In Goma, Kivu Fashion Week celebrates solidarity, hope and resilience

Models, designers and fashion enthusiasts gathered in Goma’s prestigious Serena Hotel on Sunday for the fourth edition of Kivu Fashion Week.

The runway featured diverse pieces of clothing, from formal evening gowns to modern twists on traditional garments.

Founded in 2022, the event has become a landmark celebration of style and culture in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

This year, the show promoted solidarity, hope and resilience in a region scarred by violence.

"The aim of this fourth edition was to bring together communities," said Kivu Fashion Week founder Voyance Batinda.

"That is why we invited several guests from the East [of the DRC], and from Rwanda, Uganda and so many other countries. We just wanted to share the message that we want peace, we wanted this peaceful and international cohabitation," he explained.

Conflict has plagued mineral-rich eastern Congo for decades. In January, the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels took control of Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province.

But for participants to Kivu Fashion Week, continuing the show in the city is a way to keep populations united in the face of war.

"This is done in the spirit of reuniting all these peoples who have long been scarred by the war. We wanted to bring them together in resilience, in hope and in solidarity," said designer Vainqueur Akilimali.

Kivu Fashion Week is also a space for joy and celebration. The event hopes to promote a positive vision of a region rich in creative talents.

"I think it is another way to denounce, and to show that what is happening in our country is not just negative," said singer Congolese singer Dety Darba, who attended the fashion show.

"Because beyond the war, we live, we create, we are resilient and we try to move forward as best we can," she added.

But beyond the glitter and glamour of Kivu Fashion Week, violence is still raging in eastern Congo, despite diplomatic efforts.

The Congolese and Rwandan presidents signed a peace agreement in Washington earlier this month.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in South Kivu since the deal was signed, and thousands of people have fled to nearby Burundi.