In a time when supporting Palestinian creatives is more important than ever, Dukkan Avantique stands out. Founded by best friends Rima Rokh (Palestinian-Jordanian) and Sally Batha (Palestinian-Indian), this Dubai-based label— “Dukkan” is a nod to the go-to neighborhood store—blends their shared experiences of growing up between cultures into clothes that tell stories you can actually wear. Think reversible bucket hats, prints inspired by nostalgic favorites like sour punk candy and pizza boxes, and collections packed with personal references. Every piece is a playful nod to their Palestinian roots and third-culture identities. And with their new initiative, Club Avantique, they’re turning fans into co-creators, bringing together a community that celebrates diverse stories and shared heritage. The new members-based community space, launching on July 7 in Amman, features a referral rewards program, and offers access to creative networks, limited drops, styling experiences, and much more.
Ahead of the launch, we caught up with the design duo to talk about identity, why supporting neutrality is never an option, and where they see themselves in five years.
Let’s start from the beginning—what inspired you both to create Dukkan?
It all started with a BOTIM call between two best friends, feeling like we belonged nowhere and everywhere at once. Rima, Palestinian-Jordanian and raised in Riyadh, has called the UK, Jordan, KSA and UAE home. Sally, Indian-Palestinian, born in the US and raised in Dubai, shares a similarly scattered map of identity. Despite adapting wherever we landed, we never quite fit in—our accents, our references, even our sense of humor marked us as different. Instead of seeing that as a misfit moment, we saw magic in it. We leaned into our layered, third-culture experiences and channelled them into tangible designs that tell stories. That’s how Dukkan Avantique was born.
“Dukkan” is a nod to the go-to neighborhood store—welcoming, familiar, ever-evolving. “Avantique” fuses “avant-garde” and “antique,” much like our lives—a blend of the old and the new, the remembered and the imagined. Together, they embody the blend of tradition and innovation that defines us.
How did your personal upbringings shape the DNA of the brand?
Every collection we create is an echo of our lived experiences—equal parts homesickness and discovery, nostalgia and reinvention. Dukkan Avantique is our way of turning the third-culture experience into a wearable language.
We pull from our own stories—scraps of childhood, cultural contradictions, and blurry in-betweens—and channel them into designs that celebrate fluid identity. You’ll find layered artwork using one-line drawings, photography, collage, and digital distortion. The outcome? Pieces that feel like memory maps. Even our packaging includes subtle nods to our past—sour punk candy, old-school pizza boxes—things we grew up with that feel oddly universal and deeply personal at once.
Can you take us back to your first collection—what were you feeling, hoping, and dreaming when you launched it?
Starting Dukkan Avantique felt like jumping off a cliff with a parachute we’d never tested. We had zero experience in fashion or design, and yet we both had a vision too strong to ignore. We launched with a single, intentionally simple product: a reversible bucket hat—our MVP, but also our quiet rebellion. Within two months, we had six designs and found ourselves in stores like American Rag Cie (Dubai), Bunka (Kuwait), and AreWeAwake (Bahrain), while creating huge turnouts in pop-ups in Amman.
We knew it could flop or fly, and we were okay with either. What mattered was that we tried, and that we made space for a story like ours in fashion.
As Palestinian women in the fashion industry, how do you navigate visibility, activism, and creativity—especially in times when your identity is politicized?
It’s not easy. Some days, creating feels impossible. There were times we couldn’t design, couldn’t think. But as Palestinians, silence is never an option. We’ve faced pressure on both ends: some wanted us to dilute our identity for the sake of “neutrality,” others wanted us to commodify it. But we refuse to reduce Palestine to a branding tool. Our heritage lives in our designs, not as a performance, but as a truth. It’s part of our DNA. Whether it’s inconvenient or celebrated, we move according to our own compass. We don’t chase safe decisions; we chase honest ones.
How do you translate something as intangible as identity or cultural nostalgia into fabric, print, and silhouette?
We treat design like storytelling. We start with a feeling; longing, joy, tension etc. and break it down into visual elements such as facial expressions, shapes, colours, objects. Art becomes our translator. There are no rules, which is the beauty of it. Whether it’s a one-line drawing capturing someone deep in thought or a collage made from personal photos, each artwork holds emotion. Then comes the challenge of translating it onto garments, through placement, silhouette, and flow. That’s where emotion becomes fashion.
You design all your patterns in-house—can you walk us through the creative process from inspiration to final garment?
We don’t follow a standard process. No mood boards. No Pinterest. We start with a story. It usually begins with digging into Rima’s camera roll—personal photographs become the base. From there, the image gets manipulated – distorting colors, overlaying drawings, slices in textures- until it starts speaking the language of our concept. Sometimes she adds one-line sketches. Every layer adds meaning.
Once the artwork feels right, we translate it into fashion sketches, choosing silhouettes that enhance rather than overshadow- the story. The sampling phase follows, where the fabric, fit, and print placement go through several iterations. It’s part chaos, part intuition.
Tell us about Club Avantique—what sparked the idea and how does it expand the world of Dukkan?
From day one, we knew Dukkan wasn’t just a brand, it was a world. Club Avantique is our way of expanding that world and turning our community into co-creators. It’s not about exclusivity, it’s about belonging. It’s for the people who shaped Dukkan, who helped us dream, design and build.
What do you hope people feel when they become part of the club?
Seen. Safe. Powerful. We want Club Avantique members to feel like they’re part of something bigger—where their story matters, and where creativity can be a form of healing, expression, and connection. It’s more than a club—it’s a collective soul.
Why did you choose Amman for the first event, and what can guests expect?
Amman is a place where we share the emotions that define the brand. We both felt foreign in a place that was supposed to feel like “home.” But that discomfort helped us define what “home” really means—something beyond geography. That’s why Amman had to be the first stop. Our event will be an intimate, invite-only dinner— part story-sharing, part soul-feeding. Expect memory-inspired bites, nostalgic details, and a deeper dive into the heart of Club Avantique.
Finish this sentence: Dukkan Avantique is for anyone who…
…Carries a culture of their own
Where do you hope to take Dukkan in the next five years?
We see Club Avantique evolving into a creative hub: a space for collaboration, style experimentation, storytelling circles, and drops you won’t find anywhere else. We want to meet our community where they are—so global pop-ups are a must. Wherever there are third-culture souls with stories to tell, Dukkan will show up.
