Local fashion house, Moshions, will showcase its works at forthcoming inaugural ‘Africa Fashion Exhibition’, an African rooted fashion event backed by Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A Museum), slated for July 2, in London, United Kingdom.
Opening this summer, this exhibition celebrates the global impact of African fashions, showcasing a selection of iconic African designers.
The exhibition is part of a broader and ongoing V&A commitment to grow the museum's permanent collection of work by African and African Diaspora designers, working collaboratively to tell new layered stories about the richness and diversity of African creativity, cultures, and histories, using fashion as a catalyst.
As one of influential contemporary African fashion creatives that impressed V&A, Moshions has found itself alongside other African rooted fashion creatives Thebe Magugu and Sindiso Khumalo, Imane Ayissi, IAMISIGO, among other works which are expected to feature in the showcase for the first time.
Moses Turahirwa, the Creative Director of Moshions, told Weekender that featuring on such a big platform like world's leading museum of art, design and performance of V&A’s calibe is not only an achievement for African fashion works but also a big platform through which his brands can gain huge visibility globally.
"We already did the photoshoot and the clothes are already there as we wait for the opening of the exhibition in July. I think every designer would like to feature in the V&A fashion museum, so It’s another big achievement for me as a designer and also for the brand,” Turahirwa said in an interview.
He said the exhibition will help not only his brand but Rwanda’s fashion industry grow from one level to another while he also hopes it can inspire the young fashion designers to become more creative to stand a chance to have their works recognized worldwide.
"I think it’s also going to put Rwanda’s fashion on the map because Moshions is a Rwandan rooted brand, our creations are rooted from the culture, from their expression and interpretation and are of course made in Rwanda,” he said.
"It’s also kind of an inspiration for Rwandan young designers doing their works with hope that their works will probably be seen globally,” he added.
Africa Fashion celebrates the vitality and innovation of a selection of fashion creatives from over 20 countries, exploring the work of the vanguard in the twentieth century and the creatives at the heart of this eclectic and cosmopolitan scene today.
The exhibition presents African fashions as a self-defining art form that reveals the richness and diversity of African histories and cultures.
Turahirwa’s works feature in the promotional video that V&A Museum recently shared on its social media accounts announcing the ‘Africa Fashion exhibition’ event.
In the video, the fashion guru says, "I am one of the designers of the African generation reimagining the African fashion scene.”
Across contemporary couture, ready-to-wear, made-to-order and adornment, the exhibition seeks to offer a close-up look at the new generation of ground-breaking designers, collectives, stylists and fashion photographers working in Africa today. It explores how the digital world accelerated the expansion of the industry, irreversibly transforming global fashions as we know them.
From global fashion weeks to celebrity wearers and the role of social media, Africa Fashion will celebrate and champion the diversity and ingenuity of the continent's fashion scene.