BA (Hons) Fashion Public Relations and Communication student Sameen Ayub talks about creating her final project, Welcome to the Resistance, finding belief in her own creativity at university, and being ready to make some creative noise outside of London.
In a short film created for the streetwear brand, Saeedah Haque, Sameen’s idea was to rewrite the narrative for Muslim women. "It aims to showcase Muslim women in environments where they're not usually imagined or welcomed, such as sports or science," Sameen explains. Featuring spoken word over the visuals, the film gets straight to the point. "You've spoken for us for a long time now," Sameen says. "We're taking back the narrative.”
Welcome to the Resistance is about celebrating the incredible women who manage to overcome deeply rooted societal biases. This idea aligns perfectly with Saeedah Haque’s vision, as the brand is inherently activist and political. "Sometimes I feel like the most political thing a Muslim woman can do is exist in the way that she herself wants to, and you can't be a Muslim woman without having a certain sense of protest with it as well," Sameen reflects.
When considering her final project, it was important for Sameen to feel truly attached to her chosen subject. While she didn’t know Saeedah personally before, there was an invisible link that united them instantly. "We're completely different people from completely different environments, but because we are both Muslim women in a creative field, we instantly felt connected," Sameen explains. She believes that Muslim women share a unique sisterhood with other Muslim women they’ve never met before.
Considering that Saeedah Haque’s founder, Saeedah, never had access to fashion education and built the brand from scratch, Sameen felt empowered to do her final project for this brand. The first few weeks were dedicated to thorough research, but since the brand is still very young and hadn’t done many PR campaigns in the past, Sameen could spread her wings and enjoy lots of creative freedom. "That's where this film came into play," Sameen says. "It was something that I’d always wanted to do, and it fit very well with the brand, too.”
Working with a small budget, all the casting, production, and editing were done at home in Bradford. Recording with friends and family made the process feel very intimate and engaging, and helped tremendously with meeting the tight deadlines. "When we got the brief, I immediately texted my group chat saying, 'Guys, I'm coming home this weekend. We're filming this. Everybody has to say yes,'" Sameen remembers. She notes that it felt really special to finish her undergraduate studies journey with a project featuring people from her closest circles.
When she first arrived in London, Sameen remembers hearing Islamophobic comments that stemmed from a lack of awareness and knowledge. "It's because often we don't get to speak for ourselves," she says. "We don't just look one way, and there's not just one way that we exist; in reality, we're just as multifaceted as any other human being on earth.”
When reflecting on her time at LCF, Sameen tells me that she had initially planned to study history, and ending up at LCF was a surprise. "I wouldn't have imagined at the start of my degree that I'd be interviewed for a project I did because I never believed I was capable of doing creative things that were good enough," she admits.
Over the course of her studies, she has seen how differently creativity can manifest from person to person. Her conclusion now is that creativity doesn’t need justification or entry requirements. "If you have an idea and a passion and you can execute it, you're creative," she believes. “If we weren't creative, we wouldn’t be human.”
As her LCF journey draws to a close, Sameen has moved back to Bradford, which will be the UK's City of Culture next year. This designation means that many grants and opportunities will be available for the creative fields. "Up north, there are so many creative opportunities, yet many people feel like London is the only place to go," Sameen says. "So, the plan now is to make some creative noise up there.”
Just before we finish talking, Sameen recalls her first day of university, even remembering the exact outfit she wore. When I ask her what she would tell her past self on that day, she smiles and warns me that a cheesy quote is coming. "I’d say don't be so hard on yourself because everything falls into place. You don't have to worry about being the most experienced person out there," she says.
Written by LCF Newsroom Content Creators, Una Lote Andzane, BA (Hons) Fashion Journalism and Content Creation, 2024 graduate.