Sustainable Fashion

In addition, glimpses of large-scale sustainable textile and weaving practices can be witnessed at the Bani Jamra Textile Factory which is locally known as the Naseej Factory. Bani Jamra which is a small village in Bahrain historically known as a centre for traditional fabric weaving and its exquisite weaving technique which luckily today’s generation of practitioners have inherited their craftsmanship skills over the centuries from their ancestors. Currently, the revival of the traditional textile weaving crafts at Bani Jamra is being supported by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities to preserve this 3000 years practice and promote sustainable fashion. 

To learn more about the Bani Jamra Textile Factory, follow @naseej_bh on Instagram!

In addition, local initiatives have already begun storming the country enabling members of the public to source and manage their clothes sustainably. A prime example is The Switch Project founded by fashion and environment enthusiast Khadija Mercer. This local environmental initiative enables environmentally conscious people in Bahrain to swap their clothes on a weekly basis. Items that are not swapped are upcycled. The project accepts shoes, bags, clothes and belts. 

To learn more about The Switch Project, follow @itstheswitchproject on Instagram.

Other local initiatives include thrift shops around the country that sell used and pre-loved clothing items to support important causes in Bahrain such as the BSPCA thrift shop.

Online thrifting is a rising initiative in Bahrain, such as The Outsourcers on instagram which showcase pre-owned luxury pieces (bags, shoes and jewellery) to help them find a new home. The Outsourcers campaign against the overconsumption of luxury items and fast fashion trends, while promoting the idea of shopping pre-owned and fixing your items first rather than buying new.

Visit the Conscious Living section of the bnature website to locate some of local tailor shops, thrift stores and cobblers!

The Royal University for Women (RUW) which is based in Bahrain offers multiple fashion design programmes. The university in recent years have been focused on introducing the concepts of sustainability in fashion and conscious design through their extra-curriculum programmes which includes webinars and workshops. 

https://www.ruw.edu.bh/royal-university-women-organises-series-webinars-manchester-metropolitan-university-uk 

For more information, visit their website and learn more about their programmes: https://www.ruw.edu.bh/?q=fashion-design-–-earlier-enrolments

A mindful platform that aims to normalize sustainable fashion practices for the GCC consumer. The company aims to achieve this by educating a community that is ready to evolve and reform an industry that is on the cusp of positive change

To learn more about them, follow @theundressed.co on Instagram

Rawan Maki a fashion designer with an environmental engineer degree. She is a PhD researcher in Design for Sustainability at the London College of Fashion. Her work explores the social, material, and behavioural transitions required to move towards design for sustainability in the Arab world. She is using Bahrain as a case study as she investigates a non-western approach to design for sustainability and considers the Gulf region as both a post-colonial and neo-colonial space. 

Rawan is Bahrain’s Country Coordinator for Fashion Revolution which is the world’s largest fashion activism movement, mobilising citizens, brands and policymakers through research, education and advocacy: https://www.fashionrevolution.org/asia/bahrain/ 

To learn more about her work, follow @rawanmaki on Instagram

Recipient of the Best Arab Fashion Designer Award in Egypt, Haya Khalifa is a fashion designer and entrepreneur. In addition, she is the creative director of luxury brand Naseem AlAndalos and founder of Nesma Studio, which is a fashion brand focused on giving back to the community and sustainability. In 2016, she graduated with a degree in fashion design and has since secured major achievements under her belt some which include fashion shows in Paris, London, Marrakech and Dubai. Haya is dedicated towards spreading awareness about sustainable and ethical fashion in the region.

To learn more about her work, follow @hayakhalifaofficial on Instagram

The founder of the luxury Womenswear label, Hala Kaiksow that takes inspiration from a time in which occupation and cultural origins gave clothing an unwavering identity. She holds a Master of Collection Design from Polimoda, Florence, Italy and a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the School of Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University with a sculpture concentration in Metals and Glass. She has self-taught herself to weave and through her studies she has lived in the US, France, the UK and Italy. 

To learn more about her work, follow @halakaiksow on Instagram