“Sustainable Sunday Couture:” Hong Kong Domestic Helpers Fight Waste With Fashion

Over February and March, a whirlwind of shows and parties swept across New York, London, Milan and then Paris for their respective fashion weeks. With these glamor-oozing events unfolding in rapid succession, it was easy for fashion enthusiasts to miss a couture show being presented in Hong Kong—one of a different sort. On February 25, as the Milan presentations were in full swing, a small team of volunteer models—most of whom were Philippine domestic workers—turned the streets of Admiralty, Central, Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui into their runways to promote “Sustainable Sunday Couture,” an exhibition of upcycled fashion on display at the Philippine Consulate General.  

The 15 outfits on display—all of them gowns except for a short red and white beach dress with detachable fringe detail, and a handwoven, multicolored two-piece ensemble inspired by Hawaii—were designed and created by Elpie Malicsi, a 60-year-old domestic helper with a passion for dressmaking and environmental sustainability. Unable to afford brand-new fabric, Malicsi brought her sketches to life using whatever materials she and her friends could salvage, from bubble wrap and plastic bags to ring-pull tabs of discarded soda cans, she explains in a video included in the showcase. In creatively repurposing what many people carelessly toss into the trash can on a daily basis, Malicsi found not only a cost-saving way to continue with her hobby, but also a method of raising awareness of sustainability issues in a city with overflowing landfills.

“Sustainable Sunday Couture” beautifully illustrated the possibilities of an environmentally conscious design practice. More importantly, by allowing Malicsi to tell her story in her own words via the accompanying video and text, the show was able to bring her agency and impact to the fore. Malicsi’s determination in pursuing her passion and making concrete efforts to help the environment formed a narrative of empowerment that emphasized the contributions of domestic workers—a highly marginalized group assigned the thankless task of taking up their employers’ offloaded responsibilities for little recompense—as well as the significance of individual action in the drive towards a more sustainable future.

Ophelia Lai is an editor at ArtAsiaPacific.

“Sustainable Sunday Couture” is on view at the Philippine Consulate General from March 4 to 14 and at the Main Library of the University of Hong Kong from March 18 to April 1, 2018. 

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