فیروزه
FIROZA
The Turquoise
Firoza — the turquoise stone drawn from the mines of Nishapur, carried by camel across the Silk Road, sewn into the collars of caravan girls to hold the evil eye at a distance.
Nishapur · Kandahar · One size · Made to order
Nishapur · Kandahar
By commission — £1,290
Made to order · one size · six to eight weeks
A true kuchi silhouette. The chest panel is worked in columns of fine white cross-stitch on teal, divided by narrow navy bands, framed in zigzag beaded borders of white, red, green and navy, with pairs of silver coins fixed down the front.
Wide bell sleeves carry cream-and-oxblood floral embroidery on velvet cuffs edged with white pom trim. The tiered skirt is banded in silver braid and finished with embroidered velvet borders.
High-necked, fully covered, and completely uncompromising.
We take on a small number of commissions each season. A member of the atelier will write to you personally.
- Teal floral damask brocade
- Hand-strung glass beadwork
- Antique-finish silver coin banding
- Embroidered velvet cuffs and hem borders
- Traditional kuchi construction
Nishapur · Kandahar
By commission — £1,290
Made to order · one size · six to eight weeks
A true kuchi silhouette. The chest panel is worked in columns of fine white cross-stitch on teal, divided by narrow navy bands, framed in zigzag beaded borders of white, red, green and navy, with pairs of silver coins fixed down the front.
Wide bell sleeves carry cream-and-oxblood floral embroidery on velvet cuffs edged with white pom trim. The tiered skirt is banded in silver braid and finished with embroidered velvet borders.
High-necked, fully covered, and completely uncompromising.
We take on a small number of commissions each season. A member of the atelier will write to you personally.
- Teal floral damask brocade
- Hand-strung glass beadwork
- Antique-finish silver coin banding
- Embroidered velvet cuffs and hem borders
- Traditional kuchi construction
I · The Name
فیروزه — سنگِ راه
Where the name comes from
The Nishapur turquoise passed through Herat and Peshawar for a thousand years before Europe learned the word. It was set into swords, into cradle beads, into the eyes of birds sewn onto brides' collars.
This dress is the kuchi answer to it. Nomadic silhouette, geometric embroidery, real silver at every hem. It has been made the same way since long before anyone thought to write it down.
فیروزهی نیشابور، در گلویِ عروس
Firozah-e Nishapur, dar galoo-ye aroos —
"The turquoise of Nishapur, at the throat of the bride."
— Silk Road proverb
II · The Cloth
How it is made
The chest panel is worked in columns of fine white cross-stitch on teal, divided by narrow navy bands, framed in zigzag beaded borders of white, red, green and navy, with pairs of silver coins fixed down the front.
Wide bell sleeves carry cream-and-oxblood floral embroidery on velvet cuffs edged with white pom trim. The tiered skirt is banded in silver braid and finished with embroidered velvet borders.
III · The Wearing
One size, cut in the Afghan way
Traditional kuchi construction — one size, high-necked, fully covered, gathered at the waist by the weight of coin and braid alone. This is a dress that finds its own fit through movement.
For henna nights, for Eid, for the moment a room needs to feel older than it is.
Every Gulālai dress is one size. It is the older tradition — the fit is found in the sash, the fall of the sleeve, the shoulder line. The garment answers to the body, not the other way round.
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