There’s a countdown! The Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show (RCFS) is back, and being larger and better is charged.
From September 5-7, the three- day display will take place. Including local and foreign fashion designers, the timetable will include many familiar faces and brands returning to the RCFS runway. The show is anticipated to attract various players for the multi-faceted case in the fashion .
The annual fashion show organizers started auditioning aspiring and professional models last weekend at the Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village to showcase the recent fashion trends during the grand case on September 7.
The casting exercise attracted more than 200 models from various local organizations across, but only 40 were chosen for the case.
Celestin Ntawirema, the brains behind the show, told The New Times that this year’s event will be like no other, with the aim of providing an inclusive and supportive platform dedicated to emerging and established designers and models.
“We do the casting every year before announcing who are selected for the runways at the grand fashion event. It is not only done to make sure that our event goes well but to also give young models a platform and chance to expose their talent before a big audience,” said Ntawirema.
Expectations
Ntawirema added that models usually return for the casting practice and those who fail are offered another opportunity to participate in the next editions .
But RCFS has scheduled trainings for the models that were not selected at the case for the runway to assist them nurture their talents.
“We have realised a number of models give up on modeling and their talent ends up going to waste, which we do not want to regret. We will let them rehearse alongside those who managed to pass the casting so they can improve and get the chance in the next editions or other fashion events,”he said.
The casting exercise was held previously to give models enough time for rehearsals as organizers want well- trained models ready to spice up the runway at the show.
At the fashion case, 14 designers have already applied to display their collections. They include locals such as Rwanda’s Touch, Mundi Creations, Fathia Designs, and global designers including two Kenyans, a Ugandan, a Ghanaian, a Congolese, an Ethiopian, and a Tanzanian.
The national event will be preceded by a fashion tour, dubbed ‘ Kigali fashion tour ‘ on September 5, during which distinct fashion personalities will visit separate fashion stores to assess the state of the fashion industry in Rwanda.
Kigali Heights and Hotel Des Milles Collines are among the venues set up for tour departures, while the famous Chinese textile factory C&H will be among the locations to visit during the trip.
On September 6, various fashion stakeholders are planned to convene for a meeting on the theme: ‘ Designed in Africa, Made in Rwanda, to discuss the present fashion industry scenario in Rwanda and beyond.
The Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show has embarked on a good path over the previous seven years and has been the bridge for various super models to construct their name on the map of Rwanda’s fashion industry.
