At Fashion Week in Congo’s capital, style takes spotlight : NPR

KINSHASA, Congo — Rumba boomed over the speakers as attendees, in dazzling attire, arrived at the Democratic Republic of Congo’s premier fashion event, a chance to display handmade outfits in a country obsessed with style.

DRC Fashion Week, held in the capital Kinshasa, was a riot of color and joy. Congolese designers and dandies of all sorts gathered to celebrate their rich sense of style. Men wore tall hats and knee-high silk stockings. Women, overflowing with jewels and pendants, wore long robes, or corsets, and sharp stilettos. Some people had traveled hundreds of miles across Congo just to attend the event. Nathalie Eoma, an international runway model and a cofounder of DRC Fashion Week, said a passion for sharp dressing unites both rich and poor in Congo.

“It’s like it’s in our DNA,” said the 30-year-old. First launched in 2021, DRC Fashion Week aims to showcase the best of Congolese design. The idea is also to challenge Western conceptions of haute couture and to promote an authentic Congolese aesthetic, according to Eoma. “Our focus is on Congolese culture,” she said, adding that fostering young talent is also a motivation.

DRC Fashion Week co-founders Bénie Nyota and Nathalie Eoma walk the runway during the event at Galerie La Fontaine.

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There are few opportunities for designers in Congo. In a country plagued by conflict, and where most of the population survives on about $3 a day, there is no formal fashion industry to speak of.

Poverty has done nothing to dim Congo’s reputation as a design hotspot, however. This year, Congolese design shot to international attention when Congo’s national soccer squad arrived in the US for the World Cup wearing matching velvet and leopard-print suits. The dashing design, created by France-based Congolese designer Alvin Junior Mak, went viral.

Models wearing designs by Moussa Style walk the runway during DRC Fashion Week at Galerie La Fontaine.

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Model Allexy Sheba Moschino poses for a portrait during DRC Fashion Week; Content creator Joliana Kaba poses for a portrait at the same event.

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A general view of the fashion show during DRC Fashion Week at Galerie La Fontaine in the Gombe district of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Aug. 15.

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Speaking backstage before the runway show in Kinshasa, Congolese designer Mac Beauvic Mpoyi said his country was the fashion “cradle of the world” but that it lacked the means to support its creative class.

“This is a way to boost Congolese talent,” he said, speaking of the show. “It’s a way of holding our ground. Whatever the conditions, we’re still standing,” he said. When the catwalk began, the full verve of Congolese design was on display. Runway models wore multicolor patchwork suits and outfits incorporating traditional Kuba textiles, which feature complex geometric patterns.

Several different designers showed their collections on the first night of the event, on Aug. 16. In between the catwalks, Congo’s legendary dandies, known as sapeurs, also cavorted on the runway. La Sape, which in French stands for Society of Ambiance-Makers and Elegant People, is a legendary subculture of people dedicated to dressing as stylishly as possible. Its devotees — who often spend the little money they have on luxury clothing brands — are known as sapeurs.

Zachariie Bababaswe and members of Les Léopards de la SAPE perform during a fashion show at DRC Fashion Week at Galerie La Fontaine in the Gombe district of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Aug. 15.

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Congolese dancer Issac Kalonji performs during DRC Fashion Week at Galerie La Fontaine on Aug. 15.

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On the runway, the sapeurs performed stylized stumbles and struck poses to better demonstrate their finery, as the audience of hundreds of people whooped and cheered.