Due to a surge in daily Covid-19 cases and the emergence of new variants, the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Kigali event that was slated for July 10 has been rescheduled to a later date, organisers have announced.

The postponement comes just two days after the government imposed new preventive measures to control the surge in Covid-19 cases and the emergence of new variants globally.

The show was initially scheduled to take place live on national broadcaster’s entertainment channel, Kigali Channel two (KC2), as public gatherings remain banned.

However, the rising number of cases of Covid-19 halted organisers’ preparation activities, prompting them to consider postponing the event for the benefit of holding a successful event for participating designers and models and the broadcasting partner.

And the fact that Kigali remains the leading hotspot of new infections prompted organisers to postpone the event to a later date.

"The Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Kigali which was scheduled on July 10 2021 has been rescheduled to another date that will be communicated. We deeply apologise for any inconvenience(s) caused,” a statement jointly released by FCC Productions and Global Ovations on Thursday, July 1, reads in part.

This year’s event was expected to attract a total of 15 designers from across the globe including three Rwandans, three from the United States, a Belgian, an Ecuadorian, two Ghanaians, one from South Africa, and one British designer.

Organisers, however, say that the event’s postponement does not mean that the show is completely cancelled as they monitor the situation of the pandemic to announce new dates to resume.

"With our partners, we are watching the development trend of the pandemic to come up with new dates which will be announced soon,” organisers said in a statement.

The fashion industry is one of the sectors most hit by Covid-19 and, though Ndayishimiye has been pushing to organise the MBFW event to inspire other fashion show organisers to come up with new innovations and creative initiatives to keep the industry up and going, the new spike in Covid-19 cases seems to pose a fresh threat to the fashion sector.