By Juan Daniel Correa
Director – Energía Limpia / Clean Energy
When I walked through the halls of the Grand Palais in Paris during ChangeNOW 2025, I wasn’t just encountering innovations—I was witnessing stories. One of the most memorable was a powerful example of circular fashion and textile sustainability from Saudi Arabia to Latin America, embodied in a dress named Abloom, assembled from forgotten scraps of fabric. This creation came from Darah Solutions Lab, a visionary initiative now featured on Clean Energy, our platform dedicated to global solutions for sustainability.
Next to the dress, a handwritten message drew the attention of every person who paused to read:
“I wasn’t born in a factory. Instead, I came from scraps, forgotten corners of fabric… I stand not just as a dress, but as a quiet protest. Against a world where approximately 92 million tons of textile waste are discarded each year… When you choose to reuse, recreate, and reimagine, you bring life back into what others call waste.”
Those words, stitched into the heart of Abloom, capture what Darah Solutions Lab is all about. It is more than a circular fashion project—it is an invitation to look at materials, people, and industries with new eyes.
That day, I met Abdurahman Alhamdani, Co-Founder of Darah, whose energy and kindness were as striking as the project itself. Later, I had the privilege to connect virtually with Rawan Alderaibi, Darah’s Founder. And when we sent them a set of questions for this interview, their thoughtful answers confirmed something we sensed immediately: behind Darah’s creative work lies an uncommon combination of purpose, human quality, and radical imagination.
At Clean Energy (www.energialimpia.co), we believe sustainability is built not just on technology but on relationships. On shared values. On the conviction that every story deserves to be told—and every thread can have a future.
This article is a tribute to that idea.
Juan Daniel Correa Salazar Clean Energy / Energía Limpia & Alderaibi Abdurahman Darah Solutions Lab
Interview with Rawan Alderaibi, Founder of Darah Solutions Lab
1. What inspired you to start Darah Solutions Lab, and how does your background in strategy and innovation inform your work in sustainable fashion?
Darah Solutions Lab began as a response to a personal and cultural gap we identified in 2023. While trying to find a platform to sell secondhand clothing, we realized that Saudi Arabia lacked a structured, community-centered space for circular fashion. That realization sparked a deeper inquiry: what if this individual need could evolve into a regenerative solution?
Through an entrepreneurial incubator, the concept grew beyond resale into a full-fledged circular model. With a combined background in strategy and innovation spanning over 15 years, our team shaped Darah into a solutions lab that addresses textile waste through scalable resale systems, design-led upcycling, and the groundwork for localized recycling infrastructure.
2. Darah goes beyond recycling—it’s about redefining value. Could you share a recent example or project that captures this philosophy in action?
A project that truly embodies this philosophy is our recent collaboration with Le Halo, a Saudi fashion brand. Together, we tackled a common yet often overlooked issue in fashion: fabric waste generated during the design process. Instead of discarding these offcuts, we reimagined them as materials with cultural and creative potential.
The result was a statement piece crafted entirely from textile scraps, which was presented at the ChangeNOW Summit 2025 in Paris under the Kering Generations Award. This project was more than just a creative exercise; it demonstrated how circular thinking can be embedded at the design stage, not just at the end of a product’s life. By combining Darah’s systems approach with Le Halo’s design sensibility, we turned waste into a narrative, merging sustainability with storytelling.
3. Saudi Arabia’s growing textile waste problem presents both a challenge and an opportunity. What makes Darah’s approach unique in addressing this?
What sets Darah apart is our commitment to localized, design-centered, and scalable solutions grounded in circularity.
In a region where secondhand culture and recycling infrastructure are still developing, we work to bridge the gap through community-driven innovation, design thinking, and strategic partnerships. Our work is not only about reducing waste, it’s about reimagining value and building the foundation for a more circular future in the region.
4. How do you envision collaboration between Darah and Latin America, particularly in regions like Colombia where circular fashion and social innovation are gaining momentum?
Saudi Arabia and Latin America, especially Colombia, share vibrant cultural heritage and a growing momentum around social innovation. This common ground offers a powerful opportunity for collaboration.
We envision cross-continental initiatives that blend socially responsible upcycling, artisan empowerment, and shared approaches to material mapping. Through cultural exchange and co-creation, we can build sustainable models that honor our traditions while driving forward a global circular vision.
5. Storytelling and co-creation are at the heart of Darah. What role do community, culture, and creativity play in your model?
They are not just part of the model; they are the model.
At Darah, community is the catalyst. Through online education, DIY upcycling tutorials, and social engagement events, we aim to inspire a shift from overconsumption to conscious participation. Culture informs our design language and gives our work relevance. Creativity enables us to develop and test innovative circular solutions.
Together, these pillars allow us to build a movement that is rooted in awareness, co-creation, and collective impact.
6. What’s next for Darah Solutions Lab in 2025? Any dreams, launches, or initiatives we should be watching for?
In 2025, we are focused on scaling our impact by deepening community engagement and building stronger partnerships.
One of our key initiatives is launching live upcycling workshops—immersive experiences that allow participants to reconnect with materials and explore the process of circular design firsthand. We are also expanding our ecosystem of collaborators, from emerging local designers to international changemakers in sustainability.
All of this is part of our broader mission to make circularity accessible, creative, and community driven.
Rawan Alderaibi & Abdurahman Alhamdani, Founder/ Co-Founder of Darah Solutions Lab. Photo: Mrs. Sara Teymoor
Beyond the Dress: The Spirit of Connection
Looking at Abloom, you realize it is not merely a garment. It is a manifesto. It proves that creativity can be a quiet form of protest—and that every discarded scrap can carry beauty if we choose to see it differently.
Darah Solutions Lab has reminded us that sustainable fashion is not a cold equation of emissions and inputs. It is a living story of people and purpose. In the short time since we first met Abdurahman Alhamdani, and later Rawan Alderaibi, to our virtual conversations and this heartfelt exchange, one thing has become clear: this is a team driven by values, imagination, and the belief that storytelling can change how we see the world.
At Clean Energy (www.energialimpia.co), we share that belief. We, too, are building bridges—between sectors, between regions, and between people. We look forward to seeing the threads that unite Saudi Arabia and Colombia, Latin America and Asia, and visionaries across the globe continue to weave something bold, inclusive, and transformative.
Because in the end, sustainability is not only about materials—it’s about meaning. It’s about daring to reimagine, to reconnect, and to rehumanize the systems we live in.
And that’s exactly what Darah is doing—one story, one scrap, one stitch at a time.
Learn more about Darah Solutions Lab:
Darah Solutions (LinkedIN)
About Clean Energy / Energía Limpia:
A bilingual platform connecting solutions, communities, and ideas to accelerate sustainability worldwide.
🌿 Written by Juan Daniel Correa
Director – Energía Limpia / Clean Energy
www.energialimpia.co
