PHOTO: Condom dress creates a stir in DR Congo

Here in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there’s a lot of talk around a dress.
From a distance, it looks ordinary. But when you get close, you see that it is made of condoms stuck one on top of the other. Some are open, others are in their packets.
But the creations aren’t for sale.
Designer Felicite Luwungu says she just wanted to get people talking.

I lost a few members of my family to HIV. I also wanted to do my bit to highlight the need to protect ourselves from sexually transmitted diseases and HIV.”
DR Congo is conservative and anything linked to sex is considered taboo.
The designer insists that as long as it remains so it will be hard to explain to people about the importance of safe sex.
But Freddy, a student in the capital, Kinshasa, thinks she may have gone too far.
If someone wears something like this in public or in places where there are children… people will be really shocked. It would be better to find another way to inform people.”
Ms Luwungu does not need to worry about her critics though.
If she needs to get some support, she need look no further than friends and family.
Her sister Benie said
My first reaction was ‘I want to see this’. Because it’s original. She came up with the idea herself. I really like what she’s done by mixing all these condoms like she has done. It is magnificent.”
Source: BBC