Since 2018, Green Fashion has aspired to recover value from discarded clothes and fabric cast-offs that would otherwise add to pollution. Textiles account for as much as 1.4 million tonnes of Egypt’s municipal waste annually, according to a 2016 World Bank report.
In Cairo, leftover materials are often disposed of through incineration, which releases greenhouse gases without regulation. This wasteful end for garments also necessitates the production of new clothes by the national textile industry, which relies heavily on Egypt’s scarce water reserves and limited agricultural land.
Green Fashion breaks this unsustainable cycle by placing would-be fabric waste at the centre of its business model. Professor Amal Shabib, the co-founder and head of design, channels her creativity to imagine stylish clothing, bags, and accessories from patchwork of discarded material. She is ably supported by Sonbol and dedicated business and marketing teams.
Yet the centrepieces of Green Fashion’s staff are the talented women who craft Green Fashion’s patchwork designs into a reality. The company recruits female workers from disadvantaged backgrounds and gives them artisan and environmental training. “We support working women who need a better financial state, while also educating them about how to earn a living through sustainability,” Sonbol explained.
