UAE promotes sustainable fashion

The UAE's ever-vibrant multicultural society offers a great deal of inspiration to the fashion industry which is now promoting sustainable fashion. Industry stalwarts are conscious and support the initiative of sustainable fashion not only locally but also on global level, as it helps living in the healthy society.
Recently, Jessica Minh Anh, a producer of the world's most innovative catwalks, officially partnered with Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani to promote Fashion X Sustainability in the Maldives until June 5. Soneva Fushi is located in the midst of the Baa Atoll Unesco Biosphere Reserve, while Soneva Jani is set in a 5.6km lagoon. 
Eleven fashion and accessory collections were flown in from the UAE, the UK, Italy, Turkey, Lebanon, Australia and Vietnam for this initiative.
Sonu Shivdasani, chief executive officer of Soneva, said: "It's great that the fashion industry is coming to terms with sustainability and it has now become part of its agenda. The clothing industry is considered as one of the most polluting industries globally, so it's good to learn that more and more fashion companies are taking bolder steps to adopt and implement sustainable efforts. Today's consumers are also taking note of a fashion brand's sustainability focus." 
A recent report by the Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2019 Update showed shoppers are increasingly interested in a fashion brand's eco-friendly efforts, with 75 per cent of consumers indicating they view sustainability as either extremely or very important.
The question however is, would the industry be able to maintain this or would this be just one of those trends?
A lot of work needs to be done to ensure that the fashion sector becomes sustainable because there are issues that need to be sorted out. "Dubai has steadily positioned itself as a regional hub for fashion entrepreneurs, designers and international retail brands, but there is still a long way to go for the region to be fully established as a fashion hub. However, it is on the right track and it is refreshing to see that more and more of our guests from the Middle East appreciate sustainability," added Shivdasani. 
An advocate for renewal energy, Minh Anh famously transformed America's iconic Hoover Dam and the Spanish GemaSolar power plant and into the world's newest runways. "It was a conscious decision for me to pick the Maldives for this special project. I want to highlight the importance of sustainability through artistic and cinematic captures that will hopefully be universally embraced. I believe we can achieve great results by stimulating the mindset towards green initiatives in a creative way" said Minh Anh. 
Using her extraordinary visual concepts, the supermodel-turned-entrepreneur tells a compelling story following Soneva's sustainability initiatives. Multi-angle cameras will follow Jessica as she explores Eco Centro, the hub for Soneva's "Waste-to-Wealth" initiatives. In line with the green concept, the shoot will feature a combination of haute couture, ready-to-wear, and accessory pieces and include no leather, fur, or feathers. 
Speaking about the UAE's efforts on promoting sustainable fashion, Modupe Omonze, founder of Runway Dubai, said: "People are taking up the issues that affect our environment, and the fashion industry has pioneered so many great initiatives to alleviate the problem of environmental waste and pollution. In the past year, we have seen celebrities, designers and influencers respond to different campaigns around the fashion industry."
"The awareness has created an encouraging insurgence. The UAE has propelled in the last few years as a front runner in the industry because of the numerous platforms created for the purpose of the challenge affecting our industry. The activities and events created to pilot the growth of sustainable consciousness can be seen on daily basis across the UAE. It is our pride to stay conscious as a community and keep working together till we accomplish that goal."
Vanitaa Bhatia, founder of DIVAlicious, said that fashion is something everyone can relate to either via their attire, bags, footwear, make up, accessories. We all always want to be fashion updated with evolving trends. Be it affordable high street fashion to luxury brands there is a market for all and fashion brands with their seasonal trends. 
"The UAE is definitely considered a shoppers hub with its easy access to luxury brands and affordable fashion. The local brands are so updated with trends that people have started to even shop from several Middle Eastern brands from their quirky fashion to couture gowns. As a matter of fact even tourists make it a point to visit the malls and the local souqs to get their mix of fashion buy. Dubai definitely has known to be good blend of Middle Eastern and international brands. People are used to the seasonal deals via shopping festival or sales. For luxury shoppers they gain with the newest line up being available easily via online purchases as well,"Bhatia added. - sandhya@khaleejtimes.com