Ethno-Fashion Workshop by Alliance Francaise and Goethe-Institute

In order to mark the 50th anniversary of the Franco- German Elysee Treaty, Alliance Francaise and Goethe Institute came together to organise a fashion workshop titled "Ethno-Fashion Workshop." This time around, the motive for this collaboration in the field of design was to give fresh impetus to the design scene in Bangladesh and to show the creativity and opportunities of Bangladesh's fashion scene, especially in the light of recent events.

The workshop was conducted by world-class fashion designers Michael Sontag who hails from Germany, Sakina M'Sa from France and Bangladesh's own Bibi Russel. This workshop saw these three designers imparting their knowledge and skills and sharing their experiences with 10 participants: 9 young aspiring women and one young man. The designers guided the participants to create a collection of original and eco-friendly pieces of clothing respecting the mutual traditions and the creative inspirations of the backgrounds of the three designers. The participants were short-listed from applications which came through a call-for-application process based on their resume and design samples and the final ten were selected through interviews. They come from various backgrounds with some pursuing or having pursued a degree in Fashion Design and some belonging to different fields but having an interest in fashion designing.

“This is the first time ever that I have agreed to conduct a workshop in Bangladesh. I work with the village people of the country and each hour that I put into working with them means that I am helping towards making a livelihood of an impoverished household; despite that I am glad that I agreed to put my time here because I have found out that these young aspiring designers are superb,” remarked Bibi Russel at the press conference for the workshop which was attended by the French Ambassador, Mr Michel Trinquier and the charge d' affaires of the German Embassy, Dr Ralf Reusch. The press conference was also presided over by the designers, the directors of the Alliance Francaise and Goethe Institute and representatives of the sponsors Aarong, Fashion Knitting Pvt. Ltd, Getco and Farzana Shakil.

“The idea was to create a collection that we will show at a fashion show. I work with draperies and I have shown the participants how to do that, similarly the other two designers have shown them their influences and their area of expertise. We wanted to achieve twenty outfits so each of the participants is making about two outfits,” said Michel Sontag.

The designs will be displayed at three fashion shows on June 7, 6 pm (for Press and invited guests) and June 8, 6 pm (open for all) both at Alliance Francaise premises in Dhaka and June 10, 6.30 pm and 8.30 pm (open for all) at Alliance Francaise premises in Chittagong.