A new approach to sustainable fashion in Jordan

I am so honored to share my journey as an Arab social entrepreneur. My hope is that I can give youth who want to make a change, practical advice. For the last few years, it has been fellow youth who have been my inspiration. Seeing young minds working hard to deal with a difficult economy and turning challenges to opportunities has kept me going time and time again!

After completing my degree in architecture, I decided that instead of waiting for external forces, I would create my own opportunity. So, I decided to disrupt the fashion industry in Jordan, and change the way fast fashion impacts our environment.

My social enterprise, Indigo Denim, is as an alternative to fast fashion. At Indigo we reconstruct, recycle, restyle, and redesign pre-owned denim in order to increase the life-cycle of clothes, reuse smartly, and reuse sustainably.

I’m so proud that Indigo Denim has garnered up a huge amount of support and followers in only three months!

Before Indigo’s launch, I came up with numerous ideas for projects which I really believed were brilliant. However, they were ideas that never come to life because I didn’t believe in myself. To be a young social entrepreneur you have to have confidence in yourself, and your ability to make a change.

My advice to young social entrepreneurs is to be courageous, bring your ideas to life fearlessly! Our generation has nothing to lose, and so much to gain.

Indigo Denim emerged from a very simple and modest idea. I found myself constantly looking at the pile of unworn jeans in my closet that grew continuously, and felt uneasy. Thats when the idea came to me — I wanted to upcycles unworn denim in the closets of people just like me, and give them new life. This would be a better alternative to throwing them in the garbage and increasing my carbon footprint. It would also give my clients the opportunity to turn their unworn denim into a custom product that they would wear and cherish for years.

Through this enterprise, my team and I are creating opportunities for ourselves and other women in Jordan. Indigo Denim engages women in the community who work with us to create Indigo’s final product. We are making an impact in these women’s lives, and an impact on the environment.

I believe Indigo Denim will set a great example for young social entrepreneurs to solve problems in our communities by innovating, and maybe even creating beautiful things.