Eye-catching dress a ‘fashion statement’ on HIV, environmental awareness

KOTA KINABALU: A sparkly dress made from a mystery material caught the attention of attendees at an HIV awareness talk held here recently.

It turns out the dress was made out of used plastic bottles collected from the beach near a resort in the city.

Megan Steven, an executive committee member for Sabah AIDS Support Services Association (Kasih), who wore the dress at the event, said it was to make a statement that people living with HIV care about other things apart from their medical condition.

She said the dress was in fact the brainchild of an HIV-positive team member who was keen to adopt a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle.

“This member had earlier noticed the amount of trash, especially plastic bottles, at the beach and thought, why not make a dress from these discarded bottles,” she said here on Monday (Dec 18).

Thinking that it was a good idea that would have an impact on public awareness, she said they then decided to proceed with the idea.

She and two of her members went to the beach and collected as many bottles as they could find, and came back with two full gunny sacks.

They then cleaned the bottles before cutting them into the desired shapes and sizes, she said.

Steven said cleaning and cutting the bottles took about three months, while the design and tailoring part took just around a week.

Six people were involved in the process.

“People with HIV care for the environment and wish to make a difference in their own way.

“They want to contribute to society and show that they are more than just people living with HIV.

“After the dress was completed, I wore it to the awareness programme themed ‘Let Communities Lead’ co-organised in conjunction with World AIDS Day on Dec 3,” Steven said.

She said the audience clapped and cheered when she appeared in the dress, with many asking what it was made of.

“This dress not only caught attention thanks to its look but also sparked an interest and improved awareness on upcycling and recycling,” she said.

“There is (still) little awareness of HIV and AIDS, but the stigma is high. There is more misinformation than there is proper knowledge and information. This must change,” she said.