From thrifting enthusiast to app founder Shaikha Showaiter revolutionise Bahrain’s fashion scene

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Reported by Julia Cassano

Owing to the broad selection of clothing available, affordability, and the most important factor – sustainability, thrifting is growing increasingly popular among youngsters. Thrifting since her junior years, Shaikha Showaiter, founder of a marketplace app to buy and sell preloved fashion, longed for Bahrain to produce more thrift stores.

“When the pandemic hit Bahrain, I saw lots of Bahrain-based Instagram accounts emerge of people trying to sell their pre-owned fashion,” the fashion lover said. Through her years of yearning for thrifting stores as a child, and at the age of 21 when she was developing the app, the entrepreneur set out to create a platform that makes it easier for Bahrainis to purchase preloved fashion.

How it works

“After taking a picture of the item, the seller can then list it by uploading, categorising, and pricing it. These listings are available for browsing and purchasing,” Shaikha said. Citing affordability, especially compared to malls in Bahrain and the rise in inflation, the 22-year-old Bahraini says that she has noticed an increase in interest in sustainable fashion since developing the innovative app.

“The lower prices align with our mission to make sustainable fashion accessible to a wider audience, which is essential for encouraging more people to adopt eco-friendly purchasing practices.”

Not only can Bahrainis browse for cheaper preloved clothing through an app, Shaikha said, but buyers can also assist in a “circular economy”. “You can reduce the demand for new production since an item is used until its full potential, reducing fashion waste, which furthers in achieving responsible consumption and production “The app is the most sustainable option as recycled fashion, despite being an ethical option, still emits waste when manufactured,” the young Bahraini explained.

Fast fashion impact on the environment

Seconding the practice of sustainable fashion, renowned environmentalist and founder of W-AI-STE Kai Miethig, said, “People can sell their preloved clothes to create space in their wardrobe and the almost new clothes get a second life, rather than being dumped into a landfill.”

“The throwaway culture has worsened progressively over the years, and at present, many items are only worn seven to ten times before being tossed. That’s a decline of more than 35 per cent in just 15 years,” Kai pointed out.

Any thrifted item is reducing the environmental impact of the billion-dollar fast fashion industry, Kai stated, which produces 1.92 million tons of textiles yearly. “Of the 100 billion garments produced each year, 92 million tonnes end up in landfills,” he relayed.

In fact, he revealed that most of the items returned to retailers from consumers end up in landfills. Citing the reasoning, he noted that it costs the company more to put the item back into circulation than it does to get rid of it. To put things into perspective, this means that every second the equivalent of a garbage truck full of clothes ends up on a landfill site.