Kavelle Anglin-Christie, Staff Reporter
At Left: Robert Taylor, the winner of the male Fashion Face of the Caribbean Award. Robert won a contract with Image agency, New York. At Center: Karene Taylor, 2006 winner of the Saint International female Fashion Face of the Caribbean Award. The finals were held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, Knutsford Boulevard, New Kingston, on Sunday. At right: A model wears the design that won for Carlton Brown the Appleton Avant Garde Fashion Award on Sunday. - PHOTOS BY WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
AS OF Sunday night, there are two hot new faces in the fashion industry.
Robert and Karene Taylor (no relation) are the 2006 male and female winners of Saint International's Fashion Face of the Caribbean.
Though many saw Robert as the obvious winner, not many had their eyes on Karene. When her name was announced, she broke down crying. The limelight, however, shifted to her mother who jumped up, while clutching her younger daughter in her arms.
"Thank God! Oh thank you Jesus!" she said. She ran to the edge of the stage to meet Karene, all the time holding the other daughter. The three hugged for a few minutes.
Karene says she is excited to be this year's winner. "I don't know what to say. It was enjoyable ... I am not shocked that I won, but I was just fretting that I would not win."
READY TO WORK HARD
Karene says there is a lot of work ahead, but she is willing to make the sacrifice. "I know it will be hard, but I plan to do the best I can. I want to go international, and for people to say 'yes, she is from Jamaica'."
As for Robert, he says from the get-go he expected to win the competition but the reality has exceeded the expectations.
"I expected to win, but I didn't know that I would win. Now, I feel overwhelmed because I have been working toward this for six years, so it is definitely a dream come true. I feel overconfident now, it may be a bad term to use, but I was confident before, but this definitely increased my confidence," he said.
NEW YORK PLANS
Robert won a contract with Image New York, and in the meantime Karene is also preparing to visit New York to meet with representatives from Elite and Vision modelling agencies.
Another highlight of the night was the Avant Garde prize, which designer Carlton Brown won.
His model had his hair plastered over his face, while he modelled a long-sleeved velvet jacket with short pants tucked into long boots. The style was very reminiscent of 18th century male European wear.
Although the model tripped at one point - whether it was because he could not see through the hair, or because the step moved - the audience was still very engrossed with Brown's vision.
LONG WHITE FROCK
Some of the other designs which stood out were those from Lisa 'NeahLis' McKintosh, Dexter Pottinger, last year's winner, Shem Deeke and newcomer Terry Nicholson.
Siim's piece: a long white frock with a colourful short ribbon poncho over it failed to impress many. One woman said, "This is not Siim, I think she is capable of much more."
Chris Pablo's piece also raised eyebrows. 'A piece here, a piece there', is the only way to describe the dress made of blue and silver shredded material.
Throughout the night, the crowd was kept further entertained by Cezar, who performed some of his songs, including Irresistible, Wasted Seasons and two new songs, Shoulder to the Wheel and Game of Life.
The night was a good one for the winners and those in attendance, though they insist last year's production was more organised. They cited the absence of Caribbean contestants, the small stage bordered with Appleton bottles which the models danced around with their large clothing, and the steps which were not nailed down as obvious problems.
