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Dress created by La Chhouk studio in Phnom Penh and presented on November 30, 2019. RFI / Juliette Buchez

While people around the world are sounding the alarm about environmental issues, young Cambodians are using fashion and haute couture to raise awareness of the issue of recycling and over-consumption of single-use plastics.

Saturday, November 30 was the first solo fashion show of La Chhouk studio in Phnom Penh. "Chhouk" means lotus in Khmer language, a flower that can grow in even dirty and muddy water.

Since 2014, a group of fine arts students have been making original dresses and ensembles from recycled materials or used in the daily life of Cambodians: bags of rice or cement, cardboard, newsprint, capsules, straws, glasses or plastic bags for single use.

Cambodia, like many Asian developing countries, is discovering the plague of plastic and its environmental impact. While garbage collection and recycling facilities are still inadequate and plastics are often burned in front of rural dwellings, it is not uncommon in Cambodia to encounter garbage dumps or garbage canals. In the capital, it is estimated that 3,000 tons of waste are generated every day, including 600 tons of plastic.

The countries of South-East Asia, however, are beginning to grasp the problem. In Thailand, supermarkets replace plastic packaging with banana leaves. Cassava fiber bags are being developed in Indonesia. Students in the Philippines will now have to plant ten trees at the end of their studies to graduate.

For its part, in late November, the Cambodian government announced the preparation of a sub-decree to ban the import and production of single-use plastics.

Above all, the awareness is driven by citizen initiatives that are multiplying to denounce pollution or the accumulation of waste through garbage collection projects or creative projects like the works of La Chhouk.

The other message carried by the studio is a message of tolerance. Since its inception, La Chhouk has sought to highlight the LGBTQ + community and its rights. Although there is no law prohibiting same-sex relationships in Cambodia and their situation is improving, discrimination persists in a country still attached to its traditional ways. The creators explain that if members of the LGBTQ + community could be treated as society's waste, the potential of this waste is underestimated and can be sublimated.