Tehran -- A musical play comes tonight to Tehran’s Vahdat Hall to remind Iranians about their rich heritage of ancient costumes.

The evolution of Iranian costumes over numerous epochs of history will be featured in “Seven-Colored Foulard”.
“‘Seven-Colored Foulard’ is an alarm set to warn us that if we ignore our heritage of Iranian and Islamic civilization, we will witness the emergence of foreign fashions that are not at all appropriate for our society,” director Kurosh Zarei said during a press conference last week.
He criticized Iranian fashion designers for using excessively dark and stark colors in their products, adding, “Among the ethnic groups living in our region, there exists a variety of colors and domestic fashions, and all are vibrantly full of life.”
“Through ‘Seven-Colored Foulard’, we plan to remind people about fashion designs and colors once again,” he added.
The evolution of clothing in Iranian history will be depicted in several stages during the play.
“The play will begin from the time when humans lived naked without any clothing. The advent of the Aryans changed all that and introduced clothing to Iranians,” Zarei said.
“The play will go on to depict fashion common during the Achaemenid period. It then shows Alexander invading Persia and how he was impressed by Iranian clothing. Afterward, we reach to the Sassanid period and show the fusion of the Iranian and Islamic cultures,” he explained.
Iranian attire during the Safavid era and the impact of Shia on it will be illustrated in another part of the play.
The play has also been planned to feature Iranian style dressing during the Qajar dynasty as well as in the Pahlavi era when Reza Shah first ordered the women in his family and later all people to unveil themselves.
“At the present time, people are in bewilderment about their dress. But with such a rich variety of clothing in our long history, it is totally inappropriate for such confusion to exist,” Zarei sated.
The Sedreh Costume Design Group has designed the costumes for “Seven-Colored Foulard”, which will be choreographed by Nader Rajabpur. It has been co-written by Ali Rezaii and Sirus Hemmati.
The play will be sponsored by the Dramatic Arts Center, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
“Seven-Colored Foulard” will be onstage until June 17.