Ciza started as a project by the textile designer Serene Zaatre, who was constantly criticized on her appearance as a child. Serene , born and raised in Palestinian town Yafa Al-Nasseriyyeh, had to deal with comments like “your jaw is too wide” or “your eyes are too hooded”, so she decided to take these features and create Ciza, a character inspired by her own look. Ciza’s goal was to turn these “undesirable” features that people did not consider beautiful into a trademark that proudly celebrates her distinguished beauty and change the way people perceive beauty and beauty standards all together. In an age where beauty is perceived superficially and women turn to surgeries to change their features and eventually look the same, Ciza characters celebrates different kinds of beauty, Serene created versatile characters to make women feel included, these characters can be found on Serene’s designs of scarfs, bottles, socks, makeup bags and more.

Pictures credit: Ciza Instagram Page