A handwritten letter from a loved one; political graffiti scrawled on a prison wall; a page ripped from an old newspaper; inscriptions from a 1937 coin. These are the fragments of Palestinian life that inspired fashion designer Nafsika Skourti and her latest collection, Volume II: Traces of Being. The second chapter in her gracefully titled حُبِّي فِلَسْطِين series – meaning ‘My Love, Palestine’ – Skourti gathered together newspaper clippings, epistolary, pamphlets, posters and more, and retraced their histories onto practical clothing to preserve and archive Palestinian history. “Documenting Palestine through clothing is about preserving memory, visibility, and humanity at a moment when so much is under attack,” Skourti tells us. “Physical traces like archives, currency and family homes are being erased, and clothing becomes a way to carry fragments of lived experience into the present.”

Born in Jordan to a Palestinian mother and Greek father, Skourti moved to London as a teenager to study at Central Saint Martins, where she graduated in 2012. Whittled down by the unrelenting pace of the British capital, Skourti moved back to Jordan and founded her eponymous brand, roping in her sister Stephanie to work there too, an ex-banker who’d just left her cushy job at Goldman Sachs. “We got some orders and have been working together ever since,” Skourti tells us, hugely underplaying the success the brand has had over the last decade. From dressing stars like Saoirse Ronan, SimiHaze and Jordanian pop star Zeyne, to donating proceeds to Ghassan Abu Sitteh Children’s Fund, NS has made an indelible mark on the culture, and Traces of Being shows that it still has so much more to say

In the conversation below, we chat to Skourti about the themes behind Traces of Being, fashion as a form of social documentation, plus her favourite pieces in the collection.

How did you start the brand?

Nafsika Skourti: After graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2012, I was so burnt out from London that I moved back to Jordan. Then in 2014, I remember sitting at a friend’s house when my phone started going crazy. A woman who had contacted me a few months earlier about including my graduate collection in her Paris Fashion Week showroom – an opportunity I had declined at the time – was reaching out again, and this time she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

She went ahead and sent the lookbook to incredible stores like Colette, Opening Ceremony and Joyce Hong Kong, who instantly replied and booked appointments. I left my friend’s house immediately and worked nonstop on expanding the collection. PFW was only 13 days away. Meanwhile, my sister Stephanie had just quit her banking job of five years at Goldman Sachs in London. She joined me in Paris. We got some orders and have been working together ever since.

Did you have any designers you really looked up to?

Nafsika Skourti: I’ve always resonated with Prada. Aside from her use of print and the ability to move seamlessly from casual to evening wear, the intellectual and political weight behind the collections are elements I can relate to. Like Prada, I come from a political background – not because I studied it, but because growing up in the Middle East it unintentionally became a fundamental part of our upbringing. The news [was always] playing in the background through our childhood.

“I think the first thing I made was my prom dress for junior year. It was cute. Not great” – Nafsika Skourti

What was the first piece of clothing you created?

Nafsika Skourti: I have always loved making things. I think the first thing I made was my prom dress for junior year. It was cute. Not great. Looking back I see the vision, but the gap between my ideas and my ability to execute was still wide.  

What was growing up with Palestinian heritage like?

Nafsika Skourti: I actually grew up in Jordan. My mother is Palestinian and my father is Greek, so my connection to Palestine came through family, community, and memory rather than geography.

In 2014, I had the privilege of sitting with Widad Kawar, a renowned Palestinian art historian and collector of Palestinian and Jordanian cultural dress. As she walked me through her extraordinary archive of antique thobes, explaining the history and iconography woven into each piece, she suddenly pulled out a set that looked completely different. These dresses had moved away from traditional motifs and instead carried political symbols – the Palestinian flag, the Dome of the Rock, maps, olive branches – often embroidered in the national colours. At the time, displaying these colours publicly was banned, and artists were even imprisoned for using them. So creating and wearing these dresses wasn’t simply an aesthetic choice; it became a quiet but powerful act of resistance.

How do people use clothes to express themselves where you are from? I know there are a lot of intricate artisanal crafts that form part of Palestine’s heritage.

Nafsika Skourti: Clothing has always been a way for people to express identity – whether through tribal markings, football jerseys, or logos. What you wear becomes your message. Instead of holding a sign, the garment itself communicates what you stand for.

From our very early days, Palestine has been central to everything we do at NS, shaping our storytelling, our visual language, and our research. This connection appears across many of our works. Our first dedicated capsule My Land Bears Fruit and volume I of our label حُبِّي فِلَسْطِين  (my love, Palestine) features motifs like the watermelon, a long-standing emblem of Palestinian resilience.

What is the collection Traces of Being about? 

Nafsika Skourti: Traces of Being draws from family photographs, currency, handwritten notes, and prison graffiti to preserve the intimate fragments of everyday Palestinian life. Together, these works form a long-standing practice of using clothing as a living archive, a way to safeguard memory and express identity through garments that can move, travel, and be worn into the world.

“Through clothing we make visible a vibrant life that is often reduced to news headlines of destruction” – Nafsika Skourti

Why is it important for you to document Palestine through clothing?

Nafsika Skourti: Documenting Palestine through clothing is about preserving memory, visibility, and humanity at a moment when so much is under attack. Physical traces like archives, currency, and family homes are being erased, and clothing becomes a way to carry fragments of lived experience into the present. Wearing them is an act of remembering.

With Volume II: Traces of Being, I wanted to move beyond dresses into unisex, accessible pieces – t-shirts, mesh tops and cargo pants meant to be seen in everyday spaces. Through clothing, we make visible a vibrant life that is often reduced to news headlines of destruction.

Can you tell me any of your favourite pieces and why?

Nafsika Skourti: The Monochrome Archive Mesh Top is not only an NS staple silhouette, but it’s also the piece that sparked Volume II. In 2024, while dressing Lina Makhoul for her upcoming tour with Saint Levant, we were searching for a top to go with our Links Trousers. I thought: what if we created a mesh top using Palestinian newspaper archives? That question sent me into a rabbit hole through the Palestinian Museum’s archives. What began as a tour look evolved into a vessel for a larger body of work. It took a year of research, digging, and creating to shape what has now become Volume II: Traces of Being.

Who are some of the people who’ve been wearing the brand?

Nafsika Skourti: The appetite for wearing a brand or product as a form of solidarity is much like the desire to consume art, music, and film that align with one’s values and identity. This instinct has shaped our community from the very beginning and is reflected in our close collaborations with Zeyne, Dana Salah, Saja Kilani, Lina Makhoul, Sarah Bahbah, Simi Haze, and Felukah. Rosalía and Bella Hadid are also on our list of dream collaborators.

Has there been an uptick in people wearing the brand in solidarity with the Palestinian cause?

Nafsika Skourti: Absolutely. Over the last two years, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in people wearing the brand as a way to show solidarity with Palestine. It’s been particularly special to see this extend even to brides omen telling us, ‘I want to wear a Palestinian designer on my wedding day.’ It’s a reminder that all our choices count, and that visibility and representation is important.

Why did you choose the children’s fund to donate proceeds to?

Nafsika Skourti: We chose the Ghassan Abu Sitteh Children’s Fund because it represents everyday people doing extraordinary work, persistently and with incredible care. Ghassan himself has become an iconic figure over the past few years, someone who personifies the very idea of dedication and humanity.

This fund works intimately with families and children, facilitating safe transfer and comprehensive care for critically injured children from Palestine to Lebanon. Supporting them is supporting the people who are actively telling these stories and preserving life in the most immediate, human way. We wanted our proceeds to honor that kind of hands-on, deeply personal impact.

Scroll through the gallery at the top of the page for pieces from the collection