A fashion pop up addressing the waste produced by the global fashion industry took place on April 9 to 10 at Local Parks in Muscat, bringing together artists, designers and sustainability advocates.
The event, titled “Atlad”, was organised by local artist Shahad al Hamdi and aimed to encourage visitors to rethink fast fashion through upcycling, thrifting and creative reuse.
Speaking to the Observer, Al Hamdi said, “Atlad is a sustainable fashion pop-up where we aim to find creative ways to upcycle and opt for more sustainable fashion options”.
“I started this pop up because I wanted to encourage people to thrift more because we have a different mentality towards it”, she said. “I’m hoping that this makes a change where people find it more acceptable to thrift and wear pre loved clothing”.
She added that sustainability can be approached in creative and accessible ways. “There are so many creative and fun ways to be more sustainable. You just have to think outside the box”.
The event featured 14 local vendors showcasing a mix of slow fashion stalls, thrifted pieces and hands on activities focused on giving clothing a second life, including handmade designs and limited run collections by local creatives.
The Observer spoke to Isra al Kindy, a member of the Global Shapers Muscat Hub, which organised the clothing swap booth at the event.
“We’re here as an initiative to do a clothes swap where people bring their clothes and swap them with other clothes”, she said.
Al Kindy noted that the initiative aims to encourage more conscious consumption by extending the lifespan of garments.
“Clothes sustainability is really important to Muscat Hub and to me personally”, she said. “With today’s world where fast fashion such as Shein and Temu is used a lot, we need spaces like this where we appreciate clothes and recycle and reuse”.
The Observer also spoke to Tasneem al Balushi, founder of Dollies, who hosted a fabric painting activity at the event.
“The whole purpose of this activity is to give clothes that you no longer wear a transformation”, Al Balushi said.
She noted that participants experimented with fabric painting and bleaching to give new life to garments that might otherwise be discarded.
Al Balushi, who is set to launch her own sustainable clothing line, said the event provided an opportunity to connect with the local community ahead of her brand launch.
Moreover, the event also featured an art installation created by Al Hamdi using piles of discarded garments, offering a visual representation of the scale of textile waste generated by the fashion industry.
“This art installation speaks about the dangers of the fast fashion industry and how consumerism causes a lot of fashion waste”, she said.
The clothing used in the piece had been collected over a short period of time, highlighting how quickly unwanted garments accumulate.
“I had piles and piles of clothes given to me and I segregated them; and this is from a short period of time collecting some”, Al Hamdi explained. “So imagine how much there is in larger quantities across the world”.
Through art, community initiatives and creative workshops, the pop up highlighted a growing shift towards more conscious fashion choices in Oman, encouraging visitors to reconsider how clothing is worn, reused and ultimately valued.
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