Olivia Rodrigo’s Pink Dress Saved a Palestinian Fashion Label From Shutting Down

An off-the-shoulder pale pink minidress Olivia Rodrigo wore at an event in Southern California last month saved a Palestinian fashion label from closure, the label’s founder claims.

According to designer Yasmeen Mjalli of Nöl Collective, the singer’s order came just as she was considering shutting down the brand. A shipment of naturally dyed, handwoven wool the designer ordered from India for the brand’s autumn collection was detained by Israeli customs and ultimately destroyed, Vogue Arabia reports.

Mjalli tried buying a replacement in Jerusalem but was unable to do so because of the road closures by the Israeli army from Ramallah. “Maybe we should stop, maybe this is our last effort,” Mjalli remembered thinking.

Then Rodrigo’s team approached the label to design a dress for the artist to wear at her first Daisy Chain Fields festival. They shared preferences for a silhouette that should resemble Rodrigo’s typical look and requested pink, leaving all other details up to the designer, as stated by Refinery29. Mjalli chose a dusty-rose shade of pink, raw silk, and embroidered motifs.

Only having a few days to manufacture the garment, Mjalli had to use whatever was available in Ramallah. Nine artisans made the minidress, passing it from hand to hand in Bethlehem until it finally left the area. Unable to deliver the dress via courier in time, Mjalli said two strangers took the garment in their luggage and flew it to Los Angeles.

On August 28, Rodrigo appeared in the minidress at a press event in Santa Monica, California, one day before the singer’s Daisy Chain Fields festival at Great Park in Irvine. The dress had flutter sleeves, a ruffled neckline, a flared skirt, and tatreez embroidery of birds and interconnected daisy chains.

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Calling it a “divine intervention” and saying challenges will always exist, Mjalli said those who learn to adapt are always rewarded.

Based in Ramallah, Nöl Collective is a fashion brand by Palestinian-American designer Yasmeen Mjalli, who opened her first company, BabyFist, in 2017 and rebranded it to Nöl Collective in 2020. The brand name comes from the Arabic word for loom, a tribute to al-Majdal, the Palestinian city known for its weaving tradition, which was later destroyed in 1948.

Working with family-owned sewing workshops, artisan studios, and women’s cooperatives throughout the West Bank and Gaza, the brand uses traditional Palestinian practices such as tatreez embroidery and Majdalawi weaving. Mjalli once said that the brand is the only source of livelihood for many families.

Fashion is always political, no matter where it is produced, Mjalli claims, adding that the visibility conveyed the message that Palestinians are still here and not forgotten.

Since Rodrigo’s performance in the dress, interest in Nöl Collective has spiked. Mjalli says her concerns about the supply chain and freedom of movement remain unchanged.