# Not Boring Has Made Saudi Streetwear Actually Cool for Almost a Decade > Founder Yazeed Abahussein started the Riyadh label in 2017 after noticing that Saudi Arabia had a strong cultural identity but almost no contemporary local fashion to go with it. - Source: Style - Canonical URL: https://style.eu.com/article/not-boring-saudi-streetwear - Author: Style Newsroom - Section: Culture - Published: 2026-08-28T10:14:58.275Z - Updated: 2026-08-28T10:14:58.275Z - Tags: Not Boring, Saudi Streetwear, Riyadh --- Riyadh-based label Not Boring has managed something rare for a streetwear brand: real staying power. Founded by Yazeed Abahussein in 2017, it built its identity by taking Saudi symbols and slogans and recontextualizing them into designs that read internationally without losing the specificity of where they're from. That approach recently earned it a spot as one of 25 Saudi labels featured in Selfridges' Corner Shop in London, part of the “Sky's the Limit” summer pop-up run with Milaf Global. “It's very fulfilling to be chosen to represent Saudi in one of the world's largest cities, in a store that's almost 120 years old,” Abahussein says. He started the label after spotting a gap that seemed obvious once he saw it: Saudi Arabia had a strong cultural identity and near-universal adoption of traditional dress, but contemporary local fashion was essentially absent from retail. Not Boring built its aesthetic in the opposite direction from the minimalist millennial look that dominated at the time, leaning into nostalgia and bold typography that reads more Gen Z, including reworked versions of traditional pieces like the farwa, the kind of design choices that generate real anticipation around a drop. The brand has since collaborated with Adidas, Spotify and Samsung, and Abahussein is candid about what scale actually costs: “Often brands are fighting for seconds worth of attention, and this can present challenges.” What he says he still finds most satisfying, though, is simpler: seeing an ordinary person choose to wear a Not Boring piece they picked out themselves. --- Originally published by Style. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://style.eu.com/article/not-boring-saudi-streetwear.