Sustainable fashion took to the runway at Utah Valley University (UVU) Thursday night as part of the “Why It Matters” conference hosted by UVU and the United Nations. The conference focuses on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, which include consumption and production. The show featured popular designers including Lakshmi and Juan Pablo Socarrás.
The conference organizers partnered with Women Together, a Spain-based organization that supports and empowers Colombian women to design and sell their art and fashion. Women Together founder Joana Caparrós Masip opened the fashion show with comments in Spanish about her organization’s mission and goals. The organization focuses on providing resources for single or widowed women who are the main breadwinner in their households. It allows women to use their beading and weaving skills to develop their financial independence. “We think we want to be sustainable; this is the reality… we will continue to make it possible for these women to weave their future [translated].”
Designer Lakshmi presented her Phoenix collection, which was made up of abstract gold jewelry made from sustainable materials like paper and roots. Describing her collection, Lakshmi said: “I want to convey a message of great love, great respect for the planet and great care for it. [translated].”
The show was closed by respected Colombian designer Juan Pablo Socarrás. His collection featured dynamic materials, shapes, and colors. Addressing the crowd, Socarrás detailed the importance of providing women with job opportunities and adequate compensation.
Susana San-Vargas, a former United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) staff member, supports Women Together and attended the show. When she was asked about the importance of sustainable fashion, Ella San-Vargas said, “Through these designers, they are working with local communities, with people who don’t have access to education. It gives them hope, it gives them access and it allows them to use their talent.”
OneMeta provided its cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology, Verbum, for the event to produce live language interpretation in 82 different languages.
Source: news.google.com