Warsaw, Poland - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Poland, in cooperation with the Kraina Foundation, is launching a three-month Sustainable Fashion Design programme for designers from migrant, refugee and host communities. Participants will be guided through the process of creating their own fashion collection by the well-known designer Michal Szulc, fashion writer and anthropologist Karolina Sulej, and other top experts in the sustainable fashion industry. The programme will include practical design classes, inspirational workshops on the role of fashion in culture, identity in fashion, and the impact of fashion on people and the planet, visits to designers' ateliers, photo shoots and a final fashion show as part of a Sustainable Fashion Week.  

“The programme places special emphasis on mental and psychosocial wellbeing, as well as employment support and career counseling. As IOM, we wanted to show how migration and fashion can work together,” says Lívia Styp-Rekowska, IOM Poland Chief of Mission. 

The 14 programme participants are designers from Ukraine, Belarus and Poland, who possess a wealth of experience, skills and talents, including in sewing, design and embroidery. They share the same passion, and through this programme have a chance to work together to create a dedicated cloths collection for the fashion show. 

“The Sustainable Fashion Design programme promotes thinking about fashion as an expression of human rights across cultures and contexts. It helps to maintain a sense of identity and belonging, as well as to strengthen social bonds,” says Karolina Sulej, a mentor in the programme. The Sustainable Fashion Week will take place from 9 to 24 May. The Fashion show, planned for 24 May, will be preceded by panel discussions and events around the theme of sustainable fashion.   

The Sustainable Fashion Design programme is implemented with the support of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, & Migration (PRM). Our Project patron is Vogue Polska and our partner is Creative Industries Development Center. 

For more information please contact: 

IOM Poland Senior Public Information Coordinator, Ewelina Kawczynska (ekawczynska@iom.int)