HANAN HART

Morocco - 30-year-old Hanan Hajjaj is the mother of two. “My friend Yasmine told me that she wanted to set up a project. After searching for new ideas, we decided to sew portraits. When people saw the sewn portraits, they liked them. We like fashion, we are professional at sewing and we like drawing and painting. We began to sew portraits at home and announced our works through our relatives,” Hanan Hajjaj said.

“I wasn’t interested in office jobs. I have been a friend of Hanan for years so I told her how I didn’t like the jobs I worked for. She felt like me. She had left her job due to the pressure she had faced. And we decided to set up our own project,” said 26-year-old Yasmine Sedky, best friend of Hanan Hajjaj.

“The issue is not about setting up a project, it is about realizing our dream; standing on our own legs. We want to honor women by sewing and painting women’s portraits on clothes. This idea is new in Morocco and needs hard work. Working from home is an adventure for us and we learned how to introduce our works into the market,” said Yasmine while talking about their project.

Two women are planning to sew and paint the portraits of Moroccan women, who left their mark in history, such as Sayyida al-Hurra governed Chefchaouen and Tétouan (1515-1542 AD). “She is considered as one of the most important Moroccan women in the sixth century in Morocco.  Through such portraits, we will show how the Moroccan women’s traditions and costumes have changed over the ages,” Hanan Hajjaj said.

Yasmine Sedky draws scenes on the clothes. “I drew scenes that embody the situations of modern women … using swords with a modern hairstyle and sexy makeup with traditional clothes to highlight the aspects of Moroccan architecture.”

Sewing and drawing portraits on clothes is not an easy work for both Hanan and Yasmine because, it requires time and patience, “We finish a portrait in three or 15 days. We have to focus on them to finish them,” said Yasmine.

In the beginning, the two young women used different types of fabrics to sew and paint on them. They sew and paint portraits on shirts, blouses, jackets, etc. now.

Hanan and Yasmine told us their biggest dream; “We want to build our own brand and become stars in the fashion world.” They also sent a message to women, who want to start their own projects but don’t have courage; “Don’t afraid of trying, take the initiative to share the photos of your works, the important thing is determination and persistence. Our project was just a dream but we manage to realize it. Every woman can do whatever we have done.”