with international and Middle Eastern participation. The “Phygital Sustainability Expo” was held in Italy’s archaeological area from June 4-5, 2024, under the UNIDO project “Encouraging Investment in Iraq – Phase Two,” supported by the Italian government.
The event was organized by the Association for Innovation, a non-profit organization responsible for the sustainable environmental transformation of the fashion system for years. This event provided an opportunity to explore the world of sustainable fashion in Italy as well.
Over the two days of the exhibition, which saw frequent visits from diplomatic figures, fashion enthusiasts, and companies to facilitate interactions and business engagements, Iraq was chosen among the participating Arab countries. The Iraqi delegation included UNIDO coordinator Mr. Mohamed Diaa, Assistant Program for Investment Promotion in Iraq through UNIDO, media personality Rafah Al-Mamouri, an employee at the Iraqi Fashion House, Ms. Sara Loay, Community Manager at Baghdad Makers, an organization dedicated to developing and supporting youth talents, and designers Qamar Al-Qurmli and Zahraa Samir, representing Iraq by showcasing their environmentally-friendly designs and brochures from Baghdad Makers. The Iraqi Fashion House, a formation of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities, played a role in presenting a documentary explaining the house’s work similar to the event’s theme in terms of maintaining historical and folkloric costumes and how they are made based on murals and manuscripts, with a focus on the palm tree costume made by the house’s artists using various natural plants previously employed in many historical shows representing the beginning of creation and the sequence of civilizations, along with brochures about the house.
The two-day exhibition featured displays of the participating countries’ products and a fashion show in which designer Qamar Al-Qurmli participated with a design of her own among elite designers in an evening segment that concluded the first day’s activities. The second day included several discussion seminars, success stories of some designers in the field of eco-friendly fashion, and workshops on handcrafted works.
On the sidelines of the exhibition, the Iraqi delegation was hosted on a trip to Florence, where they had the opportunity to visit the innovative Istituto Marangoni Museum and the FERRAGAMO Museum, with guided tours and presentations explaining fashion trends and sustainable materials.
The delegation’s trip concluded with a visit to the Zest Foundation, dedicated to providing supportive spaces for youth talents and ideas through organized institutional work between the two parties and UNIDO’s headquarters in Rome. During this visit, a brief meeting was held, resulting in some executable ideas and opinions from the Iraqi delegation members and working on implementing some mechanisms in their fields of work.
