Beyond Western fashion sustainability: A case study of the Bahraini, Arab Gulf context

As the countries of the Arab Gulf aspire to construct viable post-oil economies, sustainability is becoming a strategic priority for governments in the region. This study explores Design for Sustainability (DfS) within the Bahraini fashion context, addressing existing frameworks within DfS in relation to the country’s cultural and socio-political specificities. Despite Bahrain’s distinct economic and social dynamics compared to its Gulf neighbours, its deep cultural and political commonalities with them render much of the work applicable to the wider region.

This research aims to explore how Bahrain’s culture influences approaches to fashion sustainability. It has two key objectives: first, to assess the Bahraini fashion industry against key DfS frameworks, including the limitations of fashion’s transformative potential in Bahrain; and second, to examine how Bahrain’s context, as a post-colonial and neo-colonial society, can contribute insights to the field of DfS.

Since the research focuses on the social, material and behavioural transitions required to move towards fashion sustainability it uses a methodology that engages numerous stakeholders in the Arab country, including government representatives, social activists, consultants, designers, craft communities, and consumers. This study’s multi-method approach consists of three methods: (1) a Delphi study with 16 researchers, businesspeople, civil servants and activists (2) a series of 19 qualitative semi-structured interviews with local designers, tailors, social and environmental activists, weavers and my grandmothers and (3) participant observation, which included field notes of a workshop with 22 local designers.

The research explores fashion ontologies in Bahrain derived from local epistemes. It does so by looking at language, space, relationships, and lived experiences as components of fashion ontology, and reflecting on how these impact DfS in fashion. Key findings of this research include three essential factors for fashion sustainability in Bahrain. The first is transitioning culturally towards fashion sustainability, in a way beyond individual consumer choice and decision-making (e.g., such as sustainable fashion purchases) and towards socially transformative practices. The second is growing local production through an empowered labour force; one that can creatively respond to local needs. The third is the need for public infrastructure for the end-of-life stage of garments.

Key findings of this research include a blurred cycle model, where I put forward that the categories of source, make, use and last – traditionally used in fashion sustainability research – are blurred in the Gulf context. I supplement this idea of a blurred lifecycle with a discussion of use in the fashion Gulf context. The Gulf experience of fashion reveals blurring of use and make in the practice of tailoring, for instance, and a blurring of source and use in the social practice of indoore or nitmasha (go around, walk around) in the mall, to window-shop, shop and socialise.

The chapters of this thesis comprise an introduction, followed by a critical literature review, a discussion of its methodology and three results chapters. The last chapter concludes with a discussion of key contributions to the fields of fashion sustainability, DfS, transnational fashion and Gulf cultural studies.