08 Aug Sustainable Chic | Fostering Sustainable artisan fashions with the cooperation of German institutions.
On Saturday, the 16th of July 2022, the Modern Ethnic Design Center (MEDC) organized its last fashion show at the Morgan Tower on Koh Pich Island in Phnom Penh with a focus on sustainability as a movement and process of fostering change in fashion products and the fashion industry towards greater ecological integrity and social justice.
During the fashion show, 21 designers of the MEDC programme showed their designed bags and garment collections. The “Sustainable Chic” fashion show gave the bright designers their first opportunity to showcase their creations in a live fashion show. Besides, the fashion show was the overall highlight of the training programme in Cambodia. Around 300 guests attended the event, which was a massive success because it allowed the MEDC designers’ collections to be seen in public for the first time in three years.
The student collections highlight their way of life, their views on the Cambodian cultures, as well as their social and environmental responsibility. Moreover, every design displayed at the Sustainable Chic fashion show was made of environmentally friendly materials, the vast of which were handwoven by the talented women of Takéo Province. Additionally, a sizable portion of the textiles was dyed using exclusively natural dyes. Therefore, the initiative allowed designers to recycle and up-cycle materials, including rice sacks, vegan leather from Siem Reap, vehicle tires, and cement.
The event also featured the second edition of the pop-up fair Bazaar Phnom Penh in cooperation with Bazaar Berlin, the biggest trade fair in Germany specializing in ethnic products. However, a distinct focus of the MEDC programme will be the production and sale of some selected designers’ collections at the renowned trade show Bazaar Berlin in Berlin, Germany, this November.
The German Government and the Berlin Trade Fair collaborated on the MEDC project, and the project was initiated in cooperation with suPPPort ltd. Within the project, the Modern Ethnic Design Center (MEDC) was established in February 2017 as a training center for the qualification of local Cambodian fashion designers to develop high-quality, modern ethnic design products. Also, the project aimed to empower and promote Cambodians’ creativity and craftsmanship. Over the past five years, the project has significantly promoted new Cambodian designers and created a positive environment for budding artists.
if you want to learn more about the program or the incredible designers, you can also visit the official Instagram/Facebook page for MEDC Cambodia or https://www.medc-cambodia.com/