Green is the new black

How can we transform an industry plagued with a massive carbon footprint into one that inspires people without harming the environment? The 23 Danish and Egyptian green fashion designers, entrepreneurs and students explore this question together in Copenhagen.

By Rowan El Shimi

Sara Abdelsamei is looking at a map of Copenhagen on her phone, trying to figure out what geographically makes sense to get to see the most she can in the few days she has in the city. She wants to visit the exhibition at the Danish Architecture Center, but she also wants to visit the Danish Design Museum all before catching up with the other participants for a studio visit of a fellow participant.

“I found the whole city very inspiring especially the Scandinavian way of approaching design,” the architect and co-founder of sustainable fashion brand Mama’s Knits says. “It’s a slow approach that involves thinking deeply about things, which can result in meaningful products that can last a long time. The story and concept of the product is part of the result.”

Mama’s Knits is Sara Abdelsamei’s passion project next to her career in interior design. Inspired by her mother’s knitting, they employ underprivileged stay at home mothers in Egypt to produce hand-made knitwear.

Sara Abdelsamei is one of the 23 Egyptian and Danish designers, entrepreneurs, students, and professionals working in the sustainable fashion industry who are taking part in the third round of DEDI Green Gate.

“The program helped me see that we each approach sustainability in a very different way. I learned more about the thinking process starting from the design and the process – how we can make the whole project sustainable not just the final product. The process has to be sustainable, that was a new approach to think about design,” she explains.

Inspiration & the latest trends

In the first international workshop of the program, which took place in Copenhagen during the first week of August, the participants had the opportunity to learn about each other’s projects, discover the sustainable fashion key players in Denmark, visit current and previous participants’ studios as well as learn from industry experts.

One session that many participants found particularly eye opening was by Dr.Vishv Priya Kohli, professor at the Copenhagen Business School, on intellectual property rights in the European Union.

“I think all designers should know their rights and intellectual property rights, so this session was really important for young designers, so they know their options and how to expand their businesses while protecting their ideas,” Annabell Arguimbau, designer and pattern-maker says.

Annabell also found the session on Technology in fashion by fashion-tech entrepreneur and visual artist Lars Rahbæk very eye opening. “I also really liked the session about the metaverse because it’s something that’s hot and everyone is talking about it and using these words, but maybe not completely sure what they mean. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these virtual realities and how can we rethink design in a virtual space when it’s been mainly in the physical one?”

Aside from the new concepts being presented to the participants by industry experts, the peer-to-peer learning, and the time the participants were given to learn about each other’s projects and connect were particularly inspiring.

Salah Ghanem, co-founder of Button Up social enterprise who empower and train underprivileged women and young people produce various products, was one of them.

“I learned something from each participant; whether it’s from their experience, their business knowledge, their understanding of sustainability. I can see a lot of opportunities for collaboration with all the participants which I think is an essential step for Button Up to go global,” he says. “I also really enjoyed visiting the DEDI Green Gate Alumni’s local startups here and their shops such as VAER and Kintobe, I learned how they collect material, how they deal with waste, how they established their production line abroad and how they ensure it’s fair to the people, which is great because it will help us expand our business in the future.”

A network that supports

Aside from what the participants have learned from each other and the potential impact that can have on their businesses, they found solidarity through the network they created of like-minded individuals from a similar field from both countries.

“I feel empowered. It’s been a week of people saying out loud what is hard and vulnerable – it makes it easier. I feel like we can all really help each other and support each other,” Nanna B. Graversen, fashion and knitwear designer and founder of Why Waste? shares with the other participants in the closing circle at the end of the workshop.

Nanna B. Graversen took part in last year’s international workshop in Copenhagen as a speaker in its opening session to discuss with the participants the topic of ‘Who is responsible for sustainable fashion’ and after experiencing a slice of the workshop decided to apply as a participant for this year.

But Nanna B. Graversen was not the only participant who joined DEDI Green Gate after experiencing part of it the year prior. Youssre Abdelkader hosted the participants of 2022 in Cairo for a workshop at Almah where she is the creative Director. Almah is a social enterprise acting under the umbrella of the Egyptian Clothing Bank, the largest organization in Egypt dealing with redistributing used clothes.

“It’s not often that we find ourselves with a group of people with the same drive, the same values, the same ethics so that gave the feeling of empowerment and solidarity. I feel very intrigued, tiny in a big world and excited to explore more,” she says.

Bassant Maximus, designer and fashion content creator also joined the program this year after taking the participants on a tour of the used clothes market in Cairo the year prior.

“When you’re freelancing, you feel that everyone has made it and you’re stuck. However, meeting everyone here hustling through jobs, studies, freelance projects it gave me a sense of solidarity especially given that these are people living in a completely different part of the world,” Bassant Maximus says.

We meet again in Cairo

The participants said their goodbyes on a chilly summer evening in Copenhagen, knowing they are set to meet again in Cairo at the start of October to continue their discussions, potential collaborations and to experience sustainable fashion in the Egyptian context.

“I’m very excited to have our Danish friends come to Egypt and have them experience the Egyptian way of doing things and our approach to sustainability, how we develop our brands, our inspiration, our culture,” Sara Abdelsamei concludes. “It will be very exciting to see their reflections and come to a point where we realize that at the end of the day, we’re all similar in a way and our backgrounds and culture can really inspire each other.”

This project was managed by Sustainability Program Manager Rana Khamis, Project Officer Yousra Fouda and consultant Sonja Katharina Zipelius.

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