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African label Moshions stands out at Pitti Uomo
A breath of fresh air, particularly appreciated in the pesky Tuscan heat, blew Thursday at Pitti Uomo. Rwandan designer Moses Turahirwa held his first fashion show for his menswear brand Moshions in the picturesque setting of Villa Romana, a neoclassical villa nestled in the hills of Florence surrounded by a beautiful park.
The designer welcomed his guests at the end of the afternoon in a joyful and casual atmosphere to unveil his Spring/Summer 2023 collection complete with African dancers and musicians.
His personal style mixed African references, notably through printed patterns, dyeing techniques like tie-dye, and draping - a real passion of Turahirwa - with Italian influences such as using "sartorial" cuts.
Pants and tops were kept loose and flowy, wide black shorts were paired with short-sleeved classic white shirts, long tunic tops resembled boubous, and suits bore horizontal colored stripes. However, his approach to draping is what stood out the most, with silk shirts extending into scarves or shawls worn over one shoulder. Others seemed to float, rippled by delicate wave-like drapes. An impressive blazer that extends like a Roman toga or jacket-capes were also stand-out pieces.
Born in Kigali, where he still lives and has set up his studio, 30-year-old Turahirwa originally went into engineering before pursuing his passion from a young age: fashion. He founded his brand in 2015 by drawing on native culture, such as embroidery, weaving and draping, using natural materials and dyes.
Success did not take long to arrive. A couple of local celebrities started wearing his clothes and gave him visibility and he began to participate in different fashion weeks in Rwanda, Nigeria and South Africa.
In 2021, he will complete a master's degree at the Polimoda school in Florence, where he will explore Italian know-how.
"I found in Florence the same artisanal identity as in Africa, the same passion for these ancestral techniques, which I want to promote through my collections. So I teamed up with some Florentine artisans to make the clothes," he explained.
The brand’s gender-neutral clothing targets both men and women, with attention to detail in embroidery, knitwear and dyeing. The brand positioned at the high end of the market is committed to a "slow and exclusive" production process.
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