The countdown is on! The Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show (RCFS) is back, and it’s billed to be bigger and better. The three-day show will take place from September 5-7. The schedule will include many familiar faces and brands returning to the RCFS runway, including local and international fashion designers. The show is expected to attract different players in the fashion industry for the multi-faceted event. Last weekend, the annual fashion show organisers began auditioned aspiring and professional models, who will showcase the latest fashion trends during the grand event on September 7, at Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village. The casting exercise attracted over 200 models from different local agencies across, but only 40 were selected for the event. Celestin Ntawirema, the brains behind the show, told The New Times, that this year’s event will be like no other, and aims to provide an inclusive and supportive platform dedicated to emerging and established designers and models. Male models will showcase the latest menswear. “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 normally return for the casting exercise, and those who fail are given another chance to participate in the next editions. But, RCFS has planned trainings for the models, who have not been picked for the runway at the event to help 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. Some of the models who made the cut for the Rwanda Cultural Fashion show 2019. /Courtesy. The casting exercise was held earlier to give models enough time for rehearsals as organisers want well trained models, who will be ready to spice up the runway at the show. So far, 14 designers have already applied to showcase their collections at the fashion event. They include locals like Touch of Rwanda, Mundi Creations, Fathia Designs, and international designers including two Kenyans, a Ugandan, a Ghanaian, a Congolese, an Ethiopian and a Tanzanian. According to the schedule, the grand event will be preceded by a fashion tour, dubbed ‘Kigali fashion Tour’ on September 5 during which different fashion personalities will be touring different fashion shops to evaluate the state of the fashion industry in Rwanda. Kigali Heights and Hotel Des Milles Collines are among venues lined up for tour departures while renowned Chinese textile factory C&H will be among the places to visit during the tour. On September 6, different fashion stakeholders are scheduled to convene for a conference themed: ‘Designed in Africa, Made in Rwanda, to discuss the current situation of the fashion industry in Rwanda and beyond. Over the past seven years, the Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show has embarked on a successful journey and has been the bridge for different super models to build their name on the map of Rwanda’s fashion industry. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
