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Fashion Goes South
By Tanya Jensen
Photos courtesy of Tyler Media-FWD
Nov 12, 2001/ FW/ --- The first Caribbean Fashion Week was held in Kingston, Jamaica
late last week, giving Caribbean talent a venue to make their names known to U.S. press and
retailers.
Jamaica not being a place associated with high fashion, this was a prime chance to show
that Jamaican design has evolved beyond floral bikinis, print sarongs and straw hats. The
fashion week is part of a larger government campaign to promote the Jamaican cultural
industries of fashion, food and music.
"We are hoping this will be a catalytic event in the fashion industry." Patricia Francis,
President of JAMPRO, the Jamaican Production Corporation, told FWD. "Caribbean people have
always been known for their flair and style. We need to harness this flair and hone our
marketing skills. There is no doubt the potential exists. Caribbean Fashion Week holds
enormous prospects for the marketing for the region."
The event consisted of over 20 shows as well as a mini trade exhibition featuring clothing,
jewelry, hats, bags and shoes.
Michael McMorris, executive director of marketing at JAMPRO, told FWD, "We want the industry
to grow creatively and not just be limited to mass production of basics, like the Hanes
T-shirts which are produced here."
When asked why the event was not held at one of the beautiful Jamaican beach resorts but
in Kingston -- a city flooded with drugs, guns, violence and a reputation for having one
of the world's highest rates of civilians killed by police -- McMorris countered with this
response: "Kingston is the commercial and financial capital of Jamaica. Other areas of
Jamaica have a strong tourist trade. We are trying to make people aware of Kingston." He
added that most of the Jamaican designers are based in Kingston.
In that spirit, a true effort was made to make guests feel welcome and removed from the
troubles that lay just beyond the runway. Guests were escorted to any shows and fashion
events held outside of the Kingston Hilton -- where most designers showed and where the
media, models and buyers stayed. This provided quite a parallel between fashion's world
of fantasy, and grim reality.
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