By Miriam MALAWA
This year, the “Fashion for Peace” runway has joined forces with Art and Design students and educators from the University of Papua New Guinea, aiming to promote greater recognition and opportunities for graduates as they transition into the professional world.
During a press conference held today (Thursday), founder Janet Sios underscored the significance of this university collaboration, emphasising that the students possess untapped potential to contribute to the industry.
“We’re thrilled to announce our partnership with the university students this year… We’re working with approximately 30 student models, including seven designers.
Among the female designers, we’re fortunate to have one male designer,” she announced.
Sios said that the reason for aligning with the university was rooted in the belief that creative arts students should be informed about PNGFDW’s endeavors within the industry.
The runway also aims to spotlight the challenges encountered by students and how the fashion industry can serve as a conduit for harnessing PNG’s raw talent while fostering sustainable livelihoods.
Sios further highlighted that the theme for the runway is a call to advocate for peace in PNG.
“We’ve tasked designers to create various aspects of peace – no to tribal conflicts, no to domestic violence, and confronting issues that impact us,” she explained.
“If we all chose to have a peaceful Papua New Guinea, we will be the next Rwanda – which is the most success full African nation. We will learn to have peace with one and other.
This is a very strong message for our young people, who are taking drugs and alcohol to suppress their depression, get out of that and get into that sector, you could be a videographer, a photographer, someone who does jewelry, someone who prints onto fabric, someone who sews and we all get into this industry and make money out of it.
This is the message we’ve been advocating for the last eight years,” she added.
The event, set to be hosted at Stanley Hotel, will feature around 13 designers who will showcase their creations during the “Fashion for Peace” runway on Saturday.
All eyes will be on the student designers from UPNG, along with Dr. Jim Kari (Kari Designs) from Southern Highlands – a newcomer to the industry.
