Made in Pakistan reflects Abbas Mandegar’s own experiences with pain, anxiety and trauma as a child labourer in garment factories in Pakistan. A refugee from Afghanistan, Mandegar’s childhood was filled with sewing tools, instead of toys. The BA-graduate of the Swedish School of Textiles incorporates the tools of fashion - scissors, pins and sewing machine bobbins - into the leather garments as symbols of struggle and survival. The geometrical ornamentation pays homage to the Hazara, the designer’s native Afghan tribe. Mandegar is reclaiming his childhood and immigrant story, as well as highlighting the human suffering involved in global, fast fashion.
