From September to December, the ZIPHOUSE Center of Excellence in Design and Technologies of the Technical University of Moldova, in collaboration with UNFPA Moldova and the “Motivație” Association, launched an awareness and inclusion campaign for people with disabilities in the Republic of Moldova.
The “Fighting Stigma with Style” campaign aims to create opportunities for people with disabilities in the modelling industry, namely the inclusion in more fashion events, such as Moldova Fashion Days, Fashion Hackathon and an exclusive Fashion Show with clothing pieces tailored in accordance to their needs.
The latter mentioned Show was a collaboration between the young designers from the Faculty of Textiles and Polygraphy within TUM, who created the graphic collections and the sketches of the pieces, and three local designers, who stylized and produced them in their factories: Duca Clothing, Anna Popova and EHO by Evghenii Hudorojcov.
Apart from the fact that this campaign provided a diversified and custom-built collection of pieces designed especially for people with disabilities, it also offered women who face negative stereotypes related to their physical disabilities the opportunity to be models.
“Participating in this event gave me the courage to go out of my way and show the world that certain brands and clothing pieces can be represented by women like me – women with disabilities! It is now the second time I participate in such a show, the first time being during autumn, at the Moldova Fashion Day. At that moment, I felt beautiful and appreciated, and I gained confidence in my own strength”, says Daniela Caraman, one of the participants at the event.
“Even though I walked on the runway with the help of a walking frame, I felt honored to wear the outfits of our local designers. I discovered which style and fabrics suit me, and which I, somehow, managed to avoid wearing until now, believing that I would not feel comfortable when moving. But it was nothing like that, because these cuts and adjustments done by the designers were very well thought out. The design of the pieces was discussed in advance with professionals from the fashion industry, who pointed out the important details, such as replacing specific cuts, zippers or buttons with textile adhesive tapes in order to ensure comfort for people with disabilities. Thus, after being beautifully dressed up by the stylists, I overcame the stereotypes and walked comfortably and confidently on the runway”, declared enthusiastically Mariana Țîbulac-Ciobanu, one of the participants at the Show.
Following this campaign, we can say with certainty that fashion is for everyone, no matter what you look like, and disabilities can become abilities, if put under the right light.
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