Arrested a year ago in Rwanda, LGBT+ fashion designer Moses Turahirwa is ready to make a comeback

His career came to an abrupt end in April 2023 following a social media post. “I will be born again from my ashes”, assures Moses Turahirwa today.

With his Moshions brand created in 2015, Moses Turahirwa has enjoyed success from his native Rwanda, where President Paul Kagame was among his clients, to European catwalks. But in April 2023, the career of the LGBT+ designer came to an abrupt end.

It all started with a post on Instagram. On April 26, 2023, the creator posts a photo of his passport with the caption “sex” changed from masculine to feminine, accompanied by a comment: “Finally officially a woman on my ID. It’s fun. #ThanksKagame.” “I wanted to draw attention to the fact that it is not a crime to (want to) change gender”, explains this figure of the Rwandan LGBT+ community, which defines itself as non-binary and is defined by the pronoun “iel”. It was a computerized photograph, but Moses Turahirwa was charged with forgery and detained.

“I will be born again from my ashes”

Released on bail two months later. The forgery charge was dropped, but after testing positive for cannabis, a drug charge was filed. For the stylist, the authorities “He wanted to set an example for young people, so that they would be very careful with their freedom.” Although homosexuality is not illegal in Rwanda, unlike several of its neighbors (Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi), and the country signed a United Nations declaration in 2011 condemning violence against LGBT+ people, the behavior towards the community reflects “lots of toxicity”states the 33-year-old fashion designer.

The scandal caused by his announcement brought him an online smear campaign, some customers turned away and his business stopped. But “I will be born again from my ashes”assures Moses Turahirwa, saying that he now wants to focus his work around the concept of gender fluidity that initially drew him to fashion.

“I remember a lot of rejection”

The Rwandan has faced gender discrimination since childhood. In his village in the west of the country, the young man liked to make dresses for his sisters’ dolls, but this activity caused protests: “I remember a lot of rejection when I was a child. My mother (…) didn’t want me to play with dolls.” After arriving in the capital Kigali, the civil engineering student decided to embrace his passion for fashion. From his collaboration with other like-minded creators, the first collection of what would become the Moshions brand was born.

Entirely hand-stitched, the creations – sheer white tank tops, tan leather shorts, peplum blouses – exuded a decidedly modern tone, without any African print. An instant success in the fashion world that then appeared in Rwanda. Sales took off only two years later when, on the occasion of the 2017 presidential elections, the brand launched jackets and T-shirts with a screen-printed portrait of the head of state, Paul Kagame, the country’s strongman since the end of the Tutsi genocide in 1994. Government partnerships follow. Paul Kagame himself appears in a Moshions shirt.

The brand is also becoming internationally known, with fashion shows in Europe and creations worn by Ivorian soccer star Didier Drogba or director Pedro Almodóvar’s muse, Rossy de Palma. At the beginning of 2023, the company employed about thirty people in Kigali, with an annual turnover of 500,000 euros, says Moses Turahirwa.

“Start over”

A piece that perfectly matches his identity, is close to his heart: the mushanana, a traditional draped stole worn by both men and women in Rwanda. “Fashion (…) gives you the right to be what you want” is one of her credos, despite the controversies that have been waged against her in recent years. Three months before his arrest, in January 2023, a controversy erupted after a video allegedly showing the designer having sex with two men was published on social networks.

In November 2022, an outcry over the publication of nude photos on his social media led to his resignation as CEO of Moshions. The designer returned to his role this year and, in the face of “negativity” towards him, says he wants to “first of all” making Moshions a more trusted brand around unisex designs. Despite his arrest, Moses Turahirwa shows unwavering support for the government. Moshions has created a new series of t-shirts featuring Paul Kagame for his re-election campaign for a fourth term in July.