Sewing to Survive

Rina Roat is a successful clothes designer and entrepreneur from Cambodia, but she grew up far removed from the world of fashion. As a child, she had been abandoned and left homeless by her mother. Too poor to buy clothes, she turned to dressmaking – hand-stitching her first frock from a pair of old curtains when she was just 12 years old. It set Rina on a course to create her own clothing line, while never losing sight of another dream: finding out what happened to her mother and the family she never knew. Presenter: Datshiane Navanayagam Producer: Maryam Maruf Image: Rina Roat Credit: Courtesy of Rina Roat