Florence – A limited edition fashion collaboration linking migrant seamstresses in Bosnia Herzegovina and student designers of the Polimoda Fashion school is now showing at the prominent winter edition of Pitti Immagine Uomo 105 in Florence, Italy’s biggest fashion show.

Entitled “7,689 km - from Kabul to Berlin", the so-called “capsule collection” is the latest initiative of the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) No Nation Fashion (NNF) sustainable fashion initiative engaging the creative and fashion industries to frame a message of economic power, creativity and innovation that comes with migration and diversity.

The name of the collection reflects the distance migrants must travel from Kabul to Berlin through Bosnia and Herzegovina.

NNF has created unusual, original clothing collections for local designers assembled and made by migrants and asylum seekers hosted at reception centres in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2021.

“At that time IOM, with support from the European Commission's Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI), established sewing corners for people to meaningfully spend their time, getting the chance to improve their sewing skills,” Laura Lungarotti, Sub-Regional Coordinator for the Western Balkans and Chief of Mission of the IOM office in Sarajevo told journalists attending a launch event yesterday in Florence.

The sewing corners rapidly grew into fashion studios. The creativity and interest of migrants combined with the dedication, enthusiasm and cultural expression of local artists and designers led to a bold, innovative idea to create a unique fashion brand in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lungarotti said.

“Our message is that migration is a human phenomenon shaping today’s economy, including fashion,” she said.

The new collection developed in collaboration with the Italian fashion school, reflects the hopes and dreams of people who left their homes and strive to build their lives elsewhere.

"It's the first time we've done something like this,” said Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti Uomo. “We really believe in it. The idea is to put these migrants in a position to produce, deliver and enter the market circuit.”

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For more information, please contact IOM Bosnia and Herzegovina at  iomsjjmission@iom.int and No_Nation_Fashion@iom.int 
 

For Editors

No Nation Fashion’s mission is to create clothing items that celebrate the meeting of cultures and harness the potential of migration. NNF ateliers hosted in Temporary Reception Centres (TRCs) offer migrants a safe space to express their creativity and learn new skills, and opportunities for exchanges with local and international artists and host communities. NNF has realized collaborations with fashion designers in Europe, including joint collections, fashion shows and a summer school on sustainable fashion.

NNF is supported by the European Union, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qatar Charity and others in Bosnia and Herzegovina.