Over 15 fashion students have participated in a 7-day workshop at the privately owned Modern Science and Arts University (MSA) in Cairo last week. Two Swedish fashion experts began the workshop to promote the Swedish experience in innovative fashion techniques, combine modern fashion with multicultural influences and empower the local community, especially females.
The first of the instructors was Swedish fashion designer Hans Jansson, who created in 2005 a ready-to-wear-clothing line for women by utilising the craftsmanship of different locals and fabrics of the many countries he visited.
Johansson describes his designs as a marriage between different traditions and cultures while maintaining the sensibility of rare skills and quality work from across the globe.
The collection of Hans Johansson with its multicultural influences, traditional embroideries, and rare materials is exhibited in exclusive art galleries and select stores in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.
The second instructor is the associate professor and director of the centre for fashion studies at Stockholm University, Louise Wallenberg whose recent research focuses on the relationship between fashion industry and early cinema. It covers transnational and cultural gender ideals specifically the blurred lines of gender and sexuality in the fashion photography of Helmut Newton.
The workshop aimed to prepare young aspiring fashion designers to be fully engaged in the fashion business as well as provide them with the ability to plan and market their designs as a step into further engaging the international market. It was jointly organised by the Swedish embassy in Cairo and the Fashion Department at the MSA University, and was launched by Swedish ambassador Charlotta Sparre, who gave workshop attendees a presentation on Sweden as a destination for study and the Swedish higher education system.
Watani International
28 October 2014