Olivia Rodrigo’s decision to commission a dress from Palestinian fashion label Nöl Collective proved to be far more than a statement of solidarity.
Founder Yasmeen Mjalli was thinking about shutting down the entire operation after Israeli customs destroyed one of her fabric shipments earlier this year. Then, just when she needed it the most, the popstar’s request came in and gave the company another lifeline.
The 23-year-old wore the designer’s pale pink minidress during a press presentation ahead of the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival last month. Made in the West Bank, the raw silk garment featured traditional Palestinian tatreez embroidery depicting birds and interconnected daisies.
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Mjalli told Vogue Arabia that making the piece meant negotiating the everyday restrictions of working in the occupied territories, where sourcing material and traveling between cities can all become major obstacles. Established in 2020, Nöl Collective works with women’s cooperatives, sewing workshops and artisans across Palestine in an effort to preserve traditional craft. Many of its goods are made from imported natural fibers, leaving the initiative particularly vulnerable to disruptions at the border.
Shortly before Rodrigo’s team reached out, Mjalli had ordered naturally dyed handwoven wool from India for Nöl’s autumn collection. However, that shipment was held by Israeli customs for months before eventually being destroyed. When she later tried traveling to Jerusalem for replacement material, the roads that would’ve taken her there had been closed by the military.
“I was genuinely like, maybe we should stop, maybe this is our last effort,” she recalled, describing Rodrigo’s request as “divine intervention.”
With less than a week to complete the task, Mjalli and her colleague began searching Ramallah until they found what she described as the only natural fiber available at the market: raw silk that happened to come in a pale shade of pink, which fortunately turned out to be the perfect fit for her client.
When Palestinian laborers lost their work permits after the Oct. 7 attacks, many households in the West Bank lost crucial earnings. With more women subsequently turning to embroidery, Mjalli said Nöl remains the only source of income for many families. That being the case, Rodrigo’s dress moved through a dense network of craftspeople and passed through a total of nine pairs of hands before it was ready.
Getting it to Los Angeles in time for Daisy Chain Fields, however, presented one final challenge. With no courier in the territory that could have delivered the garment on schedule, Nöl ultimately found two strangers willing to carry it in their luggage and hand-deliver it in California.
Rodrigo unveiled the finished piece ahead of the festival, which she launched on Aug. 29 at Great Park in Irvine. The event assembled an all-women lineup that included Chappell Roan, Doechii, Bikini Kill, Mitski, Garbage, and The Breeders, along with appearances from Stevie Nicks, Sarah McLachlan and Alanis Morissette. The core goal was to connect music with education and advocacy around issues affecting women and girls, while directing its net proceeds toward organizations working in reproductive healthcare, maternal health, legal advocacy, economic justice, and related areas.
Supporting Nöl further expanded Rodrigo’s efforts to stand firm with the disenfranchised, although she has previously addressed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“There are no words to describe the heartbreak I feel witnessing the devastation that is being inflicted upon innocent people in Palestine,” she wrote on Instagram last year, condemning the widespread suffering permeating the Strip. Sharing that she had donated to help victims, the “deja vu” hitmaker also linked to UNICEF and encouraged fans to do the same.
Rodrigo returned to the subject this May during an interview on The New York Times‘ Popcast, during which she explained her natural reaction to the bloodshed despite not being an expert on geopolitics.
“I think it would just be disingenuous to be like, I don’t feel heartbroken about what’s going on in Gaza,” she said, adding that she often felt like she could be “doing more and saying more.”
The Nöl Collective dress ultimately turned that feeling of helplessness into a more tangible expression of solidarity. Mjalli sees Rodrigo’s decision to reach out as an extension of punk’s longstanding tradition of conveying political language through clothing, especially given the Southern California native’s affinity with the likes of Courtney Love and Kat Bjelland.
More importantly, that gave Nöl a reason to continue right when it was losing steam.
“I rise and I rise and I rise,” Mjalli said. “We’re still here, we have not been forgotten.”
Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza has persisted for nearly three years now, with more than 72,000 Palestinians reportedly killed and much of the population displaced. Despite a ceasefire agreement last year, children and civilians continue to perish under unlivable conditions imposed on them by occupying forces.