Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, Oct 05, 2025

Luxury designer-turned activist applauds Saudi Arabia’s sustainability efforts

Luxury designer-turned activist applauds Saudi Arabia’s sustainability efforts

Satish Sikha went from being a luxury haute couture fashion designer to adopting a nomadic lifestyle, traveling across the globe for over 16 years and collecting celebrity statements on the current state of the environment. Saudi Arabia, he says, is truly an inspirational model for sustainable ventures internationally.
Sikha’s mission in life is to spread awareness around sustainability and green living in order to maintain a livable environment for all. He travels with only a suitcase and a precious 1-kilometer-long piece of fabric banner that carries his message.

Sikha told Arab News in an exclusive interview: “Saudi Arabia is doing wonderful (projects) like The Line and NEOM, where there’s no traffic, and that’s a fantastic thing. It’s not only appreciation, we should follow it. Only a big sudden change in our lifestyle can save us.

“With this project, I’m educating, creating awareness for children, parents, and teachers on the important steps to take care of our planet within our lifestyle so that our children can live a healthy life, just like our great grandparents.”

In 2007, the Indian-Canadian fashion designer had just opened up another bridal gown and evening wear boutique. His handmade designs would cascade in precious stones such as diamonds, emeralds and rubies, and would sell for a hefty price.

Through his philanthropic work with the Sick Kids Foundation, he became particularly fond of a patient named Allison. She opened his new establishment, a moment her mother said was the happiest of her life. When she passed away from a rare disease shortly afterward, Sikha was grief-stricken.

He gave up the lavish lifestyle to investigate the state of humanity and why diseases are so common now. He maintains that our overall health is deteriorating much quicker compared to our ancestors’, largely due to climate change and the failing state of the planet.

“I realized, what am I going to do with all this? With money we can buy anything that we can touch, so I contacted my lawyers to sign and donate everything to the Sick Kids Foundation and I left the country with the clothes (I had) on,” he said.

He auctioned off his last gown for $184,000.

True to his nature as a designer, his new initiative was also laid out on fabric. “I started traveling the world, and visited 72 countries meeting prime ministers, presidents, NASA scientists, foresters, film stars. Each person would write one message on one yard of green eco silk fabric. I provided the fabric and nontoxic markers,” he explained.

The campaign, “Luxury for Soul,” is dedicated to helping others. He also started the 90MillionSmiles Foundation to support underprivileged children in India.

His first showcase was across the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole, the first and only event of its kind to take place in that location. He wanted to make a statement on the climate crisis at a place known for its endless landscapes of ice, now slowly melting away, unseen.

He said: “I’ve seen what’s happening in the Arctic, I’ve been there, I stayed there, I experienced it. Overnight, over 200 miles of glaciers vanished, so I presented the longest fabric on top of the ocean.”

“There are one thousand people and only one tree. Can we live?” one message reads.

He has gathered messages from prominent figures across the world, including the late NASA scientist Hermann Engelhardt, whose designs helped send rockets to Mars, and Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan. While creating exposure through figures with a prominent following is key for the philanthropist, he also welcomes contributions from the public, as it is a project by the people, for the people.

“Maybe those hits you were getting were only the pressure you needed to shape the diamond you were meant to be,” wrote Saudi Saad Mohammed on a piece of fabric, an excerpt from his upcoming book.

Mohammed had met Sikha almost a decade ago through a mutual charity contact, and had kept in touch virtually since then. He had been following the artists’ work through social media and is a huge admirer of his initiative as an advocate for environmental causes himself.

They met for the first time in Riyadh and Mohammed was honored to take part in the project.

Mohammed told Arab News: “Having so much awareness these days about sustainability, and air and environmental pollution made me realize how lucky we are, and how we can work for such a cause and make it even slightly better. The more you spread awareness, the more people can take care of themselves and the environment around them.”

“Saudis need to be a part of this, because this piece is going to roam around the world and everyone is a citizen of the world,” he said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×