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Bridging Cultures: Sustainable Fashion Unites Refugees, Migrants, and Communities in Poland
When you have a common passion or goal, your age, background or where you come from does not matter. Strengthening creativity and cooperation within a multicultural group was the purpose of the Sustainable Fashion Design project, organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Poland and the Kraina Foundation. The IOM Poland Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) team and the Kraina Foundation brought together refugees, migrants and the local community in Poland to work on a four-month long project – a collection of clothes inspired by their very own stories. Out of one hundred applications, organizers selected 18 talented designers from Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, and Ethiopia with various profiles:
Marta Miller, age 73, is from Poland and has been sewing for many years as a hobby. When the war in Ukraine escalated, she started working at the humanitarian aid centre for refugees in Warsaw. She first made clothes for refugees fleeing the war and, then joined the Sustainable Fashion Design Project.
Sofya Tarasiuk is from Belarus, where she worked as a scenographer and stylist. Sofya's design was inspired by her childhood and the time she spent with her grandmother in Belarus. She made armor and a dress out of lace.
“Thanks to this project, I realized that fashion is my passion, and I want to make a living out of it. I wanted to show that nowadays, as a woman, you need to be strong, even if in reality, you are soft and fragile like lace or a flower,” says Sofya.
Yana Bezdushna, age 33, is a well established fashion blogger from Ukraine. On her YouTube and Instagram channels, where she has over 200,000 followers, she is teaching people how to make clothes. Her dream is to create her own brand.
“I got inspired by so many talented people from many countries and I got mentored by professionals from the fashion industry. I can sew, and I think I can pass on my knowledge to others, but I can also take some things for myself, such as ideas, inspiration, and thoughts from other designers,” says Yana
Participants worked under the mentorship of Karolina Sulej and Michał Szulc, a designer and lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. “As a person immersed in fashion, I am astonished at the creativity of designers from beyond Poland’s borders, and I would like to help them enter our market, encourage them to dream, get them out of their sense of hopelessness,” says Szulc.
"Witnessing their growth over the past four months has been truly remarkable. Polish designers were helping their guests navigate the market and, in return, migrants and refugees were bringing a new, fresh perspective,” says Karolina Sulej, group mentor and activist at the Kraina Foundation.
Participants received training not only in design, but also in mental health. “We wanted to strengthen the psychosocial well-being of designers by providing them with space to express their identity, their creativity, strengthen social connections, build their skills and possibly help them find employment,” says Anna Ochmanska, MHPSS Coordinator, IOM Poland. “From our work with refugees we know that clothes are important to them, and it can help them express their identity,” she adds.
The Sustainable Design Fashion project culminated in a fashion show in Warsaw, attended by 370 people working in fashion, civil society, diplomacy and media. This final show was a celebration of the diversity and talent of the participants and a showcase of their vision for a more sustainable and inclusive fashion future. In a time of fast fashion, designers creatively used second-cycle clothes, leftover fabrics and other raw materials as a form of upcycling.
As models walked the runway to the rhythm of Belarusian folk songs, some of those present became emotional. At the end, each designer accompanied their models, many originating from Poland, Ukraine or Belarus.
“It wasn’t just like any regular fashion show,” says Zuzanna Krzątała, Sustainability Manager, Vogue Poland. “It is a collective project of different designers, from different cultures, coming together and really weaving together their own, individual stories into something bigger,” she adds.
“I feel like we are a family after all those months of working together. We would really love it if this project continued,” says Yana. For now, the designers still meet in Kraina’s cozy design studio. Friendships have been forged and many will leave with renewed self-confidence. At the end of the project, three participants received employment offers from a famous Polish designer, while others managed to sell their designs. Some may even end up creating their own brand.
The Sustainable Fashion Design project is implemented with the support of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, & Migration (PRM).
This story was written by Ewelina Kawczynska, Senior Public Information Coordinator at IOM Poland.
