Raza Beig On Sustainable Fashion In The UAE

Being a Dubai-based fashion brand instantly puts Splash under criticism for its carbon footprint, as let’s be honest Dubai isn’t known for being environmentally friendly. But, sustainability is a policy that the UAE government has pledged to adopt and it is also a campaign that Beig has brought to the Middle East.

Beig is honest in admitting that “[sustainable fashion] came by default, I was in Amsterdam at a denim show when I walked into a talk and I became completely horrified, after already being in business with fashion for 20 years, I did not realise what goes on at the back end.”

Beig would have been exposed to alarming facts about fashion’s impact on the environment. For instance, the volume of water that fashion production generates each year is equivalent to 32 million Olympic swimming pools. Therefore, Beig accepted that as “business people within the industry [they] have to become responsible.” The Director of Landmark Group and CEO of Splash, ICONIC & Landmark International, explained “that you can create something using 3000 gallons of water or you could do it in 13 and still come out with the same product, which really hit me and made me take back to Dubai what I had learnt.”

With the apparel industry employing 60 million people globally, it is important for brands like Splash and ICONIC to have leadership that is aware of the consequences they create as an industry and also, how they can fix it. With the help of his “thinker’s team” and advice from agencies, which further educated the UAE fashion brand, Raza Beig can now proudly say that this year Splash will sell 7 to 8 million pieces of sustainable clothing and “as a team we have decided that by 2020, 50 million items will be completely sustainable.”

Beig continues that “it is about being conscious, changing your mindset and having the right education, which can be shared with partners and then suppliers.”

Splash’s collection #iamsustainability is made from organic materials and recycled cotton, regenerated polyester and sustainable fibres like Tencel, all coloured with eco-friendly dyes. Raza Beig stated that “[they] also use water-saving manufacturing processes” and that “the fashion has not been comprised on, prices have not increased,” which is why almost half of the collection sold out across the UAE after its launch.