Our Mission - Anat aims to revive the textile industry in Gaza, which has been under a restrictive and unjust blockade for more than 10 years. For this reason, our garments are 100% made in Gaza, Palestine, from the denim, to the handmade embroidery, to the designs. This is an important mission we have at Anat, especially given that the unemployment rate in Gaza is at a striking 52% due to the ongoing military siege imposed by Israel. This also means that it will be more difficult to package and export the garments because of the various military crossing points the jackets have to pass by on their journey outside of Gaza. Certainly, we hope these powerful pieces not only transform your wardrobe, but also transform Palestine.
In our attempt to revive the textile industry in Gaza, it is imperative that we encourage both men and women to participate in the embroidering process. The unemployment rate affects both men and women in Palestinian society, meaning that not only women, but also men must start partaking in the embroidering process. Our business does not confine men to the factory and women to the household. We want to challenge these social constructs and the forces dictating women's’ roles from within our society. The social impact we are trying to achieve attempts to break away from traditional ways of conceptualizing women and men’s roles. For us, the way to move beyond gender roles is through actively involving men in spheres traditionally inhabited by women. Hopefully, when men begin entering those spaces, the assumptions regarding what a woman/man does or where she/he does it will be questioned. We want to see all genders working collaboratively and simultaneously in the factory and household in order to blur traditional spheres of being.
As such, our "embroidery has no gender" vision stems from our steadfast commitment to keeping the tradition of Palestinian handmade embroidery alive. We believe that by encouraging everyone to make and wear embroidery, this skillful art will be preserved for generations to come. We attempt to preserve Palestinian embroidery in the face of systematic appropriation of traditional Palestinian clothing by forces that attempt to slowly wipe away Palestinian culture.