The biggest challenge faced by fashion designers across the pacific is exclusively owning their designs.
Designs by most Pacific designers are traditionally inspired, making it unique to their culture.
Thus, the main concern is when traditional designs are copied and then mass produced at cheaper prices.
But despite this being raised with respective governments yearly, the issue continues to remain, threatening culture and local businesses.
Cecilia Keil, a Samoan designer currently in Port Moresby for a fashion workshop, spoke with Loop PNG on this.
“We’ve been told we had to patent or copyright, but with the designs we come up, all they had to do is change a few lines in there and it’s theirs.
“So I keep telling the government to implement policies or laws where the Samoan print has to be done locally, or only by Samoan people, or if they import fabric into Samoa, they should place a higher duty so that we can compete,” she said.
Keil is a successful designer and owns Cecilia’s fashion house. She has been in the industry, particularly focused on fabric painting, for almost 20 years now.
Speaking with vast experience on the area, she expressed sadness on seeing local Papua New Guinean art copied and losing value overseas.
“Your art is being printed around the world. If you are to do it here, it will have more meaning, because your people know the meaning of what you are wearing. Whereas for those who are printing it on the other side of the globe, they have no idea - it’s just a scribble to them,” she said.
Keil is one pacific designer who has partnered with PNG Fashion and Design Week to impart fabric painting knowledge and skills to Papua New Guineans, to fully embrace their culture through fashion.