crochet clothes
Photography by Carlyle Routh. Styling by Jackie McKeown

It’s Official: Crochet Is Now for Cool Girls

Keep it modern like sisters and social stars Nuni and Nasteha Yusuf

They’re known as The Yusufs, a blogging duo with killer style and a bespoke jewellery line. But there’s a lot more to Nasteha and Nuni’s story than meets an Instagram scroll. The sisters were born in Somalia, the youngest girls in a family of eight children. In 1990, as the threat of war intensified, their father, who worked in government, left for Canada, while their mother stayed behind with the kids, thinking they’d be safe. “At first, [the rebels] were targeting government people, but then one day, we woke up and had to run. There were riots and people getting shot in front of us,” recalls Nasteha.

Their mother managed to find people who could help. “She gave them everything she had and begged, ‘Please, get us out of here,’” says Nasteha. The family hopped onto trucks and eventually made it to a refugee camp in Kenya, where they all shared a small tent. “I remember there being fires sometimes and we’d have to start again from scratch,” says Nuni. It took two years, but they finally made contact with their father, who had presumed they were dead. He was later able to have them brought over to Canada.

“People always comment on how happy we are, and it’s because we know what going through hardships is like,” says Nasteha. Nuni agrees: “We’re happy to be alive every single day.” That zest for life is reflected in their effervescent shared wardrobe. “I used to always steal her clothes. Now we invest in pieces together,” says Nuni. They do everything as a team, really, even raising their kids. “They’re always together because we’re always together!”

 

Fashion’s ongoing love affair with all things ’70s, is bringing crochet back. But make no mistake, the look is so much more than macramé cover-ups. On the runways at Celine and Altuzarra, the trend was paired with real-world pieces for the ultimate high-low mix. Follow suit.

On Nuni (left): Self Portrait dress, $548, vspconsignment.com. Kaftan (vintage), $148, vspconsignment.com. On Nasteha: Nouveau Riche private collection vintage jacket, price upon request

    More Sisters in Spring 2020