Rwanda Cultural Fashion show returns

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Moses Opobo

Kigali Cultural Fashion Week

At least seven foreign countries are participating in this year’s show, slated for September 8 at a yet-to-be-specified venue in Kigali.

The runway show will be preceded by a model casting session at the Great Seasons Hotel in Gacuriro on September 4. The casting will be open from 1pm to 6pm.

This year marks six years since the Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show was founded in 2013.

Organisers have promised a unique runway show featuring designs from different cultures as the Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show returns.

Celestin Ntawirema, the founder, speaks at a news conference in 2015. File photos

"Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show is a forum for local and international fashion designers to showcase their designs. Our goal is to promote fashion designers and create public awareness of the talent and quality designs in Rwanda,” explained Celestine Ntawirema, the founder.

Ntawirema further disclosed that they will be partnering with local modelling agencies to help with casting of the models.

This year, the event has drawn fashion designers and entrepreneurs from Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Nigeria, Ghana, Japan, the DRC, and hosts Rwanda.

Aspiring models during the 2015 search at Mille Collines.

Registration for the casting is already open, and each model is required to part with a registration fee of Rwf3, 000, payable to organisers through Bank of Kigali. To qualify, female hopefuls will need to be at least 1 meter 75 centimetres tall, while their male counterparts need to be at least 1 meter and 80 centimetres tall.

"This year we resolved to meet international casting standards. Normally in Rwanda the way we did castings was not to international standards,” Ntawirema explained, adding that all models who will register for the casting will have a chance to attend the show, even for those that won’t be selected.

Organisers have also set aside two days of a fashion exhibition, where the public will be able to shop for various fashion items as a way of supporting the ‘Made in Rwanda’ campaign.

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