Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, is this weekend, and as with everything in the region, it has been disrupted by war. The usual ritual of buying new clothes — with some families planning outfits weeks in advance — has become more complicated.
Iran’s attacks have hit shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, a key corridor for goods entering the Gulf. Clothes that were supposed to be dispatched for delivery are stuck on ships, forcing shoppers to turn to whatever is available locally. This last-minute shift to in-store shopping is turning up in government statistics, and can be observed, anecdotally, from the swarms in the malls.
Saudi point-of-sale transactions rose 11% to 16.1 billion riyals ($4.3 billion) in the week ending Mar. 7 compared to the previous week, according to the Saudi Central Bank, while spending on clothing and apparel jumped 31.7% to 2.5 billion riyals.
“We have as many answers as the customer,” Hala Sleiman, owner of Turkey-based boutique Izaric, told Semafor. She said part of her label’s Eid collection is stuck and logistics companies don’t know for certain when her inventory will arrive for what is one of the industry’s most important periods of the year.
Social media is filled with posts complaining about delayed orders from fast-fashion platforms like Shein, with viral videos joking about Eid outfits “sitting at the bottom of the Strait of Hormuz.” Shein didn’t respond to a request for comment. In Riyadh and Jeddah, footfall has picked up sharply as shoppers buy whatever they can get their hands on.
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With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut, Gulf trade is being rerouted as shipping firms pause routes and cargo shifts to land delivery, Semafor reported.
