Because the parade is first organized to raise awareness of the effects of climate change, which have been hit hard by Iraq. It also illustrates the recent craze for second-hand clothes among young people.
“We don’t want an overproduction of clothes. We have to reuse,” argues Mohamed Qassem, 25, hairdresser and organizer of the parade in the palm groves of the village of Al-Hussainiya.
Showing off a fluorescent green puffer jacket, a long black coat in worn leather, ample double-breasted blazers, with checks or stripes, the models follow one another under the dumbfounded eyes of shepherds.
In a country that is returning to a certain normality after decades of conflict and is opening up a little more every day, second-hand clothes allow amateurs to cultivate their difference at low prices. Far from the international fashion and “fast-fashion” brands that are timidly appearing in Baghdad.
Among the outfits worn in the parade, green dominates like a wink, because the initiative intends to encourage reforestation to counter galloping desertification by highlighting the palm grove, vulnerable to climate change.
“The objective (is not only to) focus on clothes, but also (on) neglected orchards, palm trees that disappear every day. All this amplifies pollution,” said Mohamed Qassem.
“Luxury fries”
Pink jacket, Clark Gable mustache and slicked back hair, the young man gives instructions, helping a model to correct his gait, suggesting breaks to another.
The clothes presented will not be put on sale. Mohamed Qassem only organized the parade for the beauty of the gesture and to raise awareness of environmental protection.
“Threads are clothes of excellent quality. When you wear them, you have the impression of wearing luxury clothes, it’s different from what you find in stores”, explains Ahmed Taher, stylist of 22 years old who provided the sets.
A business student, he has 47,000 followers on his “Modern Outfit” Instagram account. There, he offers Baghdad hipsters second-hand clothes, sometimes from big brands. He sells pants/shirt sets or t-shirts for $20.
“We want to wear unique clothes and not all look like each other,” adds Mr. Taher, wearing a classic gray jacket that gives him an air of Al Pacino in “The Godfather”.
Model for a day, Safaa Haidar calls for “planting a tree at home”. The 22-year-old student “is interested in fashion in general” and confirms her attraction to second-hand clothes, ensuring that she chooses her clothes “according to (her) personality”.
But second-hand sapping is also an economical choice.
In a country where almost a third of the 42 million Iraqis are poor, the winding alleys of Baghdad’s second-hand clothing market are always full on Fridays.
In front of stalls overflowing with shirts, shoes and jeans, men are trying on clothes. Here, a shirt sometimes costs barely two dollars. Other coins can sell for up to $200.
“Last a Lifetime”
Mohamed Ali, a 20-year-old engineering student, came to buy shoes. At the time of the Western embargo against Iraq in the 1990s, he recounts how his parents “wore the same pants right side up and inside out, until they were worn out, because they had no cannot afford to buy clothes”.
Decades later, the approach has changed. “Most of my friends buy second-hand clothes,” he confirms. “It’s not that we can’t afford to buy new. But we find better quality and unique pieces.”
Hassan Refaat offers clothes bought and then abandoned by consumers in Europe and which find a second life in Iraqi wardrobes. Its merchandise is also imported from Kurdistan, an autonomous region in northern Iraq on the border with a giant in textile production, Turkey.
“The second-hand clothes are of better quality than the new clothes available on the market. Very often, they are branded pieces”, summarizes Mr. Refaat, 22 years old. “And the marks last a lifetime.”