Because the parade is first organized to raise awareness of the effects of climate change suffered 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," said Mohamed Qassem, 25, a hairdresser and organizer of the parade in the palm groves of Al-Hussainiya village.
Showing off a fluorescent green down jacket, a long black coat in worn leather, ample crossed blazers, with checks or stripes, the models follow one another under the stunned eyes of shepherds.
In a country that is returning to a certain normality after decades of conflict and opening up every day a little more, 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 at the parade, green dominates like a wink, as the initiative aims to encourage reforestation to counter rampant desertification by highlighting the palm grove, vulnerable to climate change.
An Iraqi model during a fashion show in Al-Hussainiya, Egypt, March 7, 2023 © AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP
"The goal (is not only to) focus on clothes, but also (on) the abandoned orchards, the palm trees that disappear every day. All this amplifies pollution," said Mohamed Qassem.
"Luxury second-hand clothes"
Pink jacket, Clark Gable mustache and gummy hair, the young man scribbles the instructions, helping one model to rectify his gait, suggesting breaks to another.
The clothes presented will not be offered for sale. Mohamed Qassem only organized the parade for the beauty of the gesture and to awaken the protection of the environment.
"Second-hand clothes are excellent quality clothes. When you wear them, you feel like you're wearing luxury clothes, it's different from what you find in the store," says Ahmed Taher, a 22-year-old stylist who supplied the sets.
A business student, he has 47,000 followers on his Instagram account "Modern Outfit". He offers Baghdad hipsters second-hand clothes, sometimes from major brands. He sells trousers/shirt sets or T-shirts for $20.
An Iraqi model during a fashion show in Al-Hussainiya, Egypt, March 7, 2023 © AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP
"We want to wear unique clothes and not all look like each other," adds Mr. Taher, dressed in 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 mining is also an economic choice.
In a country where nearly a third of Iraq's 42 million people are poor, the winding alleys of Baghdad's large second-hand market are always full on Fridays.
In front of stalls crumbling under shirts, shoes and jeans, men try on clothes. Here, a shirt sometimes costs as little as 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 inside out, until they wore down, because they could not 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 there are better quality and unique pieces."
Hassan Refaat offers clothes bought and abandoned by consumers in Europe and which find a second life in Iraqi closets. Its goods are also imported from Kurdistan, an autonomous region in northern Iraq on the border with a textile production giant, Turkey.
An Iraqi model during a fashion show in Al-Hussainiya, Egypt, on March 7, 2023 © AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP
"Second-hand clothes are of better quality than new clothes available on the market. Very often, these are branded pieces," said Refaat, 22. "And brands last a lifetime."
© 2023 AFP