Four Aussie women are wearing green and gold headscarves in an online Australia Day advertisement, which celebrates the diversity and multiculturalism of our country.
Fashion label MOGA is releasing the ad in the lead up to January 26, featuring real Australians and the tag line: "It's not how we are different but how we are alike".
"Instead of using models for this image, we have chosen to use everyday faces to show just how ethnically diverse our population is," MOGA spokeswoman Dani Leever tells SBS.
"Whilst this visual only represents a fraction of ethnicities that makeup our population today, we are proud to have used young women from Indigenous Australian, Vietnamese, Anglo and Somalian backgrounds ... who have draped our green and gold scarf in a way that represents their culture or personal style."
The fashion designer behind MOGA is Sri Lankan-born Melbourne creative Azahn Munas, who tells SBS the ad was a response to the recent rise in inflammatory rhetoric being made against minorities and immigrants.
"They styled the scarves themselves in a way that reflected their cultural identity or personal style," says MOGA designer Azahn Munas. Source: Supplied/MOGA
"This is an Australia Day ad. The reason we do not explicitly say so is because the message behind it is timeless and not just limited to one day," he says.
"For me, Australia Day is about coming together and celebrating what’s great about our country, and for me it’s the fact that we are an incredibly diverse, tolerant and accepting bunch of people. I created this ad to remind people of that."
MOGA specialises in women's headscarves and shawls, and 20 per cent of the brand's profits are used to help young girls attend secondary schools in some of the world's most vulnerable areas.
In November and penned an open letter in which he urged the One Nation senator to change the way she speaks about minorities in Australia.
Hanson's office decided to return the scarves, but Munas is unwavering in his mission to use fashion to do good, not just look good.
"I would love to make fashion that integrates style with social issues or causes that are important to me or my generation," he says.
