Mick Hartley

This is great – from the Times of Israel:

Iraqi Kurdistan has been getting a lot of attention lately — but not for the usual reasons. The autonomous region in northern Iraq is still on the frontline in the battle against the Islamic State, but its capital city, Erbil, is now known for another reason: as home to a group of fashionable young hipsters.

[Photo: Mustafa Khayat Photography]

Taking social media by storm, these hipsters have formed a contemporary “gentlemen’s club” to share their love of male couture and promote a more modern, cosmopolitan, and peaceful image of their homeland. Known collectively as Mr. Erbil, they aim to invigorate the local economy and encourage civic engagement, all the while looking dashing for their 100,000 social media followers. Fans include residents of Israel, a country Mr. Erbil members told this journalist they admire and hope to one day visit….

According to Nauzad, the members range in age between 18 and 32. Some are married and some are single, but none have children. The men come from all walks of life and different religions. (Iraqi Kurdistan is religiously diverse, with Muslims of various sects, Yazidis, Assyrian and Armenian Christians, and others).

“We’ve got all kinds of gentlemen. We’ve got a car mechanic, a doctor, engineers, shop owners, government people, everything,” said Nauzad, who is a marketing research manager….

[Photo: Goran Photography]

Nauzad, 26, emphasized that Mr. Erbil is about a lot more than merely looking splendid. The men are proud of a Mr. Erbil men’s fashion line they are designing and having made by local tailors.

“We are not only using local tailors, but also local fabrics. This, for instance, is made from local goats hair that is sheared in the summer,” Nauzad said as he pulled his yellow tie out from his dark blue vest to show this reporter.

“The fabrics are very authentic. They may have a slightly rougher feel than you’re used to, but they are very good quality,” he said.

The men are inspired by the latest European fashions, but their style also harks back to the historical affendis, or lords — respected and well educated Kurdish men who would dress in their finery to attend salons and tea shops. Mr. Erbil is about bringing fashion to Kurdistan, and also gentlemanly etiquette and protocol. This includes keeping religion and politics out of the club.

[Photo: @malo_wlat]

“Religion is a private matter,” said Nauzad, who fled Kurdistan temporarily with his Muslim family to Germany in the early 1990s….

In addition to supporting the local tailoring economy, Mr. Erbil seeks to promote social causes. Every Thursday the gentlemen give a shoutout on their social media accounts to exemplary women making an impact in Kurdish society….

The club is also preparing a video with an anti-violence against women message in 14 languages, and viral content promoting environmental awareness and encouraging people not to litter….

[Photo: MkStudio Mustafa Khayat Photography]

Nauzad said he and others in the club would be interested in visiting another part of the world that also has an erroneous reputation for being a constant war zone — namely Israel.

“You know, there’s a deep connection between the Kurds and Israel,” Nauzad said.

Nearly 200,000 Jews from historic Kurdistan, divided today between Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, live in Israel. The Kurdish-Israeli community maintains positive ties with Kurds within the Kurdish heartland and in the Kurdish diaspora….

“Nationalist Kurds tend to see Israel as a role model for an independent Kurdistan: a small nation surrounded by enemies and bolstered by a strategic partnership with the United States….".