RK Collective turns headscarves into stadium seats to celebrate Iranian women's resilience

Product design, material innovation and collective action will intersect at Crafted Liberation, a new exhibition by Sydney-based RK Collective that aims to highlight the systemic exclusion of women from Iranian society.

Opening this Friday at the Australian Design Centre in Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Crafted Liberation will present elegant stadium seats fashioned from discarded headscarves. In doing so, RK Collective – led by Iranian-Australian designer Nila Rezaei – hopes to amplify the voices and resilience of Iranian women in the fight for gender equality.

“In Iran, women have been banned from entering stadiums since 1981,” Rezaei says.

“The stadium seat represents more than just functionality – it’s a symbol of exclusion. By using these discarded headscarves to create seats, we reclaim and redefine the narratives of suppression into stories of empowerment.”

The story behind the design

Crafted Liberation draws inspiration from the Women, Life, Freedom movement. This captured global attention in 2022 following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly.

The exhibition seeks to transform the power of this social resistance into innovative, functional objects. According to RK Collective, 491 Iranian women have anonymously donated their unwanted headscarves to support the cause and the project continues to grow as more headscarves arrive from around the world.

Embedding circular design and material innovation

RK Collective developed a unique composite in collaboration with a specialist Australian manufacturer to bring these chairs to life. They have used 100 percent waste resources, including plastic bags and unwanted and donated head scarfs, to create a material that is durable and lightweight through a process of lamination and pressure moulding.

This blend not only “honours” the composite materials traditionally found in stadium seats, but also reflects the strength, courage and stories of the women behind each scarf.

“Every seat we create holds a story,” RK Collective says.

Crafted Liberation’s call to the design community

In addition to its ambition to transform how the public perceives spaces of exclusion, and foster opportunities for dialogue, acceptance and belonging, the exhibition sounds a clarion call specifically to designers. RK Collective hopes it will encourage this community to think beyond aesthetics and functionality and towards creating work that bridges cultural narratives, sustainability and social empowerment.