DOHA: More than 500 children from 40 schools took part at the Eco Fashion Design Contest held yesterday at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCUQ) in Qatar as part of this year’s World Environment Day (WED) celebrations.
The contest was organized by International Academy for Intercultural Development (IAID) in association with the Friends of the Environment Centre (FEC) and under the patronage of Dr Saif Ali Al Hajari, Chairman of FEC.
It was open to creative fashion people starting eight years with the purpose of reaching a wider segment of the society and target bigger involvement from the general community.
“It was very encouraging to see such a large turnout for the contest, and to see children using recyclable materials, like cardboard, tin, recycled fabric or clothing etc. to express their eco-friendly beliefs into their works,” said Dimple Rajesh, Artistic Director, IAID.
The 175 teams were judged based on concept and design by VCU-Q designers Patricia Duignan, Fahad Al Obaidly, Leslie Forehand and Margarita Zuniga. The panel short listed designs to walk the ramp and present their eco-fashion design creations at the closing ceremony on June 7 on which the winners will be chosen.
“The contest’s mission was to celebrate and encourage children on understanding the importance of the 4 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rethink, and to give them a platform which can be supported indefinitely in terms of environmentalism and social responsibility,” said Marianne Indrinal, Project Manager WED 2013.
The Eco-fashion contest is one of the many initiatives organized by IAID and FEC to involve the Qatari community in the WED celebrations, and help citizens become more aware of how they could make a positive impact on the environment.
The Peninsula
