Convicts in the prison-correctional institution (PCI) in Sremska Mitrovica have designed and made reusable protection masks which are to be displayed at the Torino Fashion Week, held 3−9 October.
Fashion industry representatives from around the world will be able to see 26 masks made by the convicts in the PCI’s tailoring workshop. The Fashion Week will be held without public presence owing to the coronavirus-prevention measures in place, and all the collections will be available online.
There are 30 convicts presently working in the PCI’s tailoring workshop, all of whom had previously completed certified course in tailoring, organised with the financial support from Help—a German non-governmental organisation. This course has been organised for over a year, with the new cycle recently initiated for another 10 convicts to help them find employment as tailors—a vocation very much in deficit—after they have served their sentences.
Almost immediately after the coronavirus outbreak, convicts serving in prisons in Sremska Mitrovica, Niš, Zabela, and the women’s prison in Požarevac, began making up to 6,000 masks per day for prison staff and fellow convicts in all the prisons. This initiative has served to help prevent the spread of the virus, and the manufacturing of the masks has continued to date, having expanded to include protection suits, socks and hats.