A brand new online marketplace has just launched in the UAE. Called Bazaara, it allows customers to browse, buy and sell gently used clothes, accessories and even homeware from the comfort of home.
Available as a download app on iTunes, with a Google Play version promised soon, would-be sellers simply upload a photo of the item they wish to sell, direct from their mobile phone, post a description and price, and then sit back and let the app do the rest.
Once the piece is sold, Bazaara will send a courier to collect it and deliver it to the new owner, while the money is electronically transferred.
Buyers can browse through a wide array of one-off clothes and accessories. Aiming to cater to a fashion-hungry audience, while also serving to bolster the circular economy movement, to help prevent the waste of perfectly serviceable clothing, Bazaara co-founder Alyssa Mariano explains the reasoning behind the new launch.
“As we hurtle towards a more digitally-inclined future, I wanted to bring the excitement of finding a steal at the mall or a thrift shop to online shoppers. I also wanted to bring fashion and decor enthusiasts together in a safe and social online community to discover, create, and inspire new trends,” Mariano explains.
“We hope to decrease the impact this industry has on the environment by providing a seamless experience to trade preloved and vintage treasures.”
Designed as a peer-to-peer application, it aims to build a community of people searching for vintage and second hand from the comfort of home, while allowing people to free up cash from unworn, or no longer needed items.
The pre-worn clothes industry is quickly gaining traction, partly fuelled by the economic restraints of the pandemic, but also as statistics on the reality of the wider fashion industry are revealed. In 2017, it is estimated that globally 14 million tonnes of wearable clothes were either buried or burnt.
Surrounded by affordable and easy options, most people own far more clothes than they will ever wear, with an estimated 50 to 80 per cent of clothes never leaving the cupboard. The majority of people wear as little as just 20 per cent of their purchases. To put this in monetary terms, back in 2015, the website Business 2 Community estimated that in the UK alone, the clothes left languishing in wardrobes were worth over $46 billion.
The pre-loved market is healthy and growing in the UAE, and in addition to the new Bazaara app there are a good array of options, ranging from high end to high street. Here are more places to buy pre-loved and vintage items in the Emirates:
Garderobe
Located in an old villa along Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach Road, the Garderobe boutique is home to a staggering assortment of pre-owned luxury pieces. Thankfully, things are sorted (online at least) into brands, so if a customer has their heart set on, say, a Louis Vuitton bag, the pieces are divided accordingly. It speeds up the process no end.
Online, it also offers a Shop Edit dropdown, which lists items by useful headings such as Luxury items under Dh2,000, or items from the closet of that well-dressed duo the Dinz sisters, including a fabulous pair of black Carat mules, a steal at Dh310.
The Luxury Closet
The Luxury Closet is another gold mine of pre-loved, high-end fashion, with a huge collection for both men and women, divided into easy to use sections, including a fabulous modest wear edit.
The sale section means some serious bargains are available, including a Dior pink crystal embellished iPhone 6 Case for Dh209 (instead of Dh1,481), while a beautiful strapless Lanvin palm leaf print dress is down from a retail price of Dh11,719.87, to Dh895. The upside of The Luxury Closet is that instalment payment is possible on those bigger purchases, while the downside is that free delivery does not kick in until you spend Dh1,000.
The Luxury Closet, Al Barsha, Dubai; 800 589; theluxurycloset.com
Retold
Retold is a boutique in Umm Suqeim area in Dubai, filled with high street and high-end items. Boasting 6,000 pieces in stock – and more added each week – like all good second-hand stores, this needs to be kept under scrutiny until the perfect piece pops up.
The online store has a very easy to navigate website, with just one drop down bar, and everything divided into simple, self-explanatory sections. It even has a fabulous collection of vintage cameras for those in the market for one. The only downside of the site is that when pieces sell, the site does not reorder the images, so sometimes you have to scroll through lots of sold items to find things that are actually available. This can be annoying, but it's worth the work, as there are some truly lovely pieces to be found.
Retold, Umm Suqeim Road, Dubai; 04 297 6777; shopretold.com
Fashion Rerun
Fashion Rerun is a website that offers second-hand high street options for men, women and children. Great for basics such as T-shirts, and simple tops, this is the best place to stock up on wardrobe staples at bargain prices.
Clear information is included on each image, such as size (often in multiple systems), the brand (if known) and the price. Most tops seem to be in the Dh20 to Dh40 price range. Offering both new and second-hand pieces, its so-called "vintage" section has a great selection of graphic T-shirts for giveaway prices.
Fashion Rerun; 04 346 1133; FashionRerun.com
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
How it works
Booklava works on a subscription model. On signing up you receive a free book as part of a 30-day-trial period, after which you pay US$9.99 (Dh36.70) per month to gain access to a library of books and discounts of up to 30 per cent on selected titles. You can cancel your subscription at any time. For more details go to www.booklava.com
'The Predator'
Dir: Shane Black
Starring: Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key
Two and a half stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
if you go
The flights
Emirates flies to Delhi with fares starting from around Dh760 return, while Etihad fares cost about Dh783 return. From Delhi, there are connecting flights to Lucknow.
Where to stay
It is advisable to stay in Lucknow and make a day trip to Kannauj. A stay at the Lebua Lucknow hotel, a traditional Lucknowi mansion, is recommended. Prices start from Dh300 per night (excluding taxes).
RESULT
Manchester City 5 Swansea City 0
Man City: D Silva (12'), Sterling (16'), De Bruyne (54' ), B Silva (64' minutes), Jesus (88')
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
Liverpool 4-1 Shrewsbury
Liverpool
Gordon (34'), Fabinho (44' pen, 90' 3), Firmino (78')
Shrewsbury
Udoh (27'minutes)
Man of the Match: Kaide Gordon (Liverpool)
Squad for first two ODIs
Kohli (c), Rohit, Dhawan, Rayudu, Pandey, Dhoni (wk), Pant, Jadeja, Chahal, Kuldeep, Khaleel, Shami, Thakur, Rahul.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The 10 Questions
- Is there a God?
- How did it all begin?
- What is inside a black hole?
- Can we predict the future?
- Is time travel possible?
- Will we survive on Earth?
- Is there other intelligent life in the universe?
- Should we colonise space?
- Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?
- How do we shape the future?
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3 (Silva 8' &15, Foden 33')
Birmginahm City 0
Man of the match Bernado Silva (Manchester City)
