Atelier Made Here | Amsterdam | Najib

 

Najib | Tailor

From Aleppo | Syria 

Najib learnt tailoring growing up in Aleppo, Syria. In general Aleppo was an industrial city with many local clothing factories and manufacturers. Tailors were compared to doctors as a profession and well respected with a good salary. When Najib was 12yrs old he was introduced to tailoring by his neighbour. Najib taught his youngest brother the skills of tailoring. Aleppo is the city of tailors and many fashion brands and fashion designers in Lebanon employ tailors from Aleppo. At 23 years old Najib moved to work in Lebanon and he continued to work between Aleppo and Lebanon. Najib was 47 years old by the time he left Syria. He left because of the war. He has lived in the Netherlands for 6 years and upon arriving he had heard that there were no tailoring opportunities in the Netherlands. However he met Ytha Kempkes and together they created Atelier Made Here, a tailors co-operative. Najib feels proud of the work he does with the co-operative and proud of the family community he has been a part of creating. He still has a passion for tailoring after all these years