Humanitarian fashion is more than a trend — it is a movement built on empathy, cultural preservation, and collective healing.

Shahd Alasaly is a sociology instructor at the University of South Florida. Her work focuses on trauma, displacement, and collective healing through an anti-colonial lens. She is the founder and creative director of Blue Meets Blue, a slow-fashion label employing refugee women and partnering with Syrian textile producers. She is also the author of A Kids Book About Humanitarianism and is currently writing a new book series on refugee journeys.

In this episode, Shahd shares how fashion became a tool for art therapy, empowerment, and cultural preservation — and why teaching empathy to children may be the most powerful humanitarian act of all.

What you will learn from this episode:

  • Why slow fashion can support trauma healing, dignity, and empowerment for refugee women.
  • Why children are naturally wired for humanitarianism — and how to nurture it.
  • Why storytelling is essential for preserving marginalized voices and histories.

“To be a humanitarian is to walk in someone’s shoes and deeply think about what they need.”

– Shahd Alasaly

Topics Covered:

02:11 – Founding Blue Meets Blue as a response to the Syrian civil war and collective trauma.

05:03 – How slow fashion and artisan work became art therapy for refugee women.

06:10 – Blue Meets Blue relaunching with textiles sourced from newly freed Syria.

07:02 – Bestselling A-line skirts, brocade dusters, and the storytelling behind each piece.

08:40 – Why Shahd wrote A Kids Book About Humanitarianism and how kids understand empathy.

10:48 – Teaching children about refugees through simple, actionable language.

12:30 – Shahd’s upcoming book From There to Here following refugee children’s journeys.

15:52 – How Shahd’s research explores trauma, resilience, and community healing.

17:20 – Humanizing refugee experiences through stories of everyday motherhood and dignity.

Key Takeaways:

“Kids don’t complicate relationships. Adults add politics, fear, and layers that make empathy harder.” — Shahd Alasaly

“These women weren’t just sewing. They were healing together in a safe, trusted space.” — Shahd Alasaly

“You don’t have to wait until you’re older or important to be a humanitarian. You can start with a simple smile.” — Shahd Alasaly

“Community resilience comes from holding space for each other through trauma.” — Shahd Alasaly

Ways to Connect with Shahd Alasaly:

Ways to Connect with Sarah E. Brown:

 

Full Episode Transcript:

(AI helped us put this together, so if you see any weird grammar or missed words—just know we nailed it during the actual chat.)

Shahd Alasaly 

I start with empathy. I think it’s really important that we have these conversations about empathy and kindness with our children. So I tell them that to be a humanitarian is to be somebody who’s empathetic. And to be empathetic, you walk in somebody’s shoes. You think about, you really deeply think about what it is that this other person needs, what this other person wants.

Sarah E. Brown 

Hello everyone. Welcome to the KTS Success Factor Podcast for Women, where we talk about challenges senior female leaders face in being happy and successful at work. I’m your host, Dr. Sarah E. Brown. My guest today is Shahd Alasaly. She is a sociology instructor at the University of South Florida whose work explores trauma, displacement, and collective healing through an anti-colonial lens. 

She is the founder and creative director of Blue Meets Blue, a sustainable fashion label employing refugee artisans in the U.S. and partnering with Syrian textile producers. Shahd is also the author of a kids book about humanitarianism and is currently writing new books on refugee journeys. Welcome to the podcast. 

Shahd Alasaly

Thank you for having me. 

Sarah E. Brown

So tell me more about this business. How did you get into it? How exactly does it work? And what are examples of your products?

Shahd Alasaly 

Yeah, so Blue Meets Blue is a humanitarian clothing line that I founded back in 2015 in Chicago, and it was a direct response to the Syrian civil war that was happening at the time. I’m the daughter of Syrian immigrants, so the war hit home for me quite literally. This was the place that I grew up visiting every summer, and I no longer could visit, and so there was this rupture that had happened. 

And this is part of that collective trauma that I explore, social trauma. But I really wanted to do something to help, so I started a clothing line as a form of art therapy, without calling it therapy, that employed refugee women in Chicago at the time, because we had a lot of refugees that were coming to America. And there were so many goals with that clothing line. 

It was a slow fashion clothing line because I hate the idea of fast fashion. It meant something to the people that were making it. It meant something to the people that were going to purchase it. It was a way to work through dignity, right? So it was a way for these women to use their skill set. That was a main thing that I had wanted for them because a lot of people, when they come to the United States, that skill set is not recognized. 

And I wanted them to use their skill set so that they could feel empowered and they could feel like they had a job in something that they were doing before coming. And I also really wanted to dispel a lot of the stereotypes that people had about refugees. 

A lot of people thought you know that refugees were coming to the country and they were going to live off the tax dollars and whatever and that couldn’t be further from the truth because a lot of refugees actually the refugees that do come have to pay their tickets back within six to seven months of arrival. 

So also the art therapy component without calling it therapy was that we would sit together and they felt like they had built a safe space, there was trust, they were able to speak with people who had gone through a very similar experience while using their hands to do some creative work. So there was a lot of healing that took place during that time as well.

Sarah E. Brown 

So are most of your artisans co-located together?

Shahd Alasaly 

So at the time, in 2015, it was in Chicago and the women that were there were all working. They all were from, you know, living in Chicago, they were all working in the same place because that was also part of the plan, this collective healing space, almost like a healing circle, if you will. And we were all working together. 

We had to stop in 2019 because of many things, but part of it was that I was moving to Florida. And then I had a child and then COVID hit and so it was a pretty natural place to stop. But we’re actually relaunching in January and I’m really excited about it because it’s come full circle. 

Syria became free this year so I was able to go back this summer and source a lot of the brocade fabric from there. 80% of the factories, the industrial factories, were destroyed intentionally during the war. So now I want to help the factories over there bring the textile and then the women over here are making the clothing. So I’m really excited about it. We’re launching in January.

Sarah E. Brown 

Very cool. And what kind of clothing? Can you describe some of the products?

Shahd Alasaly 

Yeah, so we were best known for our A-line skirts. It’s a luxury clothing line, so we want it to be elevated. We want it to be, you know, something that you could dress up or dress down, but you could wear it to a wedding or you could wear it to a fundraiser or whatever. It’s really exciting. The A-line skirts we were known for were really beautiful because we are a slow fashion line. 

They’re made to order, so when people place orders, they send the height they want, the waist circumference, and the skirts have pockets, which are really exciting for everyone. So that was one of our bestsellers. We have pencil skirts coming up. We’ve got these really beautiful brocade dusters. So this line is an elevated evening collection. And the colors are golds and silvers because we’re really excited about Syria being free. So it’s a celebratory line.

Sarah E. Brown 

Very cool. Can you see samples of it now or do we have to wait until January?

Shahd Alasaly 

I’m going to send you pictures and you can absolutely post those. We’re really excited about them.

Sarah E. Brown 

Very interesting. Very interesting. So tell me about the book because the book is also very interesting.

Shahd Alasaly 

Yeah, so I wrote a kid’s book about humanitarianism about a year ago, and the whole kid’s book about collection is awesome for educators, librarians, parents. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with it, but it started in 2019 after George Floyd, and it was this response to what had happened. And the founder, Jelani Memory, his book was the first book, and it was a kid’s book about racism. 

And then somebody wrote a kid’s book about systemic racism, and he had partnered with people within their industry to write a book about what they had been doing. So my book was a kid’s book about humanitarianism. And I’m really excited about this book because I feel like it’s very innate for kids. Kids don’t make things complicated, right? 

For kids when they see, especially younger kids, when they see a child crying in the corner, it’s very instinctive for them to go and hug the child and check on them and are you okay? I think the older we get, the more layers we add to our relationships, politics and news and racism and all of these things, and we end up complicating relationships a lot more than we need to. 

But the point of these books is that it’s never too early to have these important conversations with your child. They’re ready. What’s exciting about them is it gives them active language to use when they’re talking about these topics instead of being these passive individuals. So the book gives them an understanding of what it means to be a humanitarian, why it’s important in this day and age, what are some simple examples, and most importantly, that you don’t have to wait until you’re older to be super rich or a very important person to be a humanitarian. 

You can do very simple things in your everyday life. A smile to someone, right, that’s not having a good day. Making blessing bags and passing them out, you know, at the streetlight to houseless people. There are so many different ways that you can be a humanitarian. And my point in the book is for children to understand that it’s never too early and a humanitarian can be someone of any age.

Sarah E. Brown 

Just out of curiosity, how do you define a humanitarian for the child? 

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Shahd Alasaly 

So I start with empathy. I think it’s really important that we have these conversations about empathy and kindness with our children. So I tell them that to be a humanitarian is to be somebody who’s empathetic and to be empathetic, you walk in somebody’s shoes, you think about, you really deeply think about what it is that this other person needs, what this other person wants. 

And I talked to them in the book about refugees, you know, because that was my background within the refugee community for quite some time. Now you’re going to be having friends in your classroom that are from a different culture and a different country. 

And, you know, what does it mean for this person to have experienced what they experienced? What does it mean for a person to, you know, whatever the situation is, to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and think about what it is that that person really wants to be human. 

Sarah E. Brown

OK, got it. And so what age are you targeting this book to? 

Shahd Alasaly

So it’s 5 to 12, it’s meant to be a read-along with parents, so adults can sit down and have these important conversations with their children. 

A lot of parents will say, I want to talk to my kids about these really important topics, but I just don’t know how to approach it, or I don’t know where to start. And so, again, there’s so many topics within this collection of books. 

There’s a kid’s book about bullying, there’s a kid’s book about divorce, a kid’s book about war. So these really important topics are kind of broken down into bite-sized lessons and ways for parents to read along with their kids, but they’re targeting ages 5-12.

Sarah E. Brown 

And so that I’m clear, are you writing the whole series?

Shahd Alasaly 

No. There’s a lot of different authors that each person focused on their own expertise and what they bring, what they contribute. So it’s actually really exciting because Jelani Memory founded the company at Kids Book About, and he’d partnered with a bunch of different people from all different industries that have written about their area of expertise. 

Sarah E. Brown

And it’s available now? 

Shahd Alasaly

Yeah, it’s available online, Barnes, Amazon, Target, Walmart, all the places.

Sarah E. Brown 

Very cool. But you’ve got other books that you’re thinking about writing as well. So tell me about those.

Shahd Alasaly 

I have a book coming out this year, which I’m really excited about. It’s called From There to Here. There meaning anywhere where, you know, someone’s coming. And here, the point is I want anybody who’s going to pick up the book to be able to be like, you know, this is here, wherever here is. 

And it follows the story of a few refugee children that are from Iraq, from Syria, from Palestine, from Lebanon, from Sudan. And it follows their last, if you will, day or week as they were leaving their country and going to the new country and what that looks like on this journey to, you know, hope and new friendships and a new home and belonging and identity.

Sarah E. Brown 

Mm hmm. Very cool. And when will that come out? 

Shahd Alasaly

Hopefully by March or April. 

Sarah E. Brown

Very, very cool. Very cool. So how did you get into wanting to educate kids about this topic? I understand the connection with the refugee women and helping them to heal and also educating the rest of us along the way, but how did you get interested in educating kids about some of these topics?

Shahd Alasaly 

So I’m a mom and first and foremost, I look at my children and I look at their friends and I think it’s really important that they are having these conversations, that they are at a place where they are able to understand these human concepts from a very young age because education is what’s going to change the future, right? 

And our children are what are going to change the future. So for me, writing books or reading books or storytelling, it’s about preserving these voices that are often silenced, right, that are marginalized, and showing the community and showing children that these things are deeply human, and we can be deeply human. What does empathy mean? What does it look like? 

So my hope is that this gives young kids, not only empathy, but even a framework about how they can think differently, about approaching relationships, about approaching human beings, and how they can remember that kindness, right, and remember that integration of that whole framework within their daily lives.

Sarah E. Brown 

Very cool. So you’ve got two different thrusts going on right now. One is for helping refugee women and one is for helping children of all different backgrounds understand the refugee problem and humanitarianism in general. Bring this full circle to a little bit about you and what you’re teaching in your role at University of South Florida.

Shahd Alasaly 

So the refugee experience and the refugee journey matter a lot to me because like I said I’m daughter of Syrian immigrants and this entire situation has affected my community and my home and everything and so I like to say that I am a part sociologist, I’m a part storyteller, I think there’s this common thread of trauma that is, you know, it goes through all of my work and it just kind of goes full circle. It’s all very aligned. 

So within my work in sociology and my research, I explore themes of trauma, of collective trauma, social trauma, historical wounds, resilience, right? Community resilience and community healing. I believe that we heal in community and we need each other as human beings to be able to heal, to hold each other within our difficult experiences. 

And so, whether it’s my work with Blue Meets Blue and how women carry that trauma and that gendered trauma, how it shows up within the community, whether it’s because of war or because of all kinds of things that I explore, I also like to see how that trauma becomes this anchor, if you will, in survival and in resilience.

Sarah E. Brown 

Very interesting. So what question did I not ask you that I should have that will help people understand your core mission on this planet?

Shahd Alasaly 

I am deeply interested in seeing how we can heal our communities together. I think that, and you have asked and we have touched on this, but this is my mission. How can we as human beings put everything to the side, all of the things that divide us, all the news, all the politics, all of it, and figure out a way that we can remember that we are all on this planet together. 

And so with the refugee women that I work with, I like to give the example of this one woman that came to me and she was really excited after working with us for a year that she felt like she had a little bit of extra income that she could send cupcakes for her son’s birthday for class. And it’s these little, like very deeply human moments, right? 

I think a lot of people, they often dismiss or forget when they’re thinking about, oh, there’s refugees coming to the country. Oh, there’s these political, you know, they think politics and it’s like, don’t forget this is a mom, right? This is a mom that wants her kids to do just as well as you want for your kids. 

And it’s not that complicated and it’s really not that difficult. So how can we come together and heal ourselves? and heal one another and bear witness to a lot of the stuff that we have been through while holding the space and while acknowledging the pain and while making this world a better place.

Sarah E. Brown 

Very, very interesting. Well, thank you so much for being my guest today. And I will have on the show notes to find you on BlueMeetsBlue.com. And the book can be found on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and practically wherever books are found. Yes?

Shahd Alasaly

Yes, that is true.

Sarah E. Brown 

Thanks so much for being with me today.

Shahd Alasaly

Thank you for having me.

Sarah E. Brown 

Thanks for listening to the KTS Success Factor Podcast for Women. If you like what you are hearing, please go to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave a review. And if you want more information on how we help women in your organization thrive, go to www.sarahebrown.com. You can sign up for our newsletter, read show notes, learn more about our podcast guests, read my blog, browse through the books, or contact us for a chat. Goodbye for now.

Sarah E. Brown
Sarah E. Brown