In the space of just a few weeks, this group of male fashionistas, named after their home town of Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, have dominated stylish social feeds, gaining world-wide media coverage for their unique look and powerful social statement.
Since then, their social media status has gone from 30,000 Instagram likes to more than 70,000 and while attracting the likes of Italian and German companies wanting to collaborate with the group on fashion projects.
The co-founders of the gentlemen’s club Omer Nihad, and Rawa Salih said they never expected the group to go viral, but are humbled to have a global platform to shed Kurdistan through a different light.
Source: Supplied - Mr Erbil
“We didn’t expect this huge media coverage,” Mr Nihad told SBS Kurdish.
Listen to their full interview (in English) with SBS Kurdish below.![http://audiomedia-sbs.akamaized.net/kurdish_170303_641247.mp3 image]()
“People are always asking for interviews and to do joint-venture businesses such as in Italy and Germany which is very motivational for us and we believe it is very good for the Kurdish economy.
LISTEN TO
http://audiomedia-sbs.akamaized.net/kurdish_170303_641247.mp3
09:22
“We didn’t expect this, not even in our local media.”
And now they are in demand, gaining exposure from reputable publications as far as Australia, China and the UK.
“We didn’t expect this, not even in our local media.”
The men want to use the power of fashion to change the way their region is perceived while also enforcing social change and reform along the way.
“The idea of Mr Erbil is to gather a group of gentlemen, those who have the passion to design and style their own clothes and at the same time attract those who have the passion to make an effective social change in our society,” Mr Nihad said.
While they have been dubbed as hipsters, the boys much prefer to be called ‘gentlemen’, describing their sophisticated look as a mix of West meets traditional Kurdish attire.
“We try and use Kurdish fabrics when designing our suits,” Mr Salih said. “We are using a specific Kurdish fabric for our ties and received a lot of emails from Italian companies who want our specific tie… so now we have a project where we exchange Italian-made ties with Kurdish ties.”
The group of more than 30 young and stylish men have many initiatives in the works, however are wisely investing their time to educate themselves on the industry.
“We need a lot of experience as we cannot get it here, so one of the aims is to try and participate in world-wide fashion seminars and workshops to better educate ourselves in achieving our goals,” Mr Nihad said.
When it comes to their social media images, the men know exactly how to curate their photos attracting an influx of likes.
They make it their mission to expose Kurdistan’s rich history, using its many beautiful and historical sites as a backdrop for their images.
"Kurdistan is very rich of history such as Erbil Citadel which is 7000 years old… we want to show the world Kurdistan is amazing," Mr Salih said.
The men take their environmental duties seriously saying it is their responsibility to educate the young generation in taking care and respecting their surroundings.
Their efforts have extended to helping boost the local economy with the men having their outfits tailored by local businesses and bearded-products made in Erbil and sold globally.
"The aim was to make a local product and at the same time try to show that if a product is made here in Kurdistan it is of high quality. And now we have customers world-wide from the UK, USA Jordan and Iran," Mr Salih said.
But it is more than dapper suits and perfectly trimmed beards – the men are using their huge social media following and global status to reinforce their position on women’s rights.
“Usually the Middle East has been known for women’s rights not being fully protected, so we wanted to give awareness to our youth so that they will respect the value of women in our society," Mr Nihad said.
One of their campaigns, called “Girl Inspiration”, is a weekly post dedicated to promoting women’s achievements in Kurdistan, Iraq and around the world.
They have also released a video made in 14 different languages to raise awareness on violence against women.
Listen to Omer Nihad and Rawa Mohamed Salih's full interview (in Kurdish) with SBS Kurdish below:![http://audiomedia-sbs.akamaized.net/kurdish_170303_641285.mp3 image]()
LISTEN TO
http://audiomedia-sbs.akamaized.net/kurdish_170303_641285.mp3
15:04
