PORT DICKSON: Fashion designer Hatta Dolmat will once again showcase his sustainable fashion collection made from plastic waste at the Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week (KLFW) 2022 this August.

Hatta said in preparation for the event, a total of seven finalists of Miss Universe Malaysia 2022 also took part in an environmental conservation campaign by collecting plastic waste around the Port Dickson beach through the Ocean'Us Sustainable Ecotourism Beach Clean Up 2022 programme.

He said the programme, organised for the second time in collaboration with Ocean Hero Conservation, was aimed at educating the community on the importance of fashion in protecting the environment and reducing the dumping of plastic waste in coastal areas.

"Before this, my collection was more targeted at the younger generation, but this time we will feature a collection that is suitable for all ages, especially adults and corporate groups.

"Yesterday, we collected and separated nine large sacks containing 96 plastic bottle waste and other wastes such as styrofoam, face masks and others. About 14 metres of fabric can be produced from 96 plastic bottles obtained," he told Bernama here.


Elaborating, Hatta said the plastic bottle waste collected at the programme would be sorted before being sent to KLOTH Cares to be processed into fabrics to produce products such as clothes, bags, shoes, hats and so on.

"For the corporate group, I will produce blazers, shoes and many more in high fashion using this recycled fabric," he said.

Meanwhile, Tourism Malaysia Domestic and Events Division senior director Iskandar Mirza Mohd Yusof said such initiatives could boost the country's eco-tourism due to the current trend of the community being more concerned with environmental cleanliness.

"Malaysia is famous for eco-tourism. Awareness programmes like this are crucial in boosting the country's tourism sector," he said.

Iskandar Mirza said Tourism Malaysia was actively promoting local tourism packages to India and West Asian countries in an effort to revitalise the sector.

"It is in line with the target to record two million foreign tourists arrivals this year and so far, more and more foreign tourists are coming to this country for holiday," he added.

-- BERNAMA