This is probably my third article on Lisa Punch since; she made her international debut on Rising Star. However, this is my first article since I actually had a personal encounter with her and got the chance to really sit down and appreciate her as a person. I had arranged to have a style session with Lisa for my fashion blog www.online-runway.com during her recent stay in Guyana for several reasons. First and foremost to actually meet the person who gave me so much pride lately to say I’m from Guyana and secondly a chance to construct a legitimate argument about the need for fashion cohesion from local artists/musicians on and off stage.
I understand that artists in Guyana are treated as non-professionals and unworthy of pay. The creative industries have failed to develop structures and systems, for more than one reason and this impinges on the quality of their production and their delivery as artists.
Taking into consideration that they get mostly no support for their craft, their efforts should be commended. However, an average effort sometimes and in most cases takes one long to get them where they want to be.
Fashion plays an integral role in defining who the artist is and operates as a form of personal branding. When I listen to music or I’m looking for new artists to follow, I have to connect with them mentally. The mental connection is obtained from more than just their voice but from the holistic approach they take when selling their music aesthetic.
They must be tapping into desires and aspirations of mine. The look and image they sell must be wholesome. It must also be consistent throughout their music, lifestyle and even their pictures. Singers no longer just sing. They sell a lifestyle and brand in the form of a mental product that feeds your mental aspirational diet. If parts of the puzzle continue to go missing or are replaced with wrong pieces, the artist not only drowns in a semi-lost cause but becomes more difficult for the general public to understand. Over the past years Guyana has had many aspiring musicians who have paved a way for themselves to an extent and some who have chosen different routes in the end. All throughout my monitoring of the local artists though, no one has ever been able to strike me to sell a cohesive fashion styling effort to match their music. I think this is one of the biggest setbacks that makes it more difficult to see the artists and performers as actual artists and professionals. As soon as the look and image become liquefied it becomes difficult to connect. The Caribbean has a few stylists that could help artists out.
Artists who come from stronger national cultures find it easier to identify. Jamaicans are known for their dancehall and reggae music. Jamaican female artists are known for their raunchy “pasa pasa” dancehall outfits and matching “matey” lyrics; Tanya Stephens in particular. Guyanese artists however, have a hard time matching their music to their clothes because of a weak national identity. I feel some are even very scared to express themselves through their look because of the closed doors and turned up noses towards the creative arts. I wish more artists would be able to understand this aspect of selling their music. I am not a stylist by profession but I took time out to get Lisa dressed for an editorial for my blog. I see Lisa as a Caribbean version Whitney Houston. Conservative but still heavily drizzled in the Caribbean droplets of style. Let me know what you think of my styling for her.
MUA Renee Chester Thompson
Dress Damian Moore
Photos by 55 Photography
(Last week’s credits: Photos by Sharon Ramkarran – A Thousand Words Photography; MUA Renee Chester Thompson were inadvertently left out.)
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