Guyana Fashion Weekend (GFW) is the destination for style and fashion in Guyana according to Chief Executive Officer Sonia Noel who is counting the days until the curtains go up and the transformation begins.
As part of the promotion for GFW, Sonia in collaboration with Black Starr Promotion will be host “Fashion in the Hood” today at the Basketball Court at Independence Blvd and Hunter streets, Albouystown. She said the street fashion show is geared to the neighbourhood and for the every-day people who may not have the opportunity to see a formal fashion show in a formal setting. The show is free and begins at 5 pm.
Meanwhile, GFW 08 is on at a new venue that did not quite feel like GFW but as Sonia sees it, “the venue is just the place for a transformation and we will go all out”. She is aware of the pressure and exactly how much she has riding on fashion weekend, but is of the opinion that the organisers have been in a position of readiness a long time now.
US actress Anna Maria Horsford, who is best remembered for her role as Dee Baxter on the sitcom, ‘The Wayans Brothers’ will fly in for the three-day event which begins on October 3 and wraps up two days later. Horsford’s film and television credits include ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, Entourage, ‘Judging Amy’, ‘LA Law’, Along Came A Spider, Heist, and ‘Everybody Hates Chris’.
Sonia, in a recent interview with The Scene, shied away from the clichés about how unforgettable GWF 08 was going to be and focused instead on what was planned. She said the goal was to execute a better, more organized and glitzy show that offers bold, interesting and exciting fashion.
“Fashion weekend is going to be ‘the’ weekend but is more, it is about our fashion and where we are positioned in the fashion world that has been ahead for so long. It is about our regional designers and the international names that are coming and what they have planned”, Sonia said.
She said there is an element of surprise in every collection and during the three-day fashion extravaganza that she will roll out at the National Gymnasium, a string of new and re-loaded collections will be unveiled from some of fashion’s biggest names in local and international circles.
She summed up fashion weekend as a commitment that involves a string of “behind-the-scenes people”. Sonia said when the lights are on and the models are on the runway and everything falls into place, it only take a few minutes for the memories to come rushing back — the late nights packed with long distance calling, the meetings, the decisions about which collections to bring and how to get them there.
But for her every moment is worth it because she has the opportunity to not only live a dream but take local fashion to higher heights. Sonia said she would not trade the pressures that come with it for anything.
Ones to watch
The line-up this year is more interesting and the collections are, “unbelievable”, Sonia said, adding that while the usual names that pop up in local fashion circles are there, there are also some new, exciting collections.
Names like the Telford Sisters who rocked GFW last year as the break-out designers of the inaugural show are back and with a collection so steamy, Sonia said people just have to be there to see it. She pointed out that the sisters have grown over the year and have put together a fabulous collection.
There are also names like Olympia Small-Sonaram, who probably understands the ‘bringing sexy back’ concept better than any other local designer. Sonia had only two words for her, “hot, hot”.
She mentioned that the collections of designers Rhonda Dunbar and Sonola Forte, Sharon Fraites, Lou Ann Lewis-Jackson and Andrea Braithwaite among others are just gorgeous. There are a few fresh faces like Andrew Harris, who walked away with the top prize from the Designers Portfolio contest.
But they are just the icing top of a GFW cake that is offering up the collections of some of the biggest names in the Caribbean including the collections of New York-based Trinidadian designer Donna Dove, who charmed guests last year with her “Sugar Cane Collection” and is back this time with “Circle of Light”.
Cassandra Mottley’s “Fetish Swimwear” from Barbados, Kristin Frazer “Trefle Swimwear” from the British Virgin Islands, Mikeida Franklin “Itsy Bitsy Swimwear” from St Kitts and Dianne Hunt “Radical Designs” from Trinidad & Tobago are among those coming.
Veteran designer Robert Young of The Cloth who is fresh off a breathtaking Carifesta show will be here and there is the intriguing collection, “Simply Garnette” by Dominique La Roach of Trinidad and Tobago.
Continued support
Sonia said there are also guest collections from the USA that will include exclusive men’s wear collection designers Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, John Varvatos 3-1 Philip Lim and Sean John.
How did she pull it off? It took a lot of negotiating but after a few discussions things worked in her favour. She said that in time one of those big names would be part of fashion weekend, adding that it is only a matter of time before Guyana got to that stage.
Sonia pointed out that government among other major sponsors continues to support fashion weekend, adding that the local and regional media have extremely accommodating to the event.
“We would not be able to pull off a successful show without the support we have received in the past and continue to benefit from. It is such an overwhelming feeling,” she added.
