After demonstrations broke out in Iran on December 28, 2025, following the collapse of the Iranian currency, the country’s regime responded in a deadly manner. More than 6,000 people were killed as part of a brutal massacre of protesters on January 8 and 9, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana), although some estimates suggest the death toll is significantly higher. A weeks-long shutdown of the internet means that receiving news out of Iran has been extremely difficult, with severe restrictions still in place.
For the Iranian diaspora, this has meant an agonizing wait for news from family members, with many left feeling helpless in the face of such unthinkable atrocities. As the situation remains fraught in Iran, and with several opposition politicians arrested just this week, Vogue speaks to three Iranian designers on why their home country needs our support right now.
Naza Yousefi, founder of Yuzefi
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Photo: Courtesy of Yuzefi
“It has been a deeply painful and unsettling time. Watching events unfold in a place that is so emotionally close to you while being physically distant creates a constant sense of helplessness. Having lived through war as a child, I am particularly sensitive to what prolonged fear and instability do to people over time. What has been hardest is seeing ordinary lives, families, young people, civilians slowly reduced to headlines or abstractions, rather than recognized as individuals living under immense and sustained pressure. Being at a distance also makes you aware of how quickly complex realities are simplified, which can feel almost as painful as the events themselves.
Information comes in fragments through family, messages and what people are able to share online. I have been in contact with my family, which I am grateful for, but there is always an underlying uncertainty that never fully lifts. What comes through very clearly is how exhausting it is to live without basic security or freedom, and how much emotional energy goes into simply getting through ordinary days. There is often a gap between how life inside Iran is discussed externally and how it is actually being lived, which is why listening to people there feels especially important to me.
My hope is for an end to violence and dehumanization, and for Iranians to be able to live with dignity, safety and a sense of agency over their own lives. I also hope that conversations outside Iran can move away from division and moral binaries, and instead reflect the reality that most people want the same fundamental things: peace, security, and a future for their children. Holding on to that shared humanity feels essential to me, particularly when it becomes easiest to lose sight of it.”
Paria Farzaneh, founder of paria /FARZANEH
Photo: Jackson Hale, courtesy of Paria Farzaneh
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