Yahoo TV

STORY: Location: Sulaimaniya, Iraq

Designer Jwana is upcycling second hand clothes to sell on social media

to raise awareness about the environment and the fashion industry

[Jwana Abubaker, Iraqi Designer]

"The main aim of this project is to change the way clothes are usually made, by trying to make it less harmful to the environment. We know that metres of fabric are used to make a single piece of clothing. These pieces decompose and are discarded, and new pieces are made. This leads to increased manufacturing of clothes. I started this project to protect the environment and prevent more pollution by humans."

The 27-year-old first started upcycling her own clothes, then her friends'

before offering her designs to clients on social media

"I get many clothes from friends and others who have seen my work. People send their used, torn or even unused clothes to us to be upcycled. They send them because some of them do not want to get rid of their clothes and others want to wear their clothes again. In reality, people welcome the idea so much and we can say that young people mostly like to wear these designs because they are different from what is available in the market."