Refugees on Italian fashion catwalk

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands today:

Less than a year ago they made the perilous crossing to Europe and their future was uncertain. Yesterday they walked down the catwalk of one of the biggest fashion shows in the world. Asylum seekers from Mali and Gambia were invited to show off the new men’s collection at the fashion fair Pitti Uomo in Florence. …

Nigerian/American designer Wale Oyejide said that working with refugees fits well with his philosophy about fashion: “If an asylum seeker puts on a suit, then people will approach him differently. Hopefully it helps them to see refugees as equals, not as someone who is supposedly inferior“.

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