China Mauritius Dream Fashion Show to promote art and creativity

The China Mauritius Dream Fashion Show, an event being organised as part of the Presidential Initiative and in the context of the Chinese Spring Festival 2016, was the main theme of a press conference given by the President of the Republic, Dr Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, yesterday at the State House in Le Réduit.  

The Fashion Show, a different expression of Chinese culture, and which aims at consolidating China-Mauritius ties in the fashion and art fields, will be held on 14 February 2016.  It is being organised in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy, the Ministry of Tourism and External Communications, the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, the Fashion and Design Institute and Lux Resorts.

The President observed that traditionally Mauritius and China have been advancing their close ties on the economic and cultural fronts.  She stated that since her coming into office, she has started working with the Chinese Ambassador to Mauritius to see how to advance and reinforce cooperation in a different manner with China.

For the President, the China Mauritius Dream Fashion Show is in fact a means to celebrate culture in a different way.  The idea is, over and above Mauritius-China cultural and commercial exchanges, to work on other poles of cooperation such as art and creativity which need to be exploited further and reinforce collaboration between our two countries, she pointed out.

For his part, the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Mauritius, Mr Li Li, while highlighting the close ties that already exist between China and Mauritius, also pointed out that with the development of Chinese fashion industry, the Fashion Show will introduce new elements through which Chinese culture can be explored under a new light other than in its traditional form.

This event, said the Ambassador, constitutes an important step for cooperation this year but will not be limited to solely this initiative as several important exchanges have been planned to strengthen China-Mauritius ties in other fields.

The Fashion Show

The Fashion Show, to be held at the Chinese Embassy, will showcase the work of a Shanghai fashion designer, Ms Vanessa Chia.  The latter will collaborate with Mauritian designers to showcase her creations which will include the presentation of the ‘qipao’ dress during the first set, while the second set will put the spotlight on fusion style outfits highlighting the use Chinese ink on fabrics.  Ten professional models from China along with five Mauritian models will walk the ramp on that occasion.