By Frances Abraham
After having her clothing line hit the catwalk for the very first time at Guyana Fashion Weekend 2008 and winning the ‘Most Promising Designer’ award, Marcie De Santos was determined to live up to and beyond that accolade.
To date, she has three clothing lines: Contours, Mosaic and, Rhapsody in Grays as well as a fourth on the way, which can be expected at the Guyana Fashion Weekend 2011.
The wife and mother of two admitted that because she also manages her household, she has experienced some amount of difficulty in pursuing her passion for designing. But she stated that with the support of her husband and mother, she was able to achieve a great deal of success and she plans on venturing further to expand in her business.
The former secondary school teacher recalled about 5 to 6 years ago when she hadn’t a clue as to what direction she was heading in. “I had taken a break from UG for 2 years and thought I couldn’t just sit at home and do nothing,” she said. Once she had an idea of what she wanted to do, she “bought a machine, went to a seamstress and paid her to teach me how to sew.”
Marcie said that after her first line was completed, she approached Sonia Noel, leading fashion designer and founder of Guyana Fashion Weekend, and showed her a few of her designs. Sonia was impressed and Marcie has since been participating in Fashion Weekend and in several other local shows.
Marcie also participated in China’s Fashion and Trade Fair back in October, 2009, where she and two other designers accompanied Sonia. She affirmed that Guyana was the only country from the Caribbean invited to that event, which is the largest of its kind.
Marcie has been invited several times to participate in fashion shows around the Caribbean but was unable to go because of her involvement in the lives of her children. However, the talented designer admitted that in order to be very successful, such participation is necessary and as such, she is prepared to take part in this year’s Fashion Weekend, scheduled for the US Virgin Islands come October.
The vibrant young woman expressed that with an economy as small as ours and the countless designers, there is huge competition but this, she said, acts as a positive since it empowers her to be the best at what she does.
She said her work takes time since she does a lot of hand painting and confessed that she has a few seamstresses working along with her but confirmed that she is very capable in those areas also, if the client so wishes.
Marcie explained that she has her regular clients and stated that her lines cater for exquisite, sophisticated, professional women who want to stand out. Although her specialty lies in clothing, Marcie hopes to expand in the design of accessories also, since she said it’s difficult to find suitable accessories for her clothing. She also expressed her love of shoes. Someday, she said, she might do a different line of clothing; maybe appropriate for the working environment. (nicham2009@yahoo.com)
