The Rwanda Fashion Week runway show, which took place on June 23, at BK Arena, showcased local and international fashion, accessories, and interior designers from across the world. Rwandans and commonwealth designers also had an opportunity to learn from each other, co-create, network, and build synergies for future collaborations, while showing off their unique styles. Keneea Linton, a Jamaican fashion designer was among the designers that stole the show. Her cruise collection celebrated the unique resort lifestyle of Jamaica. One of the highlights of her show was a pregnant model who graced the runway with yellow swimwear, proudly showing off her bump. According to Linton, the inspiration for using a pregnant model came from Rihanna’s pregnancy fashion journey and the way she embraced her belly. Arielle Nkusi, a pregnant model showcased designs by Linton. “I followed Rihanna throughout her pregnancy and I loved the way she embraced her tummy, she didnt shy away from any fashion at all, and I tend to have a lot of pregnant customers that want to wear regular clothes, but I feel that pregnancy is something to be celebrated because you should show off your tummy, it is a beautiful part of life and not many women get to experience it,” she said. Arielle Nkusi the 30-year-old Rwandan pregnant model said that despite the conservative culture we have she didn’t feel ashamed to show off her pregnant belly. “I really love what I do, modeling is my passion so I went on the runway without thinking of what people will think of me but with a thought of having fun,” she said. Nkusi didn’t know Linton was looking for pregnant ladies to model for her collection and she declined the offer at first, but after understanding that she is the one they were looking for she didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity. While fashion is sometimes considered superficial, Linton sees it as a necessity. “Fashion says a lot about you including your mood and aspirations, whether you are rich or poor,” she said. Rihanna was recognised for embracing her pregnant belly and not restricting herself in fashion. Linton started out with fashion when she was nine years old, using her mother’s rejected jeans to fashion her own skirt. “Designing never crossed my mind as a career, I wanted to be an actress, a bank manager, or hotel manager, but never a fashion designer but fate had other plans,” she said. She officially launched her fashion business in 2005, and has been in the industry for 18 years now. “When I started designing, I designed mostly for myself, and today I achieved my objective of making women who wear my designs feel classy, elegant, powerful, and sophisticated, full of confidence, beautiful and elegant,” she said. She mostly does solo shows back in Jamaica and this was her first time doing a group show in a very long time, the collection also celebrated the colors of the flag of Jamaica. “The colors for me were celebrating our national colors, I thought the colors yellow and green are so vibrant for this season, I didn’t use much black in the collection but it is also there in our flag, so I used more yellow and green because they just feel perfect for me right now,” she said.
