Tattoos Like Her Grandmother

Melat Terefe grew up watching her grandmother wear tattoos on her neck and arms, patterns that meant beauty, spiritual protection, and strength. When her grandmother, Emaye, passed away, Melat did not let those stories disappear. She built a fashion brand around them.

Melat is the founder of DolMel, an Ethiopian fashion house that fuses handwoven textile traditions with the exact tattoo patterns her grandmother once wore. As fast fashion floods the market with cheap reproductions of Ethiopian designs, Melat is fighting to preserve the real craft, and give Ethiopians in the diaspora a tangible way back to their roots.