By Brit Olivia
There are collections that reference heritage, and then there are collections built to keep it alive.
For Aql&Nafs, the distinction matters.
On September 18, the London-based luxury label took to the runway at Dartmouth House in Mayfair, joining Fashion Represents and Paris Runway Official for a sold-out London Fashion Week showcase attended by fashion media from across Europe, with editors representing publications including Harper’s Bazaar, ELLE, Grazia and Glamour.
For a young independent label, it was the kind of room that can introduce a story far beyond the runway.
And Aql&Nafs has a story worth telling.
Two Sisters, One Heritage
Founded by Afghan twin sisters, Aql&Nafs was created around a desire to bring Afghanistan’s extraordinary design heritage into contemporary luxury.
At the center of the brand is one of Afghan fashion’s most recognizable pieces: the Afghan coat.
Rather than treating traditional design as something belonging exclusively to the past, Aql&Nafs reinterprets it for a modern wardrobe allowing embroidery, texture, craftsmanship and Afghan cultural identity to exist within a distinctly contemporary fashion conversation. Paris Runway Official previously highlighted the label among five designers to watch during London Fashion Week.
The approach is visible across its current collections, which range from traditional-inspired pieces to more contemporary coats and cropped jackets.
Fashion With Something Behind It
But perhaps the most significant part of Aql&Nafs exists beyond what audiences see on the runway.
The brand collaborates with women artisans in Afghanistan, creating paid craftsmanship opportunities while preserving techniques passed between generations. One of the label’s embroidered coats, for example, is made by women artisans in Afghanistan over several weeks using generational embroidery techniques.
That gives the clothing another dimension.
Every stitch can become both an act of preservation and an opportunity.
In a country where women’s access to employment has faced severe restrictions, Aql&Nafs is using fashion to connect Afghan craftsmanship with an international customer while helping keep the people and skills behind that craftsmanship visible.
Afghan Craftsmanship, on a London Stage
That made the setting at Dartmouth House particularly meaningful.
Here was a label rooted in Afghanistan, founded by Afghan women and working with Afghan women artisans, presenting its vision in the middle of London Fashion Week.
The heritage hadn’t been erased to make the clothes feel modern. It was precisely what made them modern.
For Aql&Nafs, the sold-out September 18 runway represented more than another collection arriving in London.
It was an opportunity to put Afghan design, craftsmanship and the women helping preserve it in front of an international fashion audience.
Because sometimes bringing heritage into the future doesn’t mean reinventing where you came from. It means making sure the world finally gets to see it.
Credits:
Show: Fashion Represents @fashionrepresents.
Production & Founder: Fashion Represents @fashionrepresents.
Paris Runway Official
Writer/Journalist: Brit Olivia @onceuponatimebrit
PR: Paris Runway Official (PRO) @parisrunwayofficial
PRO Producer: Sangeetha Menon @sangeetha_menon_official
PRO PR Assistant: Gena Aspinall-Martin @
Goody Bags: @wrappingpond @yisebeauty @lovecorn_snacks @
PRO Photographers:
@yuliafun
@the_quantum_lotus @qlotuslabs
Designers:
PRO Beauty Team:
Makeup team
@Glow_by_elenadragomir (Head of Hair & Makeup)
@Mariia.magdau
@Lorena.chencian
@Catalina_chifiriuc
@Anamariacarsote
@Andrada_valentina_
@Ivan.jucos.denisa
@Enciu.ralucaj
@Manuela_mandrut_mua
Hair team:
@Glow_by_elenadragomir (Head of Hair & Makeup)
@July.u
@Birtomdana
@unique_byanna.07
@andramishellemakeup
@Hairartist_octavia_maria
@Katksthrine.K2
