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Mizero’s designs shine in London

Friday March 01 2019
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Rwandan fashion designer Cedric Mizero at work. PHOTO | COURTESY

By ANDREW I KAZIBWE

Rwandan fashion designer Cedric Mizero, 25, the owner of Amizero, a fashion brand that has won a special Mention Award at this year's International Fashion Showcase held in London on February 11-24.

He and a group of 16 budding international designers such as Thebe Magugu of South Africa, Roni Helou from Lebanon, Laura Laurens of Colombia, Curtis Oland of Canada and Duran Lantink from the Netherlands, showed their work at a free public exhibition during the London Fashion Week, made possible by a partnership between the British Council, the British Fashion Council, the London College of Fashion and Somerset House.

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Cedric Mizero poses during his showcase at the Somerset House Studios in London. PHOTO | COURTESY

Mizero's showcase was titled Dreaming My Memory. His pieces borrow heavily from traditional Rwandan weaving and Imigongo (ancient Rwandan art form) designs.

Background

Mizero had been experimenting with fashion since his high school days back in 2012, and his major breakthrough came in 2017 when his creations were featured at the 2017 New York Fashion Week.

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But this was not unexpected. In 2015 and 2016 he showcased his homemade collection, at the Kigali Fashion Week events.

Working like a real professional, Mizero first draws his creations on paper and then transforms them into wearable outfits.

He uses bright cotton and linen fabrics, and incorporates wires and other materials to give them shape.

He creates fashion pieces in the form of flowers and insect shapes, especially those meant for exhibition.

He says he prefers clothes for women because he believes that women have more articulate shapes, emotions, colours and mood, that complement his imagination and define fashion.

Social entrepreneur

Mizero started Fashion for All in 2017, a campaign to dress ordinary Rwandans in bespoke clothes.

He visits families living away from urban areas and presents his fashion concept to them, then designs wearable outfits for them.

He documents the campaign in pictures. The objective of the campaign is to prove that Rwandan fashion should not be for the consumption of only rich foreigners and those in the corporate world.

Actually, his first solo showcase in 2017 in Kigali was part of the Fashion For All campaign. Dubbed Strong Women, it featured a series of both documented still images of his designs as worn by rural women going about their daily routines, and also live models posing in similar outfits.

He uses both younger and older models and even the elderly whom he has dressed.

As successful as he is, Mizero has not created a clothing line available in retail like that of Vivo Activewear in Kenya. He says he is concentrating on growing his brand.

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