Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields Dress Helped Keep Palestinian Fashion Brand in Business

Olivia Rodrigo's choice to create a dress from the Palestinian fashion label Nöl Collective proved to be more than just a display of support. Nöl Collective's founder, Yasmeen Mjalli, was on the brink of shutting down her business after Israeli customs destroyed a shipment of fabric earlier this year. When Rodrigo reached out, it provided Nöl with a glimmer of hope.

The 23-year-old wore the designer's pale pink minidress at a press presentation for the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival. This raw silk garment featured traditional Palestinian tatreez embroidery depicting birds and interconnected daisies. For Mjalli, making the piece was a challenging endeavor, as sourcing material and traveling between cities can be major obstacles in the occupied territories.

While Rodrigo's team reached out to Nöl, Mjalli had already ordered naturally dyed handwoven wool from India for the autumn collection, but that shipment was held and destroyed by Israeli customs. When Mjalli tried to travel to Jerusalem for replacement material, the roads were closed by the military. Describing Rodrigo's request as "divine intervention," Mjalli and her colleague searched Ramallah and found the only natural fiber available at the market: raw silk in a pale shade of pink.

With less than a week to complete the task, Nöl ultimately found two strangers willing to carry the garment in their luggage and hand-deliver it in California. This dress not only conveyed solidarity but also became a crucial lifeline for Nöl Collective, which remains the only source of income for many Palestinian families.