Time for the world to see Fijian fashion: Tongan star
It is time for the Pacific including Fijian fashion to be seen by the world and having the inaugural Bottega God Fijian Fashion Festival is the right pathway.
The inaugural Bottega Gold Fijian Fashion Festival is an initiative of the Fashion Council of Fiji.
Pita Taufatofua, a Tongan summer and winter Olympian, graced the event at the Grand Pacific Hotel today.
He arrived yesterday via the Fiji Airways Los Angeles flight.
Mr Taufatofua, 34, had just returned from speaking on behalf of the Pacific Islands at the opening ceremony for the UN General Assembly high level youth dialogue event in New York earlier this week.
“I said it is time for the Pacific to be seen by the world. Having the Bottega Gold Fiji Festival is the right time to be on the world stage.
“It is important since it is another avenue to get the Pacific out there.
“The Fijian fashion and the Pacific fashion is an area presentable to the world with its unique style.”
He believes Fijians are more hospitable compared to people in his home nation of Tonga.
“Where I go and do speak from the bottom of my heart, the kindest people in the world, sorry Tonga it is the Fijian,” he said.
“That is the truth, whenever I come to Fiji, they are hospitable and you can hear Bula! Bula! Bula! and that’s the truth.”
He competed in Taekwondo at the Summer Olympic Games and then in cross country skiing two years later at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
He is the second Tongan to compete in the Winter Olympics, after luger Bruno Banani in 2014.
Edited by Percy Kean
