COLLABORATION IS A KEY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY IN RWANDA

OVERVIEW

Rwanda Cultural Fashion Show (RCFS) is a forum for local and international fashion designers to showcase their designs. Celestin Ntawirema founded RCFS in 2013. The RCFS will on March 30, hold a virtual conference during which players in the fashion industry will discuss the current state of the Rwandan fashion industry and will discuss the collaboration between fashion stakeholders.

February 28, 2023, from 10am to 1pm, RCFS hosted an open webinar on the future of the fashion industry in Rwanda. Guests’ speakers included the president of the Berwa Rwanda Federation (fashion &beauty), Ms. Dukuzumuremyi Marie Chantal, president of Rwanda Designers Association, Ms Karen Uwera, Mr Eddie Nsabimana, a journalist at The New Times, president of Rwanda Fashion Models Union (RFMU), Mr Willy Mutabazi, Franco Kabano, CEO & Founder Webest Models Management, different media journalists and fashion stakeholders in general. During the discussion, the words “uniqueness” “quality” and “Collaboration” came back many times which caught our tension to prepare another webinar about how collaboration among fashion stakeholders can be a key to the development of the Rwanda fashion industry.

The webinar will bring together different stakeholders of the fashion industry to share experiences and discuss how private and public institutions can support Rwanda’s growing fashion industry. The webinar will include discussions which will be in the form of a series of a thought-provoking panel.

Keynote speakers of the event will include renowned fashion designers, fashion promoters, modeling agencies, experts in textiles, and some government representatives from the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Private Sector Federation (PSF), Ministry of Youth and Culture (MYCULTURE), Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy (RCHA), Rwanda Arts Council (RAC) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM).

OBJECTIVES
To establish collaboration between fashion stakeholders in Rwanda
To strengthen communication between institutions that support the arts and creative industry specifically the fashion sector
To put together people in the fashion industry and promote new talents and help them to have access to the platform which can guide them toward their dreams.
To create a space for developing and exploring creativity in designing clothes, new styles, and forms.
Purpose

To reinforce the collaboration between fashion agencies in the Rwandan fashion industry and work together to recover from Covid-19’s impacts on this fashion industry.