ŌTĒ by Hind: art wear for curious souls. Clothing drawn from Iraqi tea hours, folk sayings and old stamps. Coming soon.

ŌTĒ by Hind

Coming soon

An old Baghdad street at sunrise, illustrated in the style of Hind's artwork: a lamplit tea house, a pavement book stall, a closed teal shop shutter painted with a tea glass and a teapot under a carved wooden shanasheel window, a sleepy postman at the post office window, a breakfast cart under a striped awning, and a tiled minaret, the old clock tower and a turquoise dome against a peach sky.

عصرونيه · the afternoon tea hour

Our Story

Hind's painting of a woman in a bright patterned headscarf sipping tea from a small glass, a teapot on a stand beside her.

OTE began with asrooniya — the afternoon tea hour I grew up with.

It was never simply about the tea. It was the pause in the day, the people gathered around the table, the spontaneous conversations, the laughter, and the stories that seemed to unfold once everyone sat down.

Someone wearing an OTE shirt with Hind's artwork on the back, walking down an old alley.

For years, I painted and drew pieces of that world without imagining they might become anything more. Then my niece looked through my work and said something simple: these drawings shouldn't stay in a sketchbook — they should be worn.

That idea became OTE, and soon, a family project built together with Amena and Sara.

Hind's painting of two women at afternoon tea, pouring from patterned teapots in a mustard-striped room.

Our first collections grew from the small details of everyday Iraqi life — tea gatherings, familiar rituals, expressions, memories, and the stories that live in ordinary moments.

Tea, in particular, has always held a special place in our family. My mother has been, and still is, what we lovingly call the “tea godmother” of the family. She delights in every part of the ritual — discovering new varieties, experimenting with flavors, and creating endless blends of her own. Around her teapot, there was always conversation, laughter, and the feeling that even an ordinary afternoon could become something memorable.

From those moments came the first drawing in the collection: Hanaa.

That drawing became the starting point for Asrooniya, named after the afternoon tea time I knew so well. From there, the collection began to grow, celebrating not only tea itself, but everything that surrounds it — the serving sets, the rituals, the familiar details, and above all, the social warmth of gathering with family and loved ones.

Hind's drawing of a crowd of women, three of them in front with speech bubbles reading: Once upon a time. Somewhere between a cup of tea and a good story. OTE was born.

The Girgah Collection was born from another part of the world I grew up in: Iraqi folk sayings and the language of everyday life. My father loved Arabic literature, folk poetry, history, and literary anecdotes, and his influence became part of my own artistic imagination. Girgah is an Iraqi dialect word for “chatter” or “a lot of talk” — a fitting name for a collection that gives new life to the phrases, sayings, and stories that have stayed with us.

Hind's stamp design: a sepia portrait of a woman with a long face and dangling earrings, framed by Arabic lettering and the stepped spiral minaret of Samarra.

Then came the Stamp Collection, inspired by the Iraqi expression “أنطاني طابع” — literally, “he gave me a stamp” — a phrase used when someone disappears or ghosts you.

That playful expression led us back to another era: handwritten letters, postage stamps, and words that once had to travel to reach someone. There is something beautiful about old stamps — miniature works of art filled with history, typography, illustration, and memory. Through the collection, we reimagine that visual heritage in pieces made for today.

A tea hour. A familiar saying. An old habit of writing letters.

They may seem like small things, but to us, they are the details that make a culture feel lived, remembered, and loved.

That is what OTE is about: taking fragments of our stories and giving them a new form — something to keep, something to share, and something to wear.

Explore the collections, and you’ll find a little piece of that story in each one.

With love,
The OTE Family
Amena, Sara & Hind

مرسم هند · Hind's studio

About Hind

Some of my earliest memories are of amusement parks — not simply as places to visit, but as places being imagined, designed, and brought to life.

I grew up in Baghdad in a family that designed and built amusement parks, so creativity was always around me. I watched ideas move from sketches and engineering plans into worlds of color, movement, and imagination. Rides took shape through fiberglass molds, carefully chosen palettes, mechanical precision, and handcrafted details.

Without realizing it at the time, I was learning one of the ideas that would stay with me throughout my life: that good design lives somewhere between function and imagination.

My older sister, who loved to draw, encouraged my curiosity and helped open the door to visual expression. Over time, drawing became my own way of observing the world, preserving what caught my attention, and giving form to ideas and memories.

Studying architecture later gave me the language to understand much of what I had grown up surrounded by. I went on to work as part of the design team for an amusement park in Baghdad, contributing to its landscape, entrances, kiosks, and visual identity. It gave me the unusual opportunity to bring my education back into the world of my childhood and deepened my interest in how spaces can shape emotion, experience, and storytelling.

One of Hind's characters: a woman with red hair and big pink glasses, with speech bubbles in Arabic.

That same curiosity has taken me in many creative directions.

I have designed for children's theater, creating backdrops and props that help transform a story into an immersive world. I have worked as an art educator, sharing the joy of making and experimentation. And through children's book illustration, I discovered another way of building imaginative spaces — this time on the page — where curiosity, language, and wonder can grow together.

Across all of my work, I enjoy moving between materials, colors, and techniques. Experimentation has always been an important part of my creative process.

One of Hind's characters: a woman with a grey bob and yellow glasses, with an Iraqi saying hand-lettered beside her.

For me, art is rarely just about making an image. It is a way of holding onto stories, revisiting places, recovering memories, and giving something tangible to experiences that might otherwise disappear with time.

Today, I work across art, architecture, illustration, and creative education, while also leading workshops that allow me to share the knowledge and processes I have developed over the years.

OTEbyHind brings those different parts of my life together.

Each design begins somewhere personal — with a memory, a place, an expression, an object, or a moment from everyday life. Through drawing and design, I reinterpret those fragments into something new: pieces that carry a story beyond the page and into everyday life.

Something remembered.
Something reimagined.
Something you can carry with you.

— Hind
Art Wear for Curious Souls

Shutter's still down

The shop opens soon

ŌTĒ is a fashion and art brand for curious souls. We turn everyday emotions, people and places into wearable art, blending Iraqi culture with playful, expressive illustration. Rooted in heritage but made for today, ŌTĒ is a celebration of creativity, individuality and the beautifully strange.

Behind this shutter wait the first three collections. The shutter goes up the day the first drop is ready.

  • Asrooniya عصرونية

    Named after the afternoon tea time: the serving sets, the rituals, the warmth of gathering.

  • Girgah گرگه

    Iraqi dialect for “chatter”: the phrases, sayings and stories that stayed with us.

  • Stamp طابع

    From “أنطاني طابع”, “he gave me a stamp”: old letters and postage, reimagined.

Join the OTE Club to hear first, and get 15% off your first order.

Don't give us a stamp. In Baghdad, “أنطاني طابع”, “he gave me a stamp”, means someone ghosted you. Here it works the other way: leave your address and we give you one.

بريد جوي · Par avion · By air mail

Join the OTE Club and get 15% off your first order

From

Sent by ŌTĒ by Hind · Milton, Ontario, Canada · team@otebyhind.com

Want to write to us yourself? team@otebyhind.com