwear Brand Making Comfort Sexy.
- Web site: The Newest Fantastical Shoes out of Italy. Vogue.
- Web site: Fanciful Fantasy. Bazaar Magazine.
- Web site: Obsessed with Victorian drama? You'll love this Kuwaiti shoe designer. Emirates Women.
- Web site: Interview: Kuwaiti Designer Najeeba Hayat on her Free-Spirited Shoe Brand Liudmila . Vogue. March 2016.
- Web site: One Shot with Kuwaiti Footwear Designer Najeeba Hayat. 3oud Magazine.
- Book: Rivka Azoulay. Kuwait and Al-Sabah: Tribal Politics and Power in an Oil State. 61–65. 2020. 9781838605063.
- The Formation of the Shi ͑a Communities in Kuwait: Migration, Settlement and Contribution between 1880 and 1938 . Mohammad al-Habib . . 331 . 2016.
- The Shia Migration from Southwestern Iran to Kuwait: Push-Pull Factors during the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries . . 17 . 2010.
- Web site: اسرة جوهر حيات. kuwait-history.net. Arabic.
- Web site: BBS Alumni.
- Web site: Hayat '13 Discusses High-End Shoe Line, Liudmila Footwear.
- Web site: Liudmila Brings The Victoriana Vibe To Footwear. Forbes.
- Web site: Najeeba Hayat: Cover Girl. The Talk.
- Web site: Editor's AW 2016 Picks From MENA Designers: Liudmila. Khaleejesque Magazine.
- Web site: interview NAJEEBA HAYAT. Francesca Giorgetti. Italian.
- News: Emerging Footwear Label Liudmila Unveils Collaboration with Rihanna's Stylist, Avigail Collins. Women's Wear Daily.
- News: Designer to Watch: Najeeba Hayat of Liudmila. Women's Wear Daily.
- News: Your New Instagram Stalk: Najeeba Hayat. Refinery29.
- Web site: Liudmila shoes by Najeeba Hayat. Vogue. March 2016.
- Web site: Meet the Kuwaiti Creative Behind Liudmila, the Shoes Rihanna's Stylist Loves so Much. Official Bespoke.
- Web site: נסטיה ליסנסקי עושה שמח באינסטגרם. atmag. 19 July 2016. Hebrew.
- Web site: NAJEEBA HAYAT'S LIUDMILA. Visionaire World.
- Web site: Liudmila shoes: Interview with founder Najeeba Hayat. Vogue.
- Web site: 3 علامات تجاريّة و4 نساء متمرّدات يكسرن قواعد الموضة. Marie Claire Arabia. Arabic.
- Web site: 20 Emerging Shoe Designers To Know.
- Book: To the Stars and Other Stories. 2023. Columbia University Press . 9780231553407 .
- Web site: meet the shoe designer turning fairytales into footwear. i-D.
- Web site: Liudmila. Tagwalk.
- Web site: Liudmila x Avigail's First Shoe Collection Just Launched. whowhatwear.
- Web site: Chopard's Happy Hearts Honor Women with a Big Heart. Ayzaa Mode.
- Web site: Fashion Trust Arabia announces finalists.
- Web site: Liudmila.
- Web site: Najeeba Hayat. Forbes.
- Web site: 2020-05-07 . Foreigners on the frontlines of pandemic in Arab Gulf states . 2023-11-20 . PBS NewsHour . en-us.
- Book: Cynthia Enloe. Twelve Feminist Lessons of War. 2023. 9781804440292.
- Web site: February 21, 2022 . As Kuwait cracks down, a battle erupts over women's rights . NPR.
- Web site: 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 . 2023-11-20 . womensmediacenter.com . en.
- Web site: עיצוביה של דורית בר אור הוסרו מאתרי קניות לאחר שמשפיעניות קראו להחרימה. Haaretz. Hebrew.
- Web site: חרם על דודו בר אור באתרי קניות בינלאומיים: "עומדים נגד אלימות וטרור בכל צורה". Ynet. Hebrew.
- Web site: "מקדמת תעמולה גזענית": המתקפה האינסטגרמית על דודו בר אור. Fashion Forward. Hebrew.
- Web site: Luxury fashion platforms MyTheresa and Net-a-Porter boycott Israeli designer. Jewish News.
- Web site: Major Luxury Fashion Platforms MyTheresa and Net-a-Porter Boycott Israeli Designer Over Controversial Social Media Post. bollyinside.
- Web site: Conti . Samantha . 2023-10-31 . Net-a-porter Suspends Dodo Bar Or Collection Due to Designer's Video Post . 2023-11-20 . WWD . en-US.
- Web site: Net-A-Porter and Mytheresa reinstate Israeli fashion label after designer clarifies controversial video post. New York Post.