The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2019 49 posted to those countries are not permitted to work there, either. Spouses of U.S. and foreign diplomats can only work in countries with reciprocal work agree- ments. These restrictions may explain in part why a fash- ion show held at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday—complete with dramatic multicolored stage lighting, a DJ and a backdrop of photos from around the world—was able to enlist a host of models, representing 21 countries, many of themmarried to diplomats. The weekday morning event drew an audience of more than 400, about two-thirds of them women, many dressed in evening attire. But there’s more to the story. “We wanted it to be elegant,” says Jan du Plain, whose public relations firm, Du Plain Global Enterprises, helped organize the event. Rather than showcasing traditional fabrics and folk dress from around the world, says du Plain, “we wanted to showcase up-and-coming international designers.” Seeing the array of couture clothing, modeled by glamor- ous ambassadors’ wives, says du Plain, who wore a frothy white floor-length gown to the event, means that those unfamiliar with Gaborone, Tashkent or Asunción “can see that these are very sophisticated, cosmopolitan places.” The Origin of the Designs At the same time, many of the designs conveyed something of their origins in the fabrics, stitchery techniques or cultural propriety. Dos Santos’ cotton print, for example, is familiar to Mozambicans as capulana , a piece of rectangular fabric with multiple uses. “You have to take a capulana wherever you go,” the designer explains. “You always have to cover your legs, so you would have one to tie at the waist and a second for the top. If you need to sleep some- where, you can use it as a cover.” Likewise, the long sleeves and modest neckline of her design conformed with local practice. “If you speak to my mother, she will tell you it is very important to cover your knees and your arms,” dos Santos says. Younger people in Mozambique are less restrained, she points out, explaining that the dress was a nod, if not to her mother, then “mostly for the mother-in-law.” Dos Santos herself modeled another of her own creations, a long silk dress with a cream cap-sleeved bodice and a long black pencil skirt surrounded by an outer skirt that billowed behind her. The dress, she says, was inspired by the designers she loves, including Carolina Herrera and Christian Dior. Dos Santos began dressmaking in earnest as a bored diplo- mat’s wife in Berlin: “I couldn’t speak the language. I was frus- trated.” She groused to her aunt, a retired dressmaker in Maputo. “She told me, ‘Buy a sewing machine. Stop complaining.’ And I did, and that was it.” Dos Santos bought some fabric and a Vogue pattern, and immediately found her calling: “It was my first dress. And I could wear it.” From Mozambican Capulana to Uzbek Ikat Dos Santos says she was intrigued by other entrants at the Glamour & Diplomacy event, particularly Markhamat Umarova from Uzbekistan. Umarova, whose company is called Maru, turns ikat , a fabric that is part of her country’s history and economy, into designs suited to an international clientele. Ikat is made by using dyed threads in the warp of a woven fabric. While it’s recognizable, and has become popular, as a geometric pattern with fuzzy outlines, the finest examples of the Dildara Rakhmatullaeva, left, in a dress by Uzbek designer Markhamat Umarova, right. ERICTHIEL. PUSHPIN IMAGE: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/GAWRILOFF.