Kinshasa students stitch creatively bold ambition into Congo’s fashion future


By AGENCY
A sapeur presents a creation on the runway during a dress rehearsal ahead of a fashion show at the IRMA in Kinshasa Photo: AFP

In an abandoned hangar surrounded by dusty trucks in Kinshasa, young student models strut down a runway of artificial grass, showcasing their first-ever collection to their Congolese fashion school peers.

Container ships rumble outside in the Democratic Republic Of Congo's (DRC) capital, but the room holding the makeshift runway in the Regional Fashion Institute in Africa (IRMA) reverberates with chic electro basslines.

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