What are most local men under age 25 doing these days? A guess would be difficult because everything is not out in the open, but three of them have been designing clothes; some really fabulous.
In less than 24 hours they created so much buzz in the fashion industry here, people are still talking about them.
In fact, Sonia Noel can’t stop talking about. She decided that their clothes were ready for the Guyana Fashion Weekend (GFW) stage this year and opened her second and final show on October 31 with their work. The problem is the kind of audience that ought to have seen their work, didn’t get the opportunity.
Who are they? Ryan Berkley, Nelsion Andre Nurse and Travis Bowen; three young men who are in the running for the most promising designer award at GFW 2010.
“…2010 is the most difficult year to select the most promising young designer because of the increase in numbers and the talent that was on show,” Sonia told The Scene in an interview this week. She said the nominees this year all brought freshness to the catwalk as well as “edgy yet sophisticated collections”.
Sonia said too that the young talent display this year is a testimony to the fact there is an increase in interest in the local fashion industry as well as growth. “The global fashion industry is a multi-billion dollar power house of economic activity… its about time we start seeing some of that money generated in our local industry and the only way for that to happen will be the all round support,” she added.
Sonia was right about edgy. The designs of Travis Bowen were as he puts it, “about thinking outside the box”. The collection, called, ‘Jack Out of the Box’ was certainly different from the regular men’s lines which have debuted on local catwalks before and people ate it up. He segmented the line under themes, ‘Black and White’, ‘Purple and Green’ and ‘Just Pants’.
Travis’ perky personality, which you instantly pick up when you interact with him, came out in his collection that featured mainly pants; jackets and jerseys. In one of the segments he debutted a jacket with the shoulder pads worn on the outside. His show-stopper was a hooded jacket; the hood made completely out of buttons. It was clear from the line that Travis has an obsession with buttons, but he would argue that it is a healthy obsession, love-affair even.
Travis, 22, is honoured to be up for consideration as the most promising designer. He has been “sketching stuff” as long as he could remember and is gifted in the arts. He sketches, dances and consider himself an all-round entertainer. He was a bit disappointed that many people did not get to see his collection owing to the scattered crowd that turned out for the 4 pm October 31, but he is happy to have been afforded the opportunity.
“I love what I do and I’ve been doing this for so long…only recently Clive Prowell from Classique encouraged me to start designing and I went for it. This was an amazing opportunity to show my work and to put this part of me out there,” Travis added.
Designer Ryan Berkley got people to sit up and take notice with his, ‘Royalty’ collection of strictly white clothing. He said the idea was to “think along the lines of purity and step it up in terms of attitude and sophistication”. The line stunned people and was so impressive that the orders came rolling in soon after. He even managed to impress his dance instructor from the company, ‘Let’s Dance’ and has been asked to design for an upcoming Cabaret show.
“Everything is happening so fast… before fashion weekend I was just someone with an idea and now I am getting orders and requests for shows,” Ryan related. He disclosed that he was asked to a fashion show later this month and one in December. He is also preparing for his second line to be shown some time next year.
Ryan said he grew up in a family where, “everyone sews”. He said there are many seamstresses and also a tailor in the family, but he never focused on designing until now. He went for purity and sex appeal in the all-white collection showing off evening gowns and swim wear. Ryan was particularly proud of the gowns saying he envisioned his mother wearing one of them on her wedding day.
He had a few daring pieces in the collection; one model came out wearing a jacket and hot pants with no bra. His show stopper was a delicious white number on model Meleesa Payne which he said, “had people talking”.
With respect to the nomination Ryan said he was not surprised because he worked really hard. Ryan is also 22 and according to him, the arts fascinate him so much that he enrolled at the Burrowes School of Arts to study textile designs and ceramics. “I celebrated my birthday two days before fashion weekend so this was all just amazing,” he added.
Of the three designers, Nelsion Nurse had the pre-show buzz about his collection and people are talking about “this guy who was telling the story of life through his work”. He went for something deeper with his line called it, ‘Patches’, explaining that everyone goes through a patch in their life and that, “it depends on what you make of that experience”.
Nelsion said his line was speaking to people through the black and white fabrics which he used. The black symbolized strength and the white was for wisdom and according to him, people need both to get over the patches in their lives. The collection was an instant hit; resonating with people and bringing him instant feedback.
Nelsion transitioned from an award-winning costume designer to fashion designer this year. He has nine years of costume designing under his belt and has been the creative force behind Head Start Nursery School for years. He has won first prize for four consecutive years in the Topical Costume category and this year he decided to expand into the Fantasy category; he managed to walk away with second place in that category.
Nelsion turns 23 today and he said “life is good right now”. He is preparing for Mash 2011 and gearing up for his next fashion show some time next year. (ianaseales@yahoo.com)