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| A show during the second annual Kigali fashion week, which features the creation Rwandan designers including Sonia Mugabo, below. Photograph: David McIntyre |
Rwanda may not have a fashion school, but its second fashion week champions a fledgling industry with worldwide ambitions
It is normally the catwalks of Lagos and Johannesburg that grab the limelight as the African fashion
industry grows in stature around the world. But the Rwandan capital put
in a bid for style glory at the weekend with the launch of the second
annual Kigali fashion week.
Designer Sonia Mugabo, who lost
grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends in the genocide nearly
20 years ago, was one of 10 local designers whose work was showcased on
Friday night, with help from the organisers of New York fashion week.
Although Rwanda
does not have a fashion school, Mugabo says the tragic history of her
family has made her more determined to follow her desire to be a
designer. "When I was doing graphic design in college, my parents asked,
what is she doing?" says the 23-year-old, who studied in the US and
interned at Teen Vogue. "Fashion is a luxury here. Not everyone can
afford to be fashionable and our culture is very conservative so people
think it's too showy. But I knew that's what I wanted to do with my
life.
"I think people here don't understand art as a whole concept. They don't know what art can do for a country."
Mugabo and friend Candy Basomingera, 30, launched their women's range, Afrikana Exquisiteness, in August.
LDJ
Productions, the company that runs New York fashion week, believes
Rwanda has the potential for a strong fashion industry. The country was recently ranked as the third easiest place to do business in sub-Saharan Africa.
It has provided technical support and training for Kigali fashion
week. "It's not about giving money, for us, it's about giving our time
and expertise," says LDJ chief Laurie DeJong, who has also worked on
fashion weeks in Miami, Toronto, Los Angeles and Mumbai.
"The
talent here, no one's tapped into it. But the designers are so serious
and dedicated and so enthusiastic. They really want to learn, more than
anything."
For the past two years, DeJong has mentored self-taught
designer Colombe Ituze Ndutiye, who launched her INCO Icyusa label in
2011. Ndutiye's pieces, which include denim and cotton dresses and
skirts teamed with traditional accessories, are made with the help of
genocide widows through Canadian initiative Centre César.
"When I started, the fashion industry was not there, people were confused," says Ndutiye, 25. "Now there's a lot of awareness."
Friday night's show featured Mugabo and Basomingera's creations, which the former described as vintage and Victorian-inspired.
"My
pieces are fully covered because I don't feel like a woman should have
to reveal too much to be beautiful," says Mugabo, who is hoping to find
local shops to stock her designs, and plans to sell online.
LDJ is
also helping to build an arts school in Rwanda with local firm House of
Fashion, which was set up to develop the Rwandan industry. But its
chief executive, John Bunyeshuli, also has his sights on Rwanda's
neighbours. He hopes to stage Burundi's first fashion week in the
capital, Bujumbura, next year.
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