Swiss and Egyptian designers share sustainable fashion expertise

After three months of exchanging ideas and best practices, five young designers who took part in the first sustainable fashion residency organised in Zurich and Cairo by Fashion Revolution present their work to the public.

There is much excitement inside the huge old shooting range in Zurich that used to belong to the local police. Fashion designers and members of Fashion Revolution, a global fashion activism movement, are busy fixing spotlights on their creations and arranging the final details of their exhibition.

Dozens of people later emerge from a metal staircase and sit at the various stands on which the designers have displayed hats, skirts, jewellery and handbags. 

Their creations appear to have little in common, except that they are all made from recycled materials: an embroidered tablecloth has been turned into a skirt, and a sponge into a hat.

“The theme of upcycling developed over time; it was a coincidence that all the selected designers were interested in this technique,” explains Jamil Mokhtar, co-managing director of Fashion Revolution Switzerland. “When you see the market for second-hand clothes in Egypt, coming from Switzerland or Western countries in general, I think this theme is very relevant.”

For Alaa Abo El Goud, creating clothes from second-hand textiles was a new experience. “What I was looking for in Cairo and didn’t find was a mentor to guide me, and I found out here [in Switzerland] how upcycling works. This helped me broaden my horizons and think differently about making textile art.”

The fashion residency organised by Fashion Revolution Switzerland and Egypt in March was a pilot project that the association hopes to repeat in the future.