Migration fashion: Bosnian migrants create clothing labels

23.Dec

23 December 2021

Last Thursday, the fashion show called Story About Us took place in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo to commemorate International Migrants Day and the 70th anniversary of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This fits perfectly with this year’s theme for December 18 – harnessing the potential of human mobility – as mobile people are involved in creating new brands No Nation Mode (NNF). They design and sew dresses and they model clothes in shows.

That IOM and the European Union launched sewing corners in three migrant camps (Blažuj, Ušivak and Miral). Initially, they were supposed to make reusable face masks for the pandemic, but they soon became a fashion studio. Local artists, fashion designers, and textile companies joined forces quickly, and his creativity exploded.

“This type of cooperation can benefit both migrants and host communities,” Laura Lungarotti, head of IOM in Bosnia, said in her speech. ceremony. “Migration is a phenomenon, not a problem. We hope that such an event will slightly change the narrative, the mostly negative narrative about migration.”

From the outfits produced over the last six months, about 40 outfits that best represent the project were selected for the first show. The new fashion label was officially presented at a gala show at City Hall.

“The plan is to expand the NNF project and establish fashion corners in all temporary admissions centres, explore opportunities for additional education through partnerships with technical schools and universities, build partnerships with designers, companies and other organizations, and increase local community involvement,” Lungaroti added.

About 4,000 people on the move are currently in Bosnia, most of whom are trying to reach the EU. They were not greeted as warmly as before.

While attending a safety training for women journalists, I recently met two colleagues from Velika Kladuša, near the Miral camp, where many refugees are left without a camp. Asked if they had pepper spray in their bag when going to a migrant camp to report, they said yes, but for stray dogs, not people.

“We have more problems with residents because they think migrants have too much public concern,” said one of them.

Around 281 million people were international migrants in 2020, representing 3.6 percent of the global population.

photo by Major Zhu