Fez — The Palais Jawhara in Rabat’s Hay Riad district will host on December 19 an exclusive runway event by Queeny-Design, a label led by designer Esther Yamutwale.
Under the theme “Élégance In Motion Africaine & Modernité,” the show promises new creations that put African silhouettes, fabrics, and details at the center of a deliberately contemporary story.
A spotlight on Queeny-Design
The invitation, sent out by Queeny-Design and signed by Esther Yamutwale and her team, sets the tone: a focused, single-brand show dedicated to “La Mode Africaine.” Rather than blending into a multi-designer program, the label is claiming its own space and tempo in Rabat with a late-afternoon presentation that looks more like a private rendezvous than a conventional fashion week slot.
For Yamutwale, this visibility is a way to anchor Queeny-Design as a house with its own language of structure, volume, and ornament. The collection title hints at the direction: clothes are imagined in movement, not as static images. Cuts are designed to follow the body, fabrics to react to light and motion, details to catch the eye without losing the line of the garment. The brand’s name itself, Queeny-Design, points to a taste for statement pieces meant to give their wearer a sense of presence and authority rather than disappear into the background.
Esther Yamutwale’s growing universe
Behind the label, Esther Yamutwale works as both designer and driving force. The invitation positions her simply as “Madame Esther,” a sign that her name is already associated with the Queeny-Design universe among clients and invited guests. Around her, a small team carries the brand’s signature across clothing, accessories, and jewelry-like elements that blur the line between garment and object.
Yamutwale’s approach sits at the crossroads of tailoring and adornment. Her silhouettes are built on clear structures — waistlines marked, shoulders drawn, skirts and pants carefully balanced — then amplified by surface work: draping, embroidery, metal elements, or sculpted details that recall jewelry more than classic dressmaking. The goal is not minimalism but a controlled richness, where each added element has a narrative function: evoking heritage, marking status, or echoing architectural motifs from African cities.
Rabat as a stage for African modernity
Choosing Palais Jawhara on Avenue Mohammed VI gives the show a specific context. The venue is at once urban and ceremonial, a place where Rabat’s new residential neighborhoods meet institutional life. Hosting “Élégance In Motion Africaine & Modernité” here means addressing both a local clientele and a wider circle of diplomats, business figures, and fashion insiders who travel between African capitals and the Gulf.
For Queeny-Design, this second half of December is less about seasonal shopping than brand building. The show invites guests to see African fashion not as a niche or folkloric category, but as a contemporary offering that can sit in the same wardrobe as European tailoring or global luxury labels. That is why the invitation speaks of “a unique event showcasing African Fashion” — the emphasis is on African fashion as a whole, presented through the lens of a single house.
A moment for clients and collectors
Beyond the runway moment, the event functions as a meeting point. Guests will have the chance to see the pieces up close, to understand the work on fabrics and finishes, and to talk directly with Yamutwale and her team about orders or custom work. In a market where many clients still prefer one-of-a-kind or limited pieces, this direct contact is part of Queeny-Design’s strategy: the brand grows not only through images on social media, but through fittings, conversations, and word of mouth.
With “Élégance In Motion Africaine & Modernité,” Queeny-Design is testing how far its vision can go: from atelier to salon, from Rabat to a broader regional map where African designers are claiming more space. For Esther Yamutwale, the show is both a celebration of what has already been built and a starting point for the next chapter of her label.
