A group of African designers have made their debut at Rome Haute Couture fashion week. Designers from Ghana, Cameroon and Uganda took part in a special show called Ethical Fashion.

The designers took inspiration from African styles and traditions, to create original dresses with spectacular elements including a snake-like tail on an elegant floor-length dress, and body and arm bracelets resembling traditional tattoos.

Designers explained that the Ethical Fashion project sponsored by Rome Haute Couture and the United Nations gives work to 700 African women.

The designers involved in the Rome shows work in communities in Cameroon, Mali, Ghana and Uganda producing hand-made beads and cloth. They only use locally sourced materials.

Ugandan fashion designer Sylvia Owori said, "The whole purpose for this show is for us to beat the fate, we are like the voices for all the poverty-stricken countries in Africa to help women empower themselves to creating their own individual beads that we can be able to sell abroad or we can be able to make, promote through fashion."