CB BureauTraditional Bodo motifs and weaving techniques are all set to get international recognition as renowned fashion designer and former supermodel Bibi Russell has joined hands with the Bodo women of Assam to create a new line of lifestyle products. The line will blend traditional Bodo culture and high fashion.
Bibi Russell, who has been associated with leading international brands and fashion shows, will train Bodo women working for Weaving Destination in modern design techniques and a range of skills that will help them market their products as a premium label.
Weaving Destination is part of Women and Wealth Project, a regional social enterprise led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) of Thailand, aimed at the socio-economic empowerment of women living with HIV. Two groups of women in India and one group in Cambodia are part of this initiative.
Weaving Destination has on board women living with HIV, survivors of human trafficking and female migrant returnees who are highly vulnerable to getting re-trafficked and social exclusion. Preserving traditional Bodo motifs and weaving techniques, these women craft products including garments and hand-woven fabric for individual and industrial.
‘Women need support to develop skills that will help them to be economically independent and socially confident. What they need is self-esteem, human dignity and empowerment for better livelihoods and sustainable income. This is what I am committed to,’ said Bibi, who is also a UNAIDS goodwill ambassador and the founder of Fashion for Development.
‘Beyond economic empowerment, the Women and Wealth Project in Assam provides a space for psycho-social support that helps women to collectively cope with the indignities and discrimination they face at home and in society as trafficked survivors and HIV positive women,’ said Patrice Coeur-Bizot, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in India.
CB bureau