Beyond Fashion: Middle Eastern Brands' Real Concerns

by Sana Bun

Beyond Fashion: Middle Eastern Brands' Real Concerns

20 Feb 2024

In the realm of fashion, a new wave of Middle Eastern talents is changing the game. Their focus goes beyond surface beauty, delving into the essence of cultural heritage, sustainability, and social impact. They are not just making clothes; they are telling stories of resilience and empowerment, from preserving traditional craftsmanship to providing ethical job opportunities. Here, we have brought together brands that design with a purpose.

Salim Azzam

Salim Azzam comes from a background where fashion seemed out of place. Raised in a small village in Mount Lebanon, he grew up among women from the Druze minority, who typically wore the traditional black dress with a white veil framing only their hands and eyes. However, these women found a way to express themselves through embroidery.

Inspired by their creativity, Salim launched his brand, where every piece is hand-crafted and embroidered. The designer believes that authentic fashion requires an authentic community, so he offers jobs to the local female artisans. By joining the team, each brings her own story, stitch and dreams. Together, they record, preserve and reimagine Lebanese heritage to share the beauty of their craft with the world.

Instagram: @salimazzam

Abadia

Abadia shares a similar goal to Salim Azzam, but aims to offer a fresh perspective on traditional techniques and unique skills in the Arabian Peninsula. The brand's creative director, Shahd AlShehail, celebrates local culture by turning timeless contemporary designs into ethically made products.

The brand works with mostly female artisans, providing them a consistent income. Abadia sources luxury deadstock materials and end-of-roll remnant fabric from garment manufacturing, giving new life to existing resources rather than producing new ones. Leftovers from the cutting process don’t go to waste either and are used for making accessories, packaging and toys.

Instagram: @abadiaofficial

Nöl Collective

Another team player is an intersectional feminist and political fashion collective, illuminating a story of craft, tradition and community in Palestine. Yasmeen Mjalli’s Nöl Collective manufactures apparel and accessories while keeping production hyper-local by partnering with women's cooperatives, family-run sewing workshops and artisans across the West Bank and Gaza.

The project works with natural and deadstock fabrics. It incorporates traditional and ancestral techniques such as Palestinian hand embroidery, Majdalawi weaving from Gaza and natural dyeing using local plants, insects and roots.

Instagram: @nolcollective

The Giving Movement

In turn, Dubai-based entrepreneur Dominic Nowell-Barnes has set his mind on fighting the fashion industry’s impact on climate change and unethical practices. His goal was to create a new model of fashion consumerism that everyone could become a part of while also contributing to society.

That is how the sustainable streetwear brand The Giving Movement appeared. They collaborate with non-profit organisations such as Harmony House and Dubai Cares and donate $4 from each item sold to charity.

Instagram: @thegivingmovement

Sentire Studio

Saleh Kelarge agrees that the planet suffers for the sake of fast trends but has a different approach to this problem. At Sentire Studio, he changes the fashion game by creating stylish statement pieces that are durable, simple, and sustainable, meant to be worn for years.

Saleh believes that personal style should reflect daily needs, so he prioritises utility without compromising style. Sentire Studio's collections are crafted in limited quantities by artisans using carefully chosen natural materials.

Instagram: @sentire.studio

Up-fuse

Up-fuse targets a very specific issue — the extreme level of pollution that people in Egypt face daily. To make a change, the brand's founders, Rania Rafie and Yara Yassin, raise awareness of social and environmental sustainability by transforming waste into products.

Together with local non-governmental organisations and underprivileged communities across Egypt, the brand works in the infamous Manshiyat Nasser, also known as the “Garbage City” in Cairo. They source waste such as old tyres, plastic bags and bottles to upcycle them into eco-friendly materials that are later transformed into streetwear and accessories.

Apart from this, Up-fuse makes a significant social impact by teaching youth, women and migrants from the Middle East the upcycling and sewing techniques to generate an income for their families. The brand also provides job opportunities and donates part of the revenue to the NGOs helping the Manshiyat Nasser community.

Instagram: @upfuse

by Sana Bun