Manifestation of Iranian culture in clothing design

An exclusive interview with Naghme Kiyomarshi

Iranian culture is a rich and fruitful culture that is rooted in the ancient history and civilization of this country. This culture is manifested in different dimensions including art, architecture and music. Meanwhile, fashion is one of the important tools that can be used to introduce Iranian culture to the world.

In the contemporary era, Iranian fashion has undergone changes. Some Iranian clothing designers, inspired by various elements of Iranian culture, design modern clothes that both preserve the authenticity of Iranian culture and have global appeal. One of these dress designers is Naghme Kiyomurthi.

The works of Naghma Kiyomarthi have been exhibited in various countries such as Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and her collections are also sold in galleries and boutiques outside of Iran. At the Edinburgh Iranian Festival in 2015, in the Iranian fashion section, Naghmeh's yellow velvet dress named “Eternal Time” was exhibited and is now kept in the Museum of Scotland.
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He says about his clothing design style: “Regarding the rich history and culture of our country, we have a lot to say in the field of art. My mission is to show this rich culture to the world as much as I can. My style is postmodern; I show traditional and modern combinations in my works. I want to convey the theme that we move forward in line with fashion and, of course, keep our own personal style according to our history and culture.”

Considering the 21 years of experience of domestic and foreign activities of Naghme Kiyomarshi in the field of clothing design, participating in fashion weeks was one of her goals. In the continuation of the interview, he said: “Although this show was different from Milan Fashion Week and was considered a subsection of Milan Fashion Week, it was still difficult and challenging for me to register and present a collection this week; Because I intended to present a conceptual collection like the rest of my works.”
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The crystallization of art in the Safavid era, which is attributed to Shah Abbas, became a source of inspiration for this clothing collection, and for this reason, this collection was named the flowers of the garden of Shah Abbas. He further said: Shah Abbasi's flower, which is inspired by the lotus flower, is a symbol of unity and unity, which we also see in the design of Iranian carpets. In Iranian carpets, despite the variety of colors and designs in lach and tanraj, in the end we still see a unity that evokes the flower theme of Shah Abbasi. In this collection, the cut and edge of the clothes are reminiscent of Shah Abbasi's flower form.

The feedback and reaction of Europeans facing the works of Iranian designers

Naghmeh Kiyomurthi is trying to show Iran's art to the world with her art. Apart from the Covid era, he has been holding shows in Munich, Germany for about 10 years and has his own clients. Naghmeh believes that due to various reasons such as the weakness of Iran's tourism industry and other problems, many Europeans have no mental background and familiarity with Iranian culture; But the flower collection of Shah Abbas garden was noticed by Europeans in terms of handwoven fabrics, diversity in color and texture and color combination.

Considering that many arts, including weaving, reached their peak in the Safavid era, I tried to show the audience different techniques of fabric in Iran in this collection; Like property and cash. We even made fabrics from this collection ourselves; A collage was made with the roots of the carpet, the roots of cloth and old fabrics, and then we worked on it, and since Europeans usually value handicrafts, the collection of flowers from the Shah Abbas garden received a very good response.

Introducing Iranian culture through fashion

In a part of her talk, Naghmeh Kiyomarthi mentioned that she had a hard time collecting old silk fabrics for the flower collection of Shah Abbas's garden. He did this so that this collection has Safavid roots or the colors of his latest collection will be noticed by the viewers; Because many people consider this amount of color diversity to be attributed to Indian culture and for them it is reminiscent of Indian culture.
Transferring and introducing the authentic culture of Iran to the world may be possible in different ways, but due to the problems mentioned earlier, this process has not been carried out in a principled and correct way. For example, due to the advancement of technology and the increasing use of artificial intelligence, in the initial experiences of tools such as Midgerni, we receive Iranian images combined with Indian, Turkish or Arabic cultures. This shows that there is no correct understanding of Iranian culture. In this case, we had a conversation with Mrs. Kiyomarthi, who mentioned in her answer:
“The only way to continue the survival of Iranian culture is to record what we had; What we have in our bag and publishing it in different media. If a French designer beautifully takes inspiration from an old style and presents it in a modernized form in his works, it is because he has access to the sources of that style. Therefore, we must produce a reference (source); This is useful both for students and those interested in fashion design and for people who want to know Iran better. We should show and share the difference between Iran's culture and other countries by producing more content. A platform should be provided for more artists to have the ability to hold overseas exhibitions and expose their works to the public. Also, these works and exhibitions should be shared in different media.

Court event in Istanbul

In Ayan month 1402, the “Court” event was held in Istanbul with the presence of a group of successful Iranian designers and the display of their works. One of the participants of this event was Naghme Kiyomarshi who said about the experience of this event: “It was an interesting experience. Perhaps more advertising should have been done so that more foreign visitors would come to visit this event; Because when an event is held outside of Iran, it is an opportunity to have foreign visitors so that we can show Iranian culture better. In Iran, there are also such gatherings between designers; But it is better to raise the topic and purpose of these gatherings in Iran, so that all the designers can come together with a common concept in that period.”

How to take inspiration from culture and modernize it

How to get inspiration from Iranian artistic and cultural elements and recreate them in different artistic fields is a big challenge that is criticized in many works of art. In this case, Kiyomarthi says: “Artists should study more and broaden their vision. They should know the story behind each element; To know, for example, in what conditions and time a symbol is used. The more we see and practice, the better experience we get. Also, I always believe that art is the sweat of the soul and you can't force it on anyone. It has been said for a long time that words that hurt the heart must come to the heart, and works of art are also an example of this saying.

final word

Mrs. Kiyomurthi believes that artists should display their own vision and worldview in their works and must have a perspective beyond the existing frameworks. At the same time, they should maintain their individual style and personal signature in their work.

Using the elements of Iranian culture in clothing design can help the people of the world become more familiar with this rich culture. Iranian clothes with their beautiful designs and colors can attract the attention of the people of the world and encourage them to learn more about the real culture of Iran.