Fashion designer Xandria has described the fifth edition of All Shades of Beautiful Fashion as a great outing, saying it gave fashion designers with and without disabilities the platform to showcase works. Xandria said the event, held on Friday in Lilongwe in partnership with the European Union (EU) through its Zantchito Entrepreneurship Voices, stood out as it showcased adaptive fashion. She said collaborating with EU Zantchito added a layer of growth and professionalism to the project, enriching their efforts through their support for innovation and inclusivity.
“It felt empowering to see the intersection of fashion and social impact come to life on such a platform,” Xandria said. “We plan to expand our initiatives, including launching more incubation programmes and hosting events that foster sustainable fashion and entrepreneurship,” Xandria said. Xandria said they were aiming to make adaptive fashion more mainstream while also exploring international opportunities to collaborate with other organisations and markets.
EU Ambassador Rune Skinnebach hailed Xandria for putting up what he described as a “beautiful” All Shades of Beautiful project. Skinnebach said through All Shades of Beautiful, Xandria had taken this principle that “we are all different and elevated it to a new standard”. “This is standard [practice], where inclusivity and diversity take centre stage; where people do not only have individual tastes but individual shapes too.
Shapes that, indeed, require tailor-made adaptations,” he said. Skinnebach said the role of EU Malawi was to translate the individual experience to the common and look at structural solutions. “So, from that perspective, I see a huge opportunity that those Malawian designers and tailors, who have been part of tonight’s show, have already grasped,” he said.
Skinnebach observed that fast fashion was choking the planet. “It is symptomatic that, in terms of Malawi’s imports, the value of kaunjika [second-hand clothes] equals that of cement. Fast fashion should become slow fashion; we should all buy less and buy better,” he said.
Meanwhile, the EU has said it will, in collaboration with the Malawi Government, continue to support entrepreneurial culture and ecosystem through the Zantchito Skills for Jobs Programme. Bucci and Amahoro Drummers spiced up the event..
