( left ) One of the designs from Meiling's 'La Sabia' collection.
( right ) A pink halter dress from Kelly Jade Nichols' 'Innocence' collection.
A FEW designers stood out on the second day of Caribbean Fashionweek 2005. The event, held on Saturday at the National Indoor Sports Facility on Arthur Wint Drive, St Andrew, featured eleven designers over three shows.
The reasons for the distinctions were as varied as the collections. From Meiling's textured and brilliant 'La Sabia' (the learned) to Renee Luke's costumed, CSME (CARICOM Single Market and Economy), Saturday's show was a mix of design sensibilities, all clashed into one dramatic show.
The event was plagued by late starts and sound glitches, but the designers, who the ample audience had come to see, rose to the challenge.
Sonia Noel's 'Mariska's' designs were a fitting start to the shows. The 33-year-old Guyanese designer utilised cotton and linen blends to create cool, breezy and sophisticated afrocentric designs, hand-painted and accented with ornate wooden beads.
Kelly Jade Nichols' 'Innocence' also created a stir, especially after it was learnt that the designer was just eighteen years old. The collection had a youthful appeal, with pink and blue being the dominant colours throughout. But seductive designs like a bobble top and black and white striped dresses ensured the collection was not infantile.
Renee Luke's CSME costume collection brought a new energy to the runway. Models, in one of many breaks from tradition, danced, instead of walked down the runway in Luke's carnival costumes, each with colours depicting the various nations of the Caribbean community.
It was a fitting end to the first show of the night.
Biggy and Meiling ruled on the second show. Biggy, the Jamaican designer, demonstrated his versatility and creativity in a line that was inspired as much by the nobility as it was by the commoners. One design, a denim suit accented by tape measures, spoke of Biggy's focus for the collection. How do you measure a designer of Biggy's proportions? The answer to that question came later with the presentation of a blue denim strapless couture gown, decked with all the ingredients of the Nestle Fitness Cereal.
A FASHIONISTA'S DREAM
Trinidadian Meiling's collection further justified her latest accolade as the Designer of the Year, as given at the Observer Style Awards the previous night. The collection, a tribute to the woman or man who takes her/his appearance seriously, featured some of the richest fabrics and most detailed
finishes of any collection on the show. Silk, satin, cotton, linen, and burlap were turned into designs from a fashionistas dream.
Jessica Ogden had the dubious distinction of being the designer with the most unlikely collection. Her Passa Passa-inspired line, for which many waited for close to an hour to see, brought mild acknowledgement from the audience, some of whom later expressed their disappointment in what was presented.
Other designers on the shows included Loren Tulloch, Antoinette Taylor for Antoinette Olivia, Uzuri, Loran V, and Yardman Style.
Alicia Roache
See the Star for another report on CFW.
