Fashion Week hits Kenya’s biggest urban slum

KIBERA (KENYA) – Towering models parade down a three-metre (10-foot) high catwalk overlooking the rusting tin roofs of Kibera, the Kenyan capital’s biggest urban slum.

It’s the second edition of Kibera Fashion Week in the heart of the sprawling area and the place is packed.

For six hours, interspersed with pop music performances, hundreds of spectators from Kibera and across the city, watch the diverse collections float by on Saturday.

“Kibera is full of style,” says designer Avido, who launched the first show last year.

“People don’t get to see it because the image they have about Kibera is post-electoral violence, prostitution, drug abuse,” explains the 27-year-old, whose real name is David Ochieng.

“We want to show that here, we have style, creativity. What we lack here is opportunities.”

Avido was born and bred in Kibera, population about 250,000, where he…