IN conjunction with the latest edition of the European Film Festival, the Embassy of Sweden in Malaysia is working with the Sunway College – Stylo Fashion Technology Hub and Miss Amazing Malaysia, an NGO aimed at empowering girls and women with disabilities, to celebrate both sustainability and inclusivity.
They all came together on Thursday night (November 4), at the GSC location in MyTown Cheras with a fashion show featuring seven young women from Miss Amazing outfitted in clothing crafted by the Sunway College fashion school.
Each piece of clothing was made from up-cycling unwanted garments and fabrics that cater to the needs of each person. And they each were involved in the design process.
“We tried to tie together a number of environmentally sustainable development goals, but also on equality, on inclusivity,” said Dr Joachim Bergström, Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia.
“It would not be wrong to say that cinema is about dreams, and our project is also about dreams and the right to live your dream even if life has handed you a difficult hand.”
The fashion show was followed by a screening – it’s a film festival, after all – of Catwalk, a Swedish documentary from 2020, which followed the efforts of five differently abled youths with dreams of walking down their own fashion runway.
The film centres around the differently abled woman Emma, who wants to become a fashion model and asks the Glada Hudik-theatre, led by Pär Johansson, for help. An unattainable dream for most, especially if you have a disability. They go from their quaint Swedish towns and cities all the way to New York Fashion Week.
An inspiring film that grants empathy and agency to those with disabilities, its message struck a chord with the audience attending the screening.
“I wished from an early stage, women with disabilities were equally as encouraged to pursue their goals and challenge themselves and take pride in every aspect of their identity.
“Not only would women with disability have far greater opportunities, to lead full and meaningful lives, to affect change, but our community would also reap the benefits of the added value,” said Miss Amazing Malaysia founder Maynicca Rajamanikam.
The fashion show aims to generate awareness and to encourage confidence among differently-abled persons when it comes to fashion, which is normally considered unobtainable.
The use of upcycled materials in the production of the clothing worn by the night’s models aims to kick-start a sustainable ecosystem in fashion by encouraging research and discussion on the topics of both inclusive and adaptive fashion.
“Until we are at a place where adaptive is just considered part of our mainstream fashion and beauty world, we will keep doing this to remind the industry that this is the future,” added Sofia Lovi Ramasamy, winner of Miss Amazing Malaysia 2019 and Secretary of the Psoriasis Association of Malaysia.
The clothing worn by the young women will also be displayed at the movie screening on November 10 at GSC Gurney Plaza, Penang. – The Vibes, November 6, 2022
