

As much as it was a fashion show, it was also a chance to educate the audience on a war plaguing a country that seems a world away but directly affects us as well. Clips of news articles about the coltan mines appeared on the screen informing viewers that Congo accounts for over 60% of the world’s cobalt production, and the cell phones we use every day could contain the same coltan many children and workers have to toil in the sweltering heat for little pay each day. Playing on a loop, the audience gained a first-class ticket to the Democratic Republic of Congo through a mini-documentary that played moments before the show began. The chaos subsided as the Pink Label Congo livestream gained viewers by the hundreds. Who said virtual runway shows weren’t as chaotic and stressful as real ones?
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However, Instagram seemingly blocked the software on Hanifa's account, forcing Mvuemba to pivot to her other page, Hanifa Bridal. It’s not that she wasn’t prepared, she spent weeks testing out the show on a dummy account down to the hour before it was slated to go live on Hanifa’s official page at 7 pm EST. Five years of planning and seven months of execution were threatened with glitches within the first hour of Hanifa’s scheduled virtual runway debut. But with great technology comes great responsibility-and technical difficulties. Where most independent brands would shudder in fear, Mvuemba saw an opportunity and worked round the clock to pull off a 3D fashion show that would later be dubbed “innovative,” “game-changing,” and “history-making” by viewers. Then, the coronavirus curveball happened. First step? Test out the 3D models on Hanifa’s Instagram, using curvy 3D models in place of the brand’s usual real-life curvy models to tease the brand’s forthcoming offerings. After completing the looks for the Pink Label Congo collection in November 2019, it wasn’t until January 2020 that she decided it was time to bring her dream of a virtual fashion show to fruition. She studied 3D design software in between designing for Hanifa’s core collection.
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I'm just the type of person that when I want to learn how to do something, I'm going to learn it even if that means I have to be up 24 hours for a week straight,” she says. To familiarize herself with the world of 3D modeling she turned to the school of Google and YouTube-after all, they taught her everything she needed to know about launching a clothing brand. She actually first had the idea of staging a virtual runway show five years ago but considered it an ambitious pipe dream considering her knowledge in technology was limited. The self-taught designer had every intention to show this fall at NYFW before coronavirus struck.

Still, a digital show wasn’t exactly how Mvuemba envisioned her runway debut. Hanifa Clothing Designs With Black Women in Mind
