The Duchess of Cambridge and Countess of Wessex hosted a Buckingham Palace reception on Monday evening to celebrate and showcase a new fashion initiative.
The Duchess of Cambridge and the Countess of Wessex host a reception to celebrate the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange at Buckingham Palace in London (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
On behalf of the Queen, Kate and Sophie hosted the event for the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange, an initiative which uses fashion as a common language and platform to help people understand the modern Commonwealth in a different way.
The Countess of Wessex, right, with model Adwoah Aboah, left, and chief executive of the British Fashion Council Caroline Rush, centre (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
The exchange aims to create partnerships between established and emerging talent from across the 53 member countries, in the lead up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London this April.
Naomi Campbell arriving for the reception ( Peter Nicholls/PA)
It will celebrate creativity, sustainable production and manufacturing, trade links and ethical supply chains across the fashion industry, from business and design to textile and fabric design and manufacturing.
Artisan fashion designer Marama Papau, left, poses with models Neelam Gill, Arizona Muse and Noella Coursaris (Peter Nicholls/PA)
Over the past six months, major fashion designers such as Stella McCartney, Karen Walker and Bibi Russell have partnered with artisan producers in small nations who exemplify traditional handcraft techniques and trades, with a view to creating a skills exchange.
Fashion designer Stella McCartney (Peter Nicholls/PA)
The palace reception showcased the best of Commonwealth contemporary fashion and creativity with an exhibition of some of the bespoke fashion looks which are the result of these exchanges.
Livia Firth and Hamish Bowles, the curator of the exhibition (Peter Nicholls/PA)
The Duchess of Cambridge with Tukua Turia from The Cook Islands (Eddie Mulholland/The Telegraph/PA)
The Duchess of Cambridge and the Countess of Wessex (Eddie Mulholland/The Telegraph/PA)