A dress worn by Olivia Rodrigo has put Palestinian fashion label Nöl Collective in the spotlight, but the story behind it is far more complicated than a celebrity fashion moment. Founder Yasmeen Mjalli revealed that the Ramallah-based label was close to shutting down when Rodrigo's team reached out with an urgent request for a custom dress.
The timing could hardly have been more significant. As Nöl Collective struggled with disrupted supplies and restrictions on movement, Rodrigo's commission arrived at a critical moment for the label. The resulting pink dress eventually made its way from Palestine to Los Angeles and onto Rodrigo at her Daisy Chain Fields festival.
Olivia Rodrigo stuns in custom, Palestine-made Nöl Collective dress at a press conference announcing her $10M donation to women-focused nonprofits. pic.twitter.com/sBDAvsSvsM
— Buzzing Pop (@BuzzingPop) August 29, 2026
Major Setback for Nöl Collective
Mjalli founded Nöl Collective in 2020 with a focus on contemporary clothing made alongside Palestinian artisans. The label works with women's cooperatives, sewing workshops and individual embroiderers to preserve traditional Palestinian craft.
But keeping a fashion label running in Palestine comes with challenges that go well beyond designing clothes.
According to Mjalli's account to Vogue Arabia, Nöl Collective works almost exclusively with natural fibres imported from abroad. Around the same time Rodrigo's team contacted the label, a shipment of naturally dyed handwoven wool from India for Nöl's autumn collection had been held for months by Israeli customs before being destroyed.
Mjalli then tried to travel to Jerusalem to find replacement fabric. She said she was unable to do so after roads out of Ramallah were closed by the Israeli army.
The setback left her questioning whether Nöl Collective could continue at all. The designer recalled: 'I was genuinely like, maybe we should stop, maybe this is our last effort. I was just so tired.'
Then came Rodrigo's request.
Olivia Rodrigo's Urgent Dress Request
Rodrigo's team asked Nöl Collective to make a dress for her Daisy Chain Fields festival, giving Mjalli less than a week to get it finished.
There was no time to search far and wide for the perfect material. Mjalli and her colleague Majdy found the only natural fibre in the market—raw silk in a soft baby-pink shade that happened to suit Rodrigo perfectly.
The fabric then travelled to Bethlehem, where it passed through several pairs of hands. It was cut, sewn and embroidered by Palestinian artisans before the finished dress had to make an even bigger journey to California.
Even getting the dress out of Palestine proved difficult. No courier in the territory could deliver it to Los Angeles quickly enough, so two strangers eventually volunteered to carry it in their luggage and hand-deliver it to Rodrigo.
The Dress That Saved the Brand
Rodrigo ultimately wore the Nöl Collective mini dress at her Daisy Chain Fields festival in California. The pale pink design was decorated with hand-embroidered birds and flowers, with the work completed by artisans in the West Bank.
The embroidery was more than a decorative finishing touch. It brought Palestinian craftsmanship into a major pop culture moment and placed the work of the artisans before an international audience.
For Mjalli, the timing made the commission particularly meaningful. She described Rodrigo's request as a 'divine intervention', coming just when she was seriously considering whether Nöl Collective had reached its endpoint.
The brand's work also has a direct community impact. Reportedly, Nöl provides income for families through its collaborations with embroiderers, with some households relying on the work as an important source of earnings.
