welcome to 3xyzine

a love letter to 3x women

The world is on fire and I’m trying to understand who I am if not a woman trying to make her younger self proud (she survived).

This is what comes to my mind immediately as I try to explain who a 3x woman is. She’s undefinable but she finds comfort in her own insignificance, humor in paradox. 3x is a love letter to duality, to juxtaposition, to the particular pleasure of holding contradiction (both our own and the world’s) at once without forcing either of them to win.

I wanted to introduce 3x Studio and the 3x woman from a brand POV, separate from my personal experience but it feels impossible because those same experiences are what brought 3x to life. The 3x woman is my favorite woman in the world, because she’s every woman who has shaped, taught, and inspired the woman I’m trying to be. She isn’t an alter ego. She’s real, and she’s all of us. So I cannot rush to tell her story all at once.

My name is Shahd, co-founder of 3x Studio and 3xyzine. For starters, 3x is pronounced aks, or 3x — Arabic for opposite, or on the contrary (having a name that’s often mispronounced wasn’t enough for me).

3x Studio is the label. 3xyzine is a space for continued fun, mess, what doesn’t fit on a product page, and wherever the story goes next.

I’m incredibly grateful for the other half of 3x, Anisa, because I couldn’t imagine building this alone or with anyone else. She is my sister before being a business partner and together we’ve struggled, laughed, traveled, learned, and dreamed through 3x which has made this whole process extra special.

I fell in love with fashion twice in my life. The first time was at 20, when I started dressing modestly because I enjoyed the puzzle of the process. The second time came years later during what I can only describe as my eat pray love era. I sold almost everything I owned and booked a one way ticket for what I thought would be a few weeks and turned into a few years. I lived out of one suitcase. I had no fixed idea what country I’d wake up in next or what my days would look like so everything I owned had to work for everything. Both times, it took a complete unraveling first.

The 3x woman has not afraid of falling apart a little if it means coming back together closer to herself.

What both unravellings gave me, eventually, was certainty. Certainty in my taste, in knowing what I never want to wear again (questionable outfits) and what pieces make me feel most confident. Nothing feels hotter than feeling put together and wondering what to do with all the energy I saved by avoiding decision fatigue. So many options! Fun! That’s the whole ethos behind 3x. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. We just want to make the pieces we ourselves actually want to wear, paired with the stories we want to tell alongside them.

There’s a quote that resonates deeply with us and serves as a reminder to purify our intentions when it comes to consumption. It has been the undertone to our decision making, our designing:

“There are numerous ahadith (sayings of the Prophet ﷺ) referring to specific items of clothing the Prophet ﷺ had – and what is notable is that each has been named by a distinct quality, such as the Yemeni sheet or the Rumi shirt. The fact that he named each item as he wore it indicates how well each item of clothing he possessed was known to him and loved by him, without the desire for more or disease of possessiveness clouding his heart. For the Prophet ﷺ, the act of putting on clothing was an act of worship – an opportunity to remember Allah, to thank Him for His gifts, and to use the gift as a means to becoming closer to His Creator.”

— “Every Garment Has a Name,” Virtual Mosque

I don’t know with any real precision what this becomes. Before 3x was 3x, it was an idea I had for years but never felt qualified or ready to pursue. I still don’t feel ready and don’t think I’ll ever feel ready (starting to think ready is a myth) but I’m proud of what we’re building and grateful for the process. Neither Anisa or I are good at following rules so we decided there are none — just two 3x women, trying our best, occasionally despite ourselves.

Thank you to those who have stuck around throughout the years, for your kind words, for your support, I don’t think I say that enough.

Can’t wait to grow with you.

Xoxo,

Shahd, 3x Woman