If the walls at Pegasus Savannah suite could talk they would sum up the opening of Guyana Fashion Weekend 2010 as “lots of smoke, but no fire.”
The show was lacklustre although punctuated by a few good collections.
To be specific, the opening was not “the opening” because the organizers decided to kick things off this year with a matinee show at 4 pm. Not only was the matinee decision risky, it was a departure from the traditional 8 pm show (which we are yet to sample).
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that many of those who opened the glitzy two-day event were fresh in the business, some of them showing for the first time. Still, no matter how you look at it the show simply paled in comparison to previous years when the lights came on and people just could not get enough of what was happening on the runway.
There were the occasional “aaahs” and “ooohs,” and the moments when an outfit just bowled people over, but they were few. It is too predictable to say that Sonia Noel’s plus-size collection was a stunning parade of chic dresses and skirt-suits. It was a largely cotton line that celebrated her eye for detail and clean cuts; the pieces were also playful and sexy.
The show crawled between collections and technical difficulties frequently popped up to irritate patrons – the lights initially being absent from the stage and the music jumping on and off as the models worked the runway.
Interestingly, the stand-out collections were the simplest. The designer who presented under the banner of ‘Hats and Wraps’ from Willows Fashion was a breath of fresh air, offering up a tasty collection of printed wrap dresses and matching hats. The hats were beautiful, bringing the glamour that was absent from the simple wraps covering the models.
And there was one collection which had ‘promising’ stamped all over it; that of young designer Candace McLean. The collection was funky and stylish as she played around with flirty dresses and sexy shorts and bikinis. Perhaps an honourable mention should go to designer Michael Kellman, who is also young and extremely talented. Michael‘s line was a full collection of male jerseys which featured his signature spray-on designs. (Iana Seales)
