Australian Aboriginal girls visit Emirati designer's workshop

Dubai - The visit was part of the nine-day Fashion Advocate's International Leadership tour to the UAE, designed to promote cross-cultural opportunities in the economic and trade sectors.

A group of young Australian girls from indigenous Aboriginal communities got a first-hand look at the world of Emirati fashion design on Thursday with a visit to the workshop of Emirati designer Latifa Al Gurg.
The visit was part of the nine-day Fashion Advocate's International Leadership tour to the UAE, designed to promote cross-cultural opportunities in the economic and trade sectors, showcase Aboriginal culture through fashion and art, and inspire participants to follow their career dreams.
The eight girls come from a variety of linguistic groups in Western Australia, many of them from small communities hundreds or even thousands of kilometers from Australia's main population centres.
Fiona White-Hartig, Chairperson of Regional Development Australia-Pilbara, said the initiative began 13 years ago to provide opportunities for local girls in the small, predominately indigenous town of Roeburne, located 1,700 kilometres from Perth.
"There was a lot of non-attendance to school. There's a lot of socio-economic problems, drug and alcohol problems, incarceration," she said. "The girls had low self-esteem and weren't doing anything, so I decided to start a very-simple development programme, and 13 years later here we are in the UAE. It's amazing."
"It's about providing opportunity, because the region is so remote, those kids would never get anything," she added. "It's also about breaking that cycle of drug and alcohol abuse, not going to school, going to jail, teenage pregnancy ... the programme has been very successful."
White-Hartig said that she hoped the girls would draw inspiration from the women of the UAE.
"The vision has always been for the girls to connect globally with young women using fashion, design, or modelling," she said. "The people we've met here have embraced us, and our culture and what we're doing. Going forward I think we'll be back here quite a lot."
Danish-Emirati designer Latifa Al Gurg - who started her own label, Twisted Roots, about a year ago - said she hopes the girls are left with a better idea of the intricacies of starting in the industry.
"I hope they come away with a more solid idea of how to start, and where to start from. It can be overwhelming to have an idea in your head of the end product," she said. "The process to get that end product is taxing. I hope they get to see that you must go step-by-step."
One of the participants, aspiring model Christie Lilly, said the trip has provided her a different perspective on the fashion industry, as well as a memorable experience.
"(The UAE) is very beautiful. It's taken all of our breaths away. It's an amazing place and it's definitely built up our cultural awareness as well," she said. "We've learned a lot about your fashion industry."
"We've met quite a few fashion designers, and so far the ideas of fashion are quite different I've found," Lilly added. "It's been very inspiring to hear their stories of how far along they've come being designers. They were all self-taught ... this is something I could take home to my family and my friends. I have wonderful things to say about it."
bernd@khaleejtimes.com

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