Fashion & Beauty                                                   Go To  Index Page

India-born designer wears same dress for whole year

     Wellington: Fashion conscious women wouldn't dare to wear the same dress for more than one occasion, but India-born Sheena Matheiken has been wearing the same black dress with different accessories for the more than 100 days, and setting a new trend. A creative director at a web-design company in Midtown, Matheiken has been wearing the same dress with different accessories like think patterned tights, funky hats, glittering jewels and retro footwear for the past 110 days. And she intends to wear it every day until May 1, 2010 . Sheena actually has seven identical dresses, one for each day of the week in 2009-10, created by her friend, a little-known New York designer named Eliza Starbuck . The dress is a button-up, cotton shift that can be worn front and back or as an open tunic over pants, tights or shorts. With no experience in fashion, Matheiken came up with the idea as a way of raising money for not-for-profit organisation the Akanksha Foundation, which helps educate poor children in India by paying for the compulsory uniforms and other educational expenses that can prevent children from going to school. Matheiken posts a picture every day of how she is wearing the "uniform" and within 100 days, she had raised about 10,000 dollars. "This is about making it fun and finding a way to blend style and sustainability. These two things don't have to be mutually exclusive. It's all about getting creative," Stuff.co.nz quoted Matheiken as telling essentialStyle magazine. "I knew it would spark a lot of interest but I didn't expect it to pick up so fast. We've had more than 400,000 hits already and while it's good that we've raised USD 7400 we want to raise more. "We have been inundated with emails from people who want to donate accessories from their closets and design custom pieces for the uniforms. It's been incredible," she added. "The hats and plumes, the dickys and drapes, the shoes and slips, the belts and brooches - much of what you will see are byproducts of my cyber-stalking on eBay and Etsy, backed by visits to the many local vintage boutiques, thrift stores and flea markets of New York," she said on her website. "I am also collaborating with other designers and friends to create original pieces," she said. The exercise has become an international phenomenon and Matheiken and Starbuck are now planning to put the dress on the market to further their fund-raising efforts.
-August 23, 2009




Overseas Tourist
Offices

Tourist offices
in India

Helpline

 

 

 

 

Home    Contact Us
NOTE:
 Free contributions of articles and reports may be sent to indiatraveltimes@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER

All Rights Reserved ©indiatraveltimes.com