
RCFS
THE RWANDA FASHION WEEK is set to take place during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and will be celebrating designers from the commonwealth member states.
The one-week event will be attended by local and international fashion designers, through the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) fashion panel which is to take place at the Atelier, Kimihurura on June 21.
The Commonwealth market place and Photography exhibition will take place from June 22-25, while the Rwanda Fashion week runway show will take place on 23 at BK arena, Commonwealth market place and Photography exhibition on June 23 and is expected to be attended by over 800 delegates.
The event will be attended by 23 local brands among those seven local brands are participating in the Fashion week runway show, and nine international brands from the UK, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Jamaica and South Africa
Among the local designers to participant in the show are Haute Baso, Sonia Mugabo, Inzuki, Rwanda Clothing, Uzi Collection, Izubaa and Amike,
International brand that will participate include South Africa’s Pichulik, Kenyan designers Kiko Romeo, Amu Clothing, Jamaican designers Keneea Linton George, Nigeria’s Pepper Row and Dye Lab, Ghana’s Larry Jay and the designers from the UK, Georgia Hardinge and Maximilian Raynor.
According to the Pierra A Ntayombya the Co-founder of collectiveRw an organisation that promotes the creative sector, the Rwanda Fashion Week will be taking place in two main venues, the Commonwealth Marketplace and Photography Exhibition at Atelier (Kimihurura), which will be accessible for delegates and the general public from June 22 – 23. The finale runway show will take place at BK Arena.
She added that the the show will feature 16 designers from Africa, the Caribbean, and the UK. It will be a fashion experience that curates and reflects the visions of notable designers from Rwanda and other Commonwealth countries. The runway show is inspired by the themes of CHOGM 2022 and features both established and emerging designers
The founder of O'poma Design Madam Oli Nganzi, first from the right, Live today at Rwanda Television #RBA with Mrs Moniah Uwimbabazi, the Assistant Director of the RCFS and Mr Luck Nzeyimana, the hoster of Versus show.
As Rwanda gears up for the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) slated for June 20 to 25, many people are ready and everyone in Rwanda is very excited. During a TV Show on Rwanda Television, Moniah Umwimbabazi explained how local artists and fashion designers are ready for this big conference in Kigali" To be honest everyone is ready, event organizers we are ready, models and fashion designers are ready as well. I can say we are all set for the events" Moniah said.
Mrs Moniah Uwimbabazi, the Assistant Director of the RCFS Live today at Rwanda Television #RBA
Alongside the founder of the O'poma Design madam Oli Nganzi, today they showcased some of the Opoma Design 2022 collection. With a view to promoting African fabric and African creativity in this magnificent artistic universe of fashion, O’poma Design offers its knowledge by making high-quality African loincloth clothing for women, men and children in order to celebrate together the beauty and richness of African fashion.
" This is an opportunity for us fashion designers and of course, this is all about what people are prepared to sell. for us we are ready. We have created various creations and we can't wait to open up our shop in Kigali" Oli said.
According to madam Nganizi, local and African fashion designers should be prepared to offer unique and quality designs. " We want to propose to our client products like clothes of excellent quality by choosing the best materials possible; valorize African fashion and culture through our products and help our customers to choose “made in Africa” products" Nganizi added.
The founder of O'poma Design Madam Oli Nganzi, Live today at Rwanda Television #RBA with Mr Luck Nzeyima the hoster of Versus show
The founder of O'poma design Madam Oli Nganzi, Live today at Rwanda Television #RBA
Tomorrow is the grand opening of the O'poma design Show, from 3 pm to 8 pm.
BY RCFS
Dear fashion lovers, if you are in Kigali, this is the only place to be. We would like to invite you to our grand opening of The O'poma design Shop. It is scheduled for the 18th of July 2022. We will have a short runway show starting from 3 pm- 8 pm.
Bring your family and friends for shopping #madeinrwanda #madeinafrica #fashion #design.
Location: KG 16 Ave, Nyabisindu
Entrance: Free
Dear RUNAWAY MODELS
We are pleased to invite you to Modeling casting for the Kigali international Multicultural Festival (KIMFEST 2022) scheduled to take place from 16th July, at M hotel. The KIMFEST 2022 is a forum and a multicultural platform that brings people together to celebrate and share our different traditions, beliefs and cultural backgrounds through arts and creativity.
More than 300 members invitees are expected to the event. This includes the international community members and guests in Rwanda, private companies C.E.Os, diplomats from embassies, international students based in Kigali, local fashion designers and top Rwandan celebrities who have been invited to celebrate their culture through fashion shows, dance, and music.
We aim to provide business opportunities for our community, experts, and guests who live and work in Rwanda to experience cultural events and have a unique experience from our intercultural exchange events and exhibitions of Made in Rwanda products and other parts of Africa. The event is organized by Karisimbi Events in partisanship with the Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show (RCFS), M Hotel, Sponsors and Local Businesses.
Register here for casting
PHOTOS OF RECENT MODELING CASTING BY THE RCFS
THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED Mercedes-Benz fashion week was evident that the fashion scene in Rwanda is steadily growing, as the country positions itself to become the next fashion hub in Africa
Over 100 international guests who are normally big players in the fashion industry, including 27 designers, were in Kigali ahead of the six-day fashion event.
Below are the five highlights
Belgian fashion designer Chris Vitj, who was in Rwanda for the second edition of Mercedes-Benz Fashion week called on Rwandan designers and the business community to at least build one fashion school in Rwanda.
Belgian fashion designer Chris Vitj called on Rwandan designers and the business community to at least build one fashion school in Rwanda.
She was talking at the Fashion Forum which took place last week at Norrsken, Kigali, that brought together Africa’s finest designers and beyond to discuss the growth of Africa's fashion industry from a business perspective.
“I hope someday, starting with a few people here, there will be a kind of school like that. That is my hope,” said the designer, who was a fashion lecturer for a decade until 2021.
Young Rwandan designers given a platform to showcase their collections
In the recently concluded Mercedes- Benz Fashion Week, Young fast rising designers were given a platform to showcase their collection to 27 top designers worldwide.
This happened on May 19, at M-Hotel, when fashion houses like Jarah by Linda Muhoza, Inkingi Designs, Fashion Forward, A&M Kigali Urban, Ntare Gitare, Koni Clothing and others showcased their collections on the runway. A total of 10 young designers were given a platform to show their creativity.
Music meets fashion
Renowned Rwandan musicians alongside top music bands in Rwanda thrilled revellers of Mercedes-Benz Fashion week that were held last week in Kigali. During day two of the fashion week that took place at M-hotel Kigali, Mike Kayihura and Christopher played live music with the Target band while different collections were showcased on the runway. Renowned disc jockey, Selecta Copain, also graced the grand finale of the fashion week with a live set of afro music.
Top designers participate
This year’s edition of Mercedes Benz fashion week was bigger and better than the inaugural edition staged in 2019, with the runway featuring over 15 designers both local and international. Renowned designers like Malawi’s Lilly Alphonso that showcased Dessert collections, Kais Divo collection from Uganda, Qaal designs of Somalia, Ghana’s Arshia Wilson, Thando Piliso of South Africa, among many others showcased their collections during the grand finale of the fashion week.
Some of the Rwandan models that graced the runway. Courtesy photos
South Africa’s Georges Malelu who used to dress Beyonce in 2018 also participated at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion show.
Top models such as Grace Akeza, Honorine Uwase, Kentha Kirezi, Aisha Uwase and many others also represented different designers on the runway.
African fashion dominates
In the recently concluded Mercedes-Benz Fashion Show that took place from May 16-21, African collections dominated others on the runway.
Among 15 designers that participated in the fashion week, 10 showcased outfits made in Kitenge couture.
ORGINAL ARTICLE: TheNewTimesRwanda
How can Private and Public Institutions Support Africa’s Growing Fashion Industry?
This is the topic that will be discussed during the virtual conference entitled “The Future of Fashion Industry in Africa”. It will be in the form of a series of thought-provoking panel discussions about the textiles and fashion industry in Africa. It is scheduled on Friday, 18th December 2020, from at 10:30 am to11:30 am (GMT-KIGALI).
Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show Webinar 2020 Register Here To Participate or Send your registration via e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
It is organized by the Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show known as the RCFS. This is a Rwandan company which had been working in the fashion industry about 8 years ago. The RCFS was founded in 2012 to promote fashion designers and create public awareness of the talent and quality designs in Africa.
Since the start, may Africans men and women have been promoted through the RCFS events. It assists in marketing, promotion and branding especially for the upcoming fashion designers who are starting small businesses in fashion. According to the examples from the RCFS’s 8 years’ experience, many brands from all over the continent had been established and some are now selling even on the international fashion markets.
This is a magnificent step which shows that the Africa fashion industry had been achieving in a short time. For example, Africa has few fashion schools comparing to the countries where modern fashion is coming from like in the USA, India and Europe etc. But many Africans fashion designers had been invited to showcase in Western and Europe fashion weeks and this is a great full for the Africa fashion sector.
The journey of the fashion industry in Africa started about 20 years ago. It was the revolution of the textiles and fashion industry on the continent which the RCFS sees as an example for the Africans and friends of Africans to feel the pride from our various cultures in styling.
According to the African Development Bank, demand for African textiles and garments is increasing globally, and African patterns are gaining international recognition as fashionable and iconic pieces, with international fashion houses now integrating more and more African influences in their latest collections. As President Zewde stated: “Globally, Africa’s cultural colours and clothing are increasingly being embraced.
Another example, there are several continental initiatives which are supporting the African fashion industry to develop and sell their products. The Fashionomics Africa initiative of the African Development Bank, together with the African Union, the AfroChampions initiative, and other institutional partners and private operators, launched the Pan-African Fashion initiative on 9 February during the recent AU meetings in Addis Ababa.
Pan-African Fashion initiative is a platform for stakeholder engagement, dialogue, strategy and policies to advance the African fashion industry within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to remove trade barriers between African nations and thus expand intra-Africa trade by about $35 billion per year. Intra-African imports and exports currently account for just 15% of all trade on the continent.
BY the RCFS TEAM
Models catwalking at a past fashion show. The webinar will discuss how to push the industry in Africa forward.
Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show (RCFS) will on December 18, hold a virtual conference during which players in the fashion industry will discuss the current state of the African fashion industry.
Dubbed “The Future of Fashion Industry in Africa”, the webinar will bring together different stakeholders of the fashion industry to share experiences and discuss how private and public institutions can support Africa’s growing fashion industry.
The webinar will include discussions which will be in the form of a series of a thought-provoking panel. Key speakers of the event will include renowned fashion designers, fashion promoters, experts in textiles and fabric dyeing, fashion school teachers and some government representatives.
Celestin Ntawirema, the brains behind RCFS and organiser of the webinar told The New Times that participants in this webinar will share experiences on how to establish a successful fashion concept business, discuss challenges facing the industry and propose some solutions.
“Though Covid-19 halted most activities in the industry, we thought of creating a platform that will bring players in the fashion industry to share experiences and best practices so we can learn from each other how best we can push our fashion industry to another level. We also want to see how designers can go global through African networks,” Ntawirema said.
Celestin Ntawirema, the CEO of Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show. / Courtesy.
The African fashion sector is already impressing in the global market, something that industry players hail as a motivation despite the challenges they have faced in the journey.
Ntawirema, who has been promoting fashion for over the past eight years said that, from his experience, many brands from all over the continent had established themselves among the best globally and are now selling big on the international fashion markets compared to Western fashion despite having few fashion schools that can drive the industry to greater heights.
He, however, lamented that investors are still reluctant to put their money in fashion-related projects because protection of fashion copyrights and fashion innovations is still low due to the gap in fashion literacy.
The webinar, he said, will be an opportunity for fashion players to show both the public and private sectors the potential that fashion has at its disposal so as to attract their investment and, on the other hand, call for support from the governments to create a conducive environment for fashion to flourish and become a sector which can contribute to the national economic development.
A model shows up before the audience during a past event. / File.
Some of the speakers expected for the webinar include Ruth Jackob, senior lecturer in fashion marketing Eastern London, Karen Uwera, the President of Rwanda Designers Association, John Bunyeshuri, the CEO and Founder of Kigali Fashion Week and Kenyan fashion guru Vinn Clizz, the Managing Director of Vinn Clizz among others.
Challenges
Though Rwanda’s fashion industry is being contextualized with the ‘Made in Rwanda’ policy but Ntawirema said that it’s a shame that One of the biggest challenges we have is that we have no fashion school that can prepare and raise future designers, models, or fashion promoters by profession.
“This is all down to the fact that Rwanda has no forum bringing together designers, models, promoters and other stakeholders to discuss to the future of this industry. We also need an umbrella or a fashion watchdog for all players in the fashion industry to ensure that the protection of our works is guaranteed,”
Rwanda may have local designers who are becoming successful but under hard conditions which the webinar is also looking forward to tackling.
The webinar outcomes are expected to respond to questions raised around African fashion industry from “who can design?”, “who can sell locally-made clothes”, and “who promotes fashion?” or even “who can basically support fashion sector?”
“We hope the webinar will find share responses to these questions together with the speakers. We also value new ideas from the public from which the future styling and fashion business in Africa can rely on,” he added.
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Moshions store in Kigali. / Courtesy.
Four Rwandan fashion brands; House of Tayo, Inzuki Designs, Moshions and Haute Baso on Sunday, August 2, saw their creations listed among top African fashion brands that feature on American singer Beyoncé Knowles’ website.
The website, beyonce.com, features over a hundred of African fashion houses as part of the singer’s initiative to help strengthen small businesses and to ensure economic empowerment for Black-owned businesses, especially in the creative industry.
The initiative is a partnership between the American pop singer, BeyGOOD and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an American civil rights organization that serves as an interracial endeavour to advance justice for African American.
Most of the designers that The New Times spoke to said that no application was made to feature on the platform, but their creations were recommended by their customers and renowned fashion figures in Africa and beyond.
House of Tayo incorporates African heritage with a contemporary touch to create unique styles. Net.
Designer Moses Turahirwa described having his Moshions brand on the platform as a huge boost for his business as he looks set to use the opportunity to push it to reach a bigger population from different parts of the globe.
“Beyoncé has always shown interest in supporting African-owned businesses, especially the creative industry and I am of course happy to be among the businesses going to benefit from her initiative. I believe her platform will give a bigger exposure for our brands to a bigger audience worldwide,” Turahirwa said in a telephone interview.
“It’s a big boost for our businesses. It a proof to the world that Rwanda’s fashion designers can do great fashion designs. Hopefully the number of our customers will grow as a result,” he added.
Inzuki designs jewelleries and other accessories. Courtesy.
For Matthew Rugamba, the CEO of House of Tayo, having a stamp of approval of one of the biggest artists on the globe is truly humbling and believes the platform will help his Brand grow significantly.
“For so many years our work in the creative industry has been undervalued and underappreciated but we have continued to create and push boundaries. For our work to be part of a celebration of blackness and black creativity makes the moment even more powerful for me,” he said.
The move to support black-owned small businesses comes just a few days after Beyonce premiered and released globally her new musical film and visual album Black Is King on July 31, just one year after the release of Disney’s ‘The Lion King.’
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The fashion shows are expected to focus on cultural activities to promote tourism and Made-in-Rwanda designs. / Courtesy photos.
The next edition of the Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show (RCFS) will feature a series of shows promoting cultural tourism through fashion, as organisers look to reposition the annual event in the wake of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Like other fashion brands and shows around the world, the coronavirus outbreak has had a major impact on the Rwanda’s fashion industry amid the pandemic since March 14, when Covid-19 was first reported in the country. As a result, the pandemic has forced Rwandan fashion designers and organisers of annual events like Kigali Fashion Week, Rwanda Fashion Week (RWF), formerly (CollectiveRW Fashion Week), Mercedes Benz Fashion Week and Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show to cancel the shows.
RCFS is among popular annual fashion events, organised since 2012, to provide a platform for emerging and established designers and models to showcase their work, as well as a platform linking local and international designers for potential opportunities.
Speaking about the event, Ntawirema said that they already have activities in place from at Red Rocks, a cultural centre in Musanze District stretching from September 25-28. The show will not showcase a cultural collection, but a variety of unique things including Rwandan traditional food, beverages, knitting and grain milling, among other things.
“In order to boost domestic tourism, we have organised this event to show tourists the cultural garments and accessories Rwandans used to wear years ago,” he said.
“For example, what people wore during traditional ceremonies and different activities they used to engage in. All these are different things we can showcase,” he added. In December, the organisers expect to host a show at the King’s Palace, known as ‘Mu rukari’, in Nyanza District, to give young people an insight into what used characterise cultural events at the King’s palace.
“The majority of Rwanda’s young generation do not have enough background on the history of fashion during the days of the Kingdom in Rwanda and we thought of this initiative not only to give them a chance to have an experience on the royal fashion code but also as a way to boost domestic tourism,”
“We have a plan to showcase traditional clothes and we have already got experienced models who will display the traditional way,” he said. Over the past seven years, the Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show has been on a successful journey and has served as a bridge for different models to build their own careers and write their names on the Rwandan fashion scene.
Moshions founder, Moses Turahirwa, is among the models who used the platform to build their names to reach greater heights in Rwanda’s fashion industry. The RCFS has also started a weekly fashion TV talk show dubbed, Ikirezi Fashion Style (IFS), which airs every Saturday on Isibo TV, as a platform to give fashion lovers a glimpse into ‘behind the scenes’ on the goings-on in the local fashion industry.
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The new coronavirus pandemic was confirmed in Rwanda in March and the government moved fast to impose a lockdown as part of the measures to curb the spread of the virus. Everything came to a standstill. The pandemic had a huge impact on almost every industry, especially businesses which were considered nonessential such as the fashion industry, which at the time of the outbreak was picking good momentum.
Both the fashion industry and creative arts globally and in Rwanda in particular, have been affected, with players in the industry emerging among the most hit businesses that might need an economic stimulus to pick up if Covid-19 happens to go away.
Celestin Ntawirema, founder of Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show, says when Covid-19 started and with the lockdown measures that were put in place by the government taking effect, they couldn’t organise any events which had been planned, setting them back.
“The outbreak means that as Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show, we will not be able to achieve our goal this year which is to promote modelling and fashion designers, but now that events cannot happen, it has become difficult to achieve anything,” Ntawirema explains.
Rwandan made accessories. Courtesy.
He noted that without a reliable platform to showcase their designs, the industry is likely to collapse anytime soon if the situation does not improve. But on the other hand, Ntawirema says there are steps that have been made like supporting some designers and models to continue with their work.
Ntawirema urges government to come on board and work with fashion promoters and designers to revive the hard-hit industry. He says that more efforts can be directed towards bolstering the Made in Rwanda campaign as part of efforts to encourage local production and consumption.
The fashion industry’s deterioration would see a serious impact on the country’s economy, not to mention many people who are likely to lose their jobs. Similarly, creative artistes in the Rwandan fashion are struggling to make sales to sustain their businesses despite some services of the economy reopening.
“They're a lot of challenges in the industry at the moment and most of them have no clear solution,” says Joselyne Umutoniwase, the founder of Rwanda Clothing. However, she says players in the fashion industry have to adjust and learn to work under the new normal, including working in shifts and also use half of their capacity in production to keep active as well as aligning the output with the demand.
Some of the designs by Rwanda Clothing. / Courtesy.
Umutoniwase says the designers have to retain their customers and give reason to them a reason to continue supporting them since they also know that Covid-19 had an impact on their businesses. She said that the Covid-19 outbreak has had a huge impact on the luxury market-creating redundancy in the business due to the fact that there are no events or functions that make people want to spend extra on clothes.
Despite the fall in demand, all has not been gloom. New opportunities are presenting themselves as fashion brands have shifted to making fashionable coronavirus face masks since they are the most bought item.
Reasons for the decline in sales
Due to major event cancellations such as weddings, special occasions, and vacations that have been disrupted by this pandemic as many people are staying home, most people don’t care much about dressing but rather having food and being able to cover their daily living costs. With this, some see no interest in buying new clothing which has affected sales for so many fashion designers.
It has been noticed that the countries industrial production decreased by 13.90 per cent in March, further pushing the market into big losses. Some designers shut down their stores and encouraged their customers to shop online instead. Many designers and retailers have adapted to producing and showcasing their fashion products online via different social media platforms such as Instagram where we are seeing different fashion designers updating and engaging customers online through informing them about new offers like the new masks available, hence encouraging their customers to make orders.
Rwanda has been implementing a policy to end the use of second-hand clothes, which was quickly turning in to an opportunity for the local industry but Covid-19 has disrupted that. In the face of the unexpected standstill in manufacturing, many industries were allowed to produce protective masks in a bid to promote made in Rwanda products.
It has been an opportunity for industrial players and their workers in the form of employment. In response to the pandemic, major fashion brands and retailers are cancelling orders due to a lack of fabrics and availability. Face masks have become an essential product for many if not all, with many looking to purchase locally made masks as part of efforts to support Made in Rwanda.
Face masks have also been trending as fashion statements during this pandemic something that started as purely protective transformed into fashion where fashion designers are now making branded face masks.
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