Threads of Heritage: A Dream Growing in Jerusalem

Tojan Khattab did not want heritage to remain in the past. Instead, she carried it with her into the present, one piece at a time.

On al-Zahra Street in East Jerusalem, a newly opened boutique, Tojan Couture, catches the attention of passersby. The fashion studio, which beautifully combines the past and present, belongs to Jerusalem-born Palestinian designer Tojan Khattab.

At the store, designs hang from the racks, and their colors and embroidery blend with the character of the Old City. Here, Tojan has chosen to open a new chapter in a journey that began 15 years ago, bringing her traditional and contemporary designs into a space that carries her name and personal signature.

For Tojan, heritage was never simply an object stored in a cabinet from the past. It was material that could be reinterpreted and reshaped. From it, she draws Palestinian and Jerusalemite motifs, giving them cuts and ideas that speak to the modern woman.

Tojan carved her own path as a designer seeking to balance identity with renewal, before eventually bringing her expertise to a store on one of East Jerusalem’s most historic streets.

Jerusalem Story met with Tojan at her new flagship store and spoke with her about her experiences, childhood, and her passion for design.

During the interview, Tojan shared that she is descended from the people of Qalunya, a Palestinian village six kilometers west of Jerusalem that was ethnically cleansed and largely destroyed in April 1948 during Operation Nahshon, just days after the Deir Yassin massacre.1 She spoke about how the village is featured in her designs.

Tojan, who was born in Jerusalem on August 9, 1990, explained that her family village has appeared in several of her designs, which feature embroidered plants inspired by Qalunya’s famous almond and prickly-pear trees. Embroidery has been a major focus of Tojan’s designs.

It goes back to her upbringing in a home where her paternal grandmother, Amina, wore the traditional Palestinian dress every day. The house was also filled with traditional objects and framed pieces adorned with embroidery.

“Embroidery was part of my daily life, and I consider it the lifeblood and inspiration behind Tojan Couture’s journey,”2 she shared.

Tojan’s relationship with fashion began a decade and a half ago. But how did it all start, and what drew her into a field in which she has remained ever since?

During her first year studying business administration at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, Tojan attended a meeting at an organization where participants had to propose unique, unconventional project ideas. The young woman turned to the others and asked: “Why don’t we include embroidery in our everyday clothes, not only in the traditional dress reserved for special occasions?”

The person in charge heard her proposal, and since she already knew how to embroider, he asked Tojan to bring an embroidered piece the following day.

“I went home that night, and my mother and I began embroidering the irq al-dik [rooster motif] onto a work shirt meant to be worn every day. Roosters have symbolic meaning in our heritage as they represent life,” she said. “In the mornings or afternoons, when women were in the hakura [home garden], they would sit and practice traditional embroidery while roosters wandered around them. That is how the rooster became part of our embroidered heritage pieces,” she added.

The following day, Tojan brought in the piece, and her project idea won a €5,000 cash prize. She used the money to buy sewing machines, and she began visiting a tailor every day after university to develop her skills.

Tojan went on to graduate from university and then promptly enrolled at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, where she began studying fashion design.

What has remained constant in Tojan’s approach is her determination to make every piece unique and to avoid simply becoming a merchant who manufactures clothes and sells them. She views every design as a work of art, one that resembles the person for whom it was created, because, as she explains, she is usually inspired by the person’s character.

Tojan also spoke about the Jerusalemite motifs or symbols that capture her attention and inspire her designs.

“I embroidered Jerusalem’s historic walls, as well as the long and short stairways of Damascus Gate. There is a reason for the variation in their sizes; no design is random,” she said. “Geometric shapes and ornaments found in the homes of old Jerusalem have also appeared in my designs, as has the tilework of al-Aqsa Mosque.”

As our eyes moved from one garment hanging on the racks to another, a question came to mind: “How can traditional dress move beyond traditional occasions into everyday life and contemporary fashion without losing its identity?”

In Tojan’s view, the traditional dress is no longer confined to the rectangular form that grandmothers used to and still wear. Instead, designers have drawn inspiration from it to create new ideas that can be incorporated into garments today.

“I don’t want to confine traditional dress within the walls of event halls. I want everyone to see it every day, and when we travel abroad, I notice that foreigners are interested in it and come over to ask us about it—and that is important,” she shared.

Tojan seemed captivated by the place where she opened her shop. She revealed that having a presence in Jerusalem is one of her most important life goals, and that she feels something extraordinary as she walks across the historic stone paving on her way to her shop.

“I always want to remain among the old stones. Before opening this space on this historic street, I used to leave for work at exactly 10 a.m., but since I moved here, my passion has deepened, and I now find myself in my own space at exactly 8 a.m.,” she shared. “I create from the heart of Jerusalem, and from the heart of this city, my designs reach the world.”

The space that houses Tojan’s designs was not created simply as a place to sell clothes. Everything inside reflects her personality and vision, and every piece tells a story about identity. Customers—women and men alike—wear garments that carry history, culture, and heritage.

After 15 years in the field, Tojan hopes that her designs display a message about women, Jerusalem, and heritage:

Tojan also revealed what she would say to her younger self: “I would applaud her and tell her, ‘Bravo,’ because she endured and kept going until today,” she said. “Perseverance is not easy given the circumstances we are going through. I would advise everyone to keep going and not lose hope, regardless of the circumstances they face,” she added.

Tojan often launches designs inspired by a particular object or symbol. For one collection of wedding dresses, she drew inspiration from the wheat sheaf, because, as she puts it, wheat is the “jewel of the home.” Therefore, a home without a woman is an empty home.

Another collection, “The Olive,” featured olive branches embroidered onto the bride’s dress as she “enters a new stage of her life with love.”

Tojan also likes to highlight roosters and cypress trees in her designs. “There is something strikingly majestic about the cypress,” she said. “Once a client wears a design embroidered with this tree, she changes completely. She appears majestic, with an extraordinary sparkle in her eyes.”

It is also notable that Tojan specializes in formal men’s suits. Her decision to venture into this field was not arbitrary. She noticed that European-style trousers were ill-suited to the movements of the Palestinian dabke as they either restricted the dancer’s movement or tore under its strain.

Tojan studied the movements of young men as they danced the dabke and began to design comfortable trousers. This allowed her to create trousers that accommodated the dancer’s movements while enabling him to perform one of the most important and symbolic rituals of Palestinian heritage at celebrations and weddings.

Tojan concluded the conversation by revealing how she feels when she enters her shop, remembering the 15 years of experience that brought her to where she is today.

“When I see the pieces, I remember how many homes have been supported because of Tojan Couture: the credit does not belong to me alone, but also to the many women who embroider the pieces in their homes, which are then produced according to my designs,” she said.

“I am proud of them. Without them, I would not have reached where I am today, because the circle of success cannot be completed by one person alone.”