License plate shirt latest fad among Saudi girls

Shirts emblazoned with license plates are the new rage among young women in Saudi Arabia where a ban on women driving has prompted critics to seek out alternative ways to express their dissatisfaction.

Two students at Dammam's King Faisal University began making the shirts embroidered with a license plate bearing the girl’s name with the country and a number. and have started a new fad among Saudi girls, according to local press reports.

Noha Berjes and Naglaa al-Oteibi designed the shirts and made them at their houses then sold them to girls inside and outside the university, the Saudi newspaper al-Riyadh reported, noting that they entered the fashion business two years ago when they first started printing and painting on clothes.

 Our main aim is to give girls the latest in the world of fashion 

Noha Berjes, designer

"We bought the shirts then painted or printed on them what the customers wanted," Berjes told the paper. "Painting was always much harder than printing."

The license plate is their most popular design so far due to its originality and because girls relate to its implicit message.

They came up with the idea when they found out that girls prefer personalized designs that incorporate their names.

"Our main aim is to give girls the latest in the world of fashion," said Noha.

Berjes and Oteibi now have a workshop in which they design and make the shirts and they market their products on Facebook.

Prices range from 120 to 150 riyals ($32- 40) for a printed short with painted ones selling for as much as400 riyals ($106).