Wear The Peace is the changemaking brand sending clothes to Palestine

As second-generation Americans, both Nofal and Mabruk have personal experiences with those affected by refugee crises. Before the brand was founded, Nofal visited the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan in 2014, and saw that, just as the basic necessities of food, warmth and shelter, what the refugees needed was clothing. It wasn’t until two years later, after discussions with his University of Illinois Chicago classmate Mabruk, that Wear the Peace was founded. The pair wanted to make a difference in the most direct way possible, and what better way to do so than with clothing? Rather than that nebulous, superfluous thing, clothing is deeply personal to us, and the pair knew that people would buy clothing that they felt personally connected to.

Design-wise, the brand takes a democratic approach so that most people can incorporate the clothing into their wardrobe. Simple hoodies, tees and caps comprise the majority of their collections, with slogans like ‘PEACE’ or ‘HUMAN’ stitched across the front. As well as donating 100 per cent of the profits from accessories to different humanitarian crises around the world, Nofal and Mabruk also devised a scheme called ‘buy one, give one’ with the charity Helping Hand for Relief and Development. For every garment sold, another one is distributed to a person in need by HHRD, just like those in the Zaatari camp where the idea for Wear The Peace was formed.

Hey Mustafa and Murad – first of all, can you tell us about the spark of inspiration that led you to create the brand?

Murad Nofal: In 2014 I visited one of the largest refugee camps in the world, the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. My entire family lives in Jordan and my cousins asked me if I wanted to tag along and go with them to distribute hygiene aid – toothbrushes, toilet paper, shampoo – they’d purchased by fundraising in their communities. I saw the horrendous situation of the overpopulated camp and asked myself for years to come, why do some people have to live like this and why is it that the place someone is born determines their quality of life?

I was working at Nordstrom at the time and from being in the retail space for most of my day, I would always just glance at what people would be wearing, not out of judgement, but out of curiosity of what people liked to wear. I realised in the refugee camp, everyone had clothing that was destroyed. These people left with nothing except the clothes on their backs and relied heavily on what people could give them since they were not even allowed to work within the refugee camp for years. It’s changed now, but it’s still insanely low pay.

In 2016, Mustafa and I started brainstorming ways we could personally make an impact and what we thought of was to create a brand that gave back as much as possible, sent out a loving and peaceful message, and kept reminding people about these causes that can be solved if we all stuck together and helped. We started out with our ‘buy one give one’ initiative to send clothing to refugee camps, and it’s grown to much more than just that.

“We want to create clothing and designs that spark conversations” – Mustafa Mabruk

What we wear feels so personal to us – is this why you felt fashion was the right medium to support humanitarian causes?

Mustafa Mabruk: Yes, most definitely. This is also what inspires us to make the designs that we make. We want to create clothing and designs that spark conversations and let the human that was wearing the piece to express themselves and their love for peace.

Are there any other reasons why you felt fashion was the best medium to support these causes

Murad Nofal: The biggest thing for us is that people would spark conversations and also at the time, be able to be walking activists for causes they cared about, even if it doesn’t start a conversation.

Can you talk me through what you have raised for the crisis in Gaza since it began and how you went about doing this?

Mustafa Mabruk: We’ve been donating to Gaza since 2018, but nothing at the scale that we were able to in the past five months. Back in 2021, when Gaza was bombarded for ten days, we created one collection that was able to donate over $5000 to Pious Projects which is a charity that’s on the ground. This time around, we’ve been able to donate over $720,000 to Pious Projects as well as Human Concern International, who is aiding Palestinian children who have evacuated from Gaza for medical surgeries. Murad and May, another team member, actually flew out to Ankara as well in the beginning of March to meet evacuated children and their guardians and to get their stories.

Since you started the brand, have you run into any political roadblocks online or IRL that has made promoting the brand harder?

Murad Nofal: We most definitely have. We’ve had many many ads turned off on most advertising platforms. Something as simple as our ‘HUMAN’ design that showcases five embroidered letters in different hues of skin tones would be denied advertising rights because of it being “political content”. For seven years of Wear The Peace, we’ve had many posts removed, our page suppressed, and our accounts restricted because of what we post and speak about.

What’s the process behind choosing which designs will be on the clothing and accessories?

Mustafa Mabruk: We have a team of 18 people now so we usually will run designs through everyone to choose colours, style of garment, etc. We usually focus on peace at large, but this is one of the first times where we’ve done something specific to a country or specific cause like what’s happening in Gaza.

“Fashion brands that are much bigger than us have more to lose, so they stay silent. I see it as cowardly” – Murad Nofal

How do you feel about the media response after Violet Affleck was photographed in one of your crewnecks? Did you anticipate the reaction it was going to receive?

Murad Nofal: We definitely did not see any of it coming! When it first happened, we saw some media outlets pick it up and it was cool to see. We slowly started seeing an increase in sales but at that point, we’ve already donated over $200,000. It wasn’t until people started getting mad at Violet for wearing the sweater that it started blowing up. It was very overwhelming for about two weeks after certain publications showed their outrage. It was picked up in international media outlets from Spain to Saudi Arabia. It was also cool to see outlets speaking in different languages about what was happening. We then were able to go on local news channels in Chicago which was also dope. It showed us that we really need some public speaking classes or some PR training because we do not like being on camera!

Murad Nofal: I feel that the fashion industry usually stays away from issues like this because they can be so dividing. I don’t agree with it personally, I think it’s clear as day of what’s happening in Gaza but fashion brands that are much bigger than us have more to lose so they stay silent. I see it as cowardly, but I’m not worried too much about who stays quiet – I care more about who’s speaking up.

Finally, what would you say is the mission statement of Wear the Peace?

Mustafa Mabruk: To promote and accelerate the world towards peace, one piece of clothing at a time.

Shop Wear The Peace here.