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“But once people learn more about it, they are like, ‘Okay, interesting.’”Al-Rashdan’s plant-based dresses, bags, and accessories have walked runways from Paris to Dubai and earned her a string of awards. Unlike the synthetic textiles that clog landfills for decades, her creations are designed to decay. “These clothes are not meant to last forever,” she says.

“They have served their purpose. It’s okay for them to go away.”

An architectural engineer by training, Al-Rashdan began experimenting with plant-based textiles in 2015. She learned to transform food waste—like beetroot skins, olive pulp, and onion peels—into biodegradable materials. Some are fed into a 3D printer to make handbags, coins, and jewelry; others are spun into fabrics for high-fashion dresses.

One standout piece: a collaboration with designer Tony Ward on a wispy, biodegradable gown that debuted at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week.

Every year, the fashion industry produces 92 million tonnes of textile waste—the equivalent of a garbage truck full of clothes dumped or burned every second. Much of it ends up in developing countries, releasing microplastics and toxic dyes into the environment.

According to UNEP, the sector is also responsible for up to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions and is one of the most water-hungry industries on Earth.

Al-Rashdan’s work has been boosted by the West Asia Sustainable Fashion Academy, launched by the UN Environment Programme in 2021. The academy has trained over 150 designers, fashion students, and small businesses to use sustainable fabrics, extract natural pigments, and rethink waste.

Fellow participant Hazem Kais, head of Beirut’s GoodKill label, dyes garments with sage, walnut, and pomegranate instead of chemical dyes. “If we can dye clothes this way, why wouldn’t we?” he says.

For Al-Rashdan, every sustainable choice—no matter how small—counts. “I’m hopeful,” she says. “Every change, even a small one, matters.”

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Tatiana Fayad and Joanne Hayek have been friends since they were small children and first started collecting random objects as potential materials for new jewelry pieces while they were in college.

That was seven years ago. Now they are working together in a northern suburb of Beirut as Vanina – a rather cheeky name inspired by a French song from the 1970s.

In an interview with The Daily Star, they said they chose this name for their fashion studio because the song’s upbeat tempo and feminine quality resonate with their mission as designers. And it does, but there is also a certain social and environmental awareness that drives their choices as artists.

Rather than buy new materials for their accessories, for example, the duo find value in discarded objects that have special aesthetic qualities.

“We took the concept of taking an everyday object and giving it a higher value,” Joanne Hayek told the paper. “It’s a call for waste management.”

One of their earliest jewelry collections, “Coined,” was comprised of old Lebanese coins decorated with beads, patterns, or words.

Another, “Disc-carded,” involves using bits of metal from CD discs, which have lost their appeal since the advent of iPods and iPhones.

Parts of the keys mentioned in the introduction were used in a collection called “Unlocked.”

In addition to having a clunky, industrial edge, these pieces were created to encourage people to be friendly and neighborly, like they were before Beirut became overrun with high-rise apartments. They are reminders to “keep doors open.”

Taken both metaphorically and physically, Vanina’s upcycled jewelry communicates a message, which is perhaps what distinguishes them from a great number of contemporary jewelry makers.

Like solar power versus oil, their work replenishes the earth while others, who are still stuck on the idea that only gems and precious metals are worthwhile as adornments, extract from it.

Of course, they aren’t the first in Lebanon to join a growing number of international artists and designers who reuse existing materials in order to spare landfills and slow down unsustainable consumerism.

Although they are using recycled materials that are normally frowned upon in Arab societies, the pair have been incredibly successful and their designs have appeared in several respected fashion magazines.

In Egypt, the recycling trend is also catching on slowly. We recently interviewed a group of girls who have turned plastic into marketable products that encourage Egyptians to pay better attention to where stuff comes from and where it lands up.

So, tell us in the comments: would you wear “trash”?

Updated 2024: Soulful in its essence, Vanina was born in Beirut from a friendship between Tatiana Fayad and Joanne Hayek. Together, they shared a vision of creating a label that embodies the notion of femininity, with sustainable and mindful methods woven into every collection.

Since its founding in 2007, Vanina has organically evolved from a jewelry line to a full-fledged lifestyle brand, presenting seasonal collections of clothing, accessories, and jewelry, all proudly handcrafted in Lebanon, and sold internationally.

It remains rooted in Beirut, promoting social and environmental consciousness and contributing to a more sustainable future through a focus on community and circularity.

::Vanina

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