HANIFA: Introducing a Digital Runway

The ready-to-wear contemporary line premiered via Instagram on Friday evening (re-watch at @hanifabridal). The digital show exhibited Anifa's bold patterns (inspired by the nature of The Democratic Republic of Congo) in a modern, immersive experience which has been influenced by the situation we are in due to the global pandemic. With the show taking place on an Instagram Livestream, this allowed users across the globe to tune in live, in the comfort of their own home or office, as they watched Mvuemba’s garments being displayed in the brand’s Pink Label Congo collection.

When I watched the show, I was completely and utterly amazed. As I mentioned in my post on the April 2020 edition of Vogue Italia, I could feel myself - once again - watching a piece of fashion history unfold in front of my very eyes. It has since been praised as “groundbreaking” - which I think is a pretty obvious description, particularly because it has provided a clear insight into the future of fashion.

The virtual show was totally genius; showing fashion innovation and 'working from home' at its very finest. I can't imagine the amount of time and effort that must of gone into both the show and the catwalk video creation. The movements of the garments on invisible bodies of 3D renders was mesmerising, still perfectly capturing how each garment would flow with movement, and hang/sit on the body of her customers - utterly amazing!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajFXoDse0KA

In the video for the virtual show, Mvuemba spoke about how the Democratic Republic of Congo provided inspiration for the collection. This made me even more interested in the brand, since part of my A-Level Geography course consisted of studying this country and their governmental issues which are not commonly known within society. I instantly thought YES! She really is making a statement here, bringing the important issues to light. She mentioned several topics she wishes to raise awareness of. These include mining issues in Congo and the families in the country who are affected. “This is the right time to do a collection inspired by Congo. I’ve heard so many stories about the coltan and the mining issues,” she said.

Playing on a continuous loop, the consumers gained a realistic insight into the Democratic Republic of Congo through a mini-documentary that played prior to the show. This informative video included cuts of news articles, particularly about the coltan mines, and made the audience aware that Congo accounts for over 60% of the world’s cobalt production. Therefore, the mobile phones we use every day are extremely likely to contain the same coltan many disadvantaged children and workers labour for in the suffocating heat each day, for next to no money.

Of course it was a fashion show, but it was also an opportunity for the designer to educate the audience on an ever-conflicting country that seems worlds away, but in fact directly affects us all. I love, love, LOVE how she has used her platform to merge the two together (fashion & human rights), both creating a conversation about global issues and the new fashion / production world.

“I wanted people to feel what people from Congo have been feeling for years: oppressed,”. The media do not cover news about illegal child labor and abuse of power in Congo, yet if they do, it’s “watered down significantly,” - Anifa

Describing the above dresses, Anfia said, “The red represents the pain and the blood and suffering of the country. The blue represents peace, and then the yellow star represents the hope of the country,” (pictured left).

The Mai Maxi dress (pictured right), designed after The Congo River was the collection's finale dress. As it made its way down the runway, Twitter burst out in praise, and Hanifa made its debut on Twitter's top trending topics - something I am expecting to be seeing a lot of.

Some of my favourite reactions were:

Much before COVID-19, Anifa Mvuembahad had already conceived a way to display her collection in an innovative, digital-forward way – by using 3D models in a virtual show. She studied 3D design software in between designing for the core collection.

After completing the looks for the Pink Label Congo collection in November 2019, she didn't decide until January 2020 that she should now bring her virtual fashion show idea to life. She firstly tested out the 3D rendered 'models' on the brand's Instagram page. This move was to tease and create a buzz about the upcoming products by switching the brand’s usual real-life models, to curvy 3D models.

After five whole years of planning, plus seven months of execution, she spent weeks testing out the show on a fake account - even right down to the hour before her plan to go live. Obviously the show was intended to be broadcast via @Hanifa’s official page, but of course Instagram had to block the software on the Hanifa's account right at the last minute... forcing Anifa to run to her otheraccount, @hanifabridal. Hmm, so virtual runway shows are evidently still as chaotic as the real ones!

All in all, this is a power move within the industry - and I can't help but obsess over it even more since the designer is a female woman of colour. These are the positive, inclusive movements that the industry has always needed. Amazing 👏.

Mia

xo