Fashion and Diplomacy Come Together at Czech Embassy for Miss DC Send-Off
WASHINGTON — In a city where style is often overlooked or deliberately avoided, one diplomat is making it her mission to explain that fashion isn’t pejorative, but rather purposeful.
Indira Gumarova, wife of the Ambassador Hynek Kmoníček of the Czech Republic, doesn’t rely solely on words and manners to prove her adept sophistication in tending to diplomatic matters; she lets her wardrobe speak to statecraft as well. And her latest project, Diplomacy and Fashion, is allowing Washington to let go of some conservative fashion notions and express itself to promote culture with cleverness.
Recently Gumarova hosted her first-ever Diplomacy and Fashion Week, a series of events that explored the intersection of diplomacy and the way people dress. As a follow-up to these events, she and her husband hosted a reception to congratulate Miss District of Columbia, Andolyn Medina, and send her off to Miss America in uniquely Washington, D.C.-style.
“The Miss District of Columbia [Send-Off] is an important Washington event, and we all want to be a part of the community,” Gumarova told The Well News, adding that she’s looking forward to watching the competition this year since she feels a symbiosis between her work and Miss D.C.’s representation at Miss America — both aiming to leverage Washington’s unique cultural and political perspective on style and service.
Reminding that Washington, as the nation’s capital, is home to more foreign embassies and cultural centers than nearly any city in the world, Gumarova always delights in seeing how the city’s fashionable set uses wardrobing decisions, especially since she often fields questions about what to wear to diplomatic events. For this reason, she said it was a treat to get a sneak peek at Miss D.C.’s wardrobe before the competition takes place this Thursday at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
“Wardrobing can be used simply to show respect for other nations and promote cross-cultural understanding,” Gumarova said. She also believes Washington is ripe for innovative, unconventional style, and promotes fashion as a form of cultural translation, economic opportunity and political messaging.
Wearing a designer of Czech origin to represent the nation’s vibrant designer scene for the send-off event, Gumarova showed that it is often the unspoken gestures and the softer power that help to create and sustain lasting relationships.
“Fashion and diplomacy,” she said, “can strengthen each other.”
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