Kazna Asker presents her Autumn/Winter 2025 collection, a profound exploration and celebration of migration, human connection, and the generational legacy of commerce and trade that forms the bedrock of community.
The Collection
Kazna Asker’s Autumn-Winter 025 collection explores the dialogue between tradition and modernity, weaving Yemeni heritage with British streetwear. Its centrepiece is a cobalt-blue shepherdess figure, layered with Middle Eastern textiles and crowned by a reimagined straw hat created with milliner Lucy Barlow, echoing Yemen’s iconic Madhalla. Across the collection, garments from the MENA region—such as the abaya, muckwar, and butterfly abaya—are
reinterpreted through sportswear and contemporary tailoring, while menswear bridges generations by pairing traditional thobes and cloaks with tracksuits and cargo trousers. Each piece becomes a bridge between landscapes, generations, and identities, linking Yafa’s mountains to Sheffield’s streets.
The Souk
To ground the collection, Asker creates a contemporary souk, drawing from the marketplaces of
Yemen and the corner shops of Sheffield’s Burngreave. The souk showcases a mix of independent and youth-led initiatives, including Maqam Books, The West Asian North African Women’s Library, Sazar Jewellery, and YENOF’s hand-embroidered canvases supporting women’s education in Yemen. Alongside these are zines, Arabic calligraphy, traditional silver, drums, chai, and Arabic coffee—animated by Sheffield & Oldham’s SBC theatre company, who embody merchants and tradespeople. More than a market, the souk becomes a theatre of exchange and connection, celebrating shared traditions of trade, storytelling, and community.
