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Al-Husseinya – In a palm grove north of Baghdad, awestruck Iraqi shepherds watched as models paraded second-hand clothes on an improvised catwalk to raise awareness of the fashion industry’s environmental impact.
Haute couture has given way to completely over-the-top clothing as the models walk, pause, and stand on the balcony, a sign of the popularity of chic and environmentally friendly vintage clothing among young Iraqis.
“We don’t want clothes to be mass-produced, we need to reuse them,” said 25-year-old Mohammad Qassem, a fashion show organizer near the village of Al-Husseiniya.
The global fashion industry accounted for two percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, according to the World Resources Institute.
Campaigners and a growing number of climate-conscious social media influencers have led the push towards sustainable fashion.
Many young people in climate-stressed Iraq are as passionate about vintage clothing as Qasem.
The Palm Grove event showcased fluorescent green jackets, long black leather jackets, ample double-breasted jackets and contemporary traditional wear.
In many parts of Iraq, scarred by decades of conflict, peaceful music is slowly returning to everyday life, and second-hand clothing gives fashionistas a fair chance to express themselves.
– Climate disasters
While the streets of Baghdad see more “fast fashion” and imported brands, the costumes at Al-Husseinya’s event featured predominantly green elements, a nod to the show’s environmental message.
Similar to date production, Iraq has seen its palm trees stressed due to climate change and years of conflict.
Qasem said, “The aim is not only to focus on clothes, but also abandoned gardens, and palm trees disappear every day.”
Oil-rich Iraq is one of the five countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, already experiencing extreme summer heat, frequent droughts, desertification and regular dust storms that have worsened as the planet warms, according to the United Nations.
The designs in the fashion show are not for sale. Organizers mainly hope that the symbolic march will raise awareness.
“Second-hand pieces are really good quality clothes,” says 22-year-old stylist Ahmed Taher, who put together the collections for the show.
“When you wear them, you feel like you’re wearing luxury. It’s different from what you find in stores.”
Taher, a business student who has nearly 47,000 followers – sells the pieces for around $20 – selling vintage clothes from Baghdad’s hipsters on Instagram.
“We want to wear unique clothes and we all don’t match each other,” he said.
– ‘The Last Age’ –
Safa Haider, a student model for the day, says she is attracted to vintage clothes because she can buy them “according to my personality”.
But in Iraq, where the United Nations estimates nearly a third of its 42 million residents live in poverty, many wear second-hand clothes.
The winding streets of central Baghdad’s second-hand clothing market fill the stalls of shirts, shoes and jeans every Friday, with shoppers checking their sizes in front of vendors.
A shirt here costs only $2, while other pieces can sell for as much as $60 or $200.
Muhammad Ali, a 20-year-old engineering student, came to buy shoes.
“It’s not because we can’t afford to buy new, but we get better and more unique pieces here,” he said.
Ali in 2010 He recounts the story of his parents in the 1990s, when Western sanctions on Iraq meant they wore clothes “inside out, until it ran out, because they couldn’t buy new clothes.”
Now, Ali and most of his friends buy clothes for their durability and style, he said.
Hassan Rafat, a 22-year-old businessman, sells imported second-hand clothes that find new life in Iraqi clothing.
It imports goods from Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdistan region, a major textile producer, bordering Turkey.
“Second-hand clothes are of better quality than new clothes in the market,” he said.
“Usually, they’re branded pieces, and the brands last a lifetime.”
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