As the preparations for Guyana’s Golden Jubilee continue to stimulate excitement across the diaspora, many are hoping to capitalize monetarily during the festivities. To be quite honest, I am a bit sad about not being home to bask in all the joy and celebrations.
The excitement of the Jubilee celebrations however has resulted in the overnight designer syndrome. Many new faces to the fashion scene are expected to make their debut whilst many older faces, who have been relatively silent for the past few years are using the opportunity to launch new collections. I don’t necessarily like to be the bearer of bad news but this sort of opportunistic interest in fashion makes me question the possibility of fashion ever becoming a real industry in Guyana. It’s this type of behaviour that essentially stagnates industry growth. People pick up the craft conveniently, drop it appropriately and don’t pay enough attention to it for too long to truly reap its harvest. As harsh as this may sound this is the reality of the industry.
Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being creative during this time but essentially this opportunistic pop-up shop mentality towards fashion dilutes the industry in the grand scheme of things.
The pop-up fashion show/shop mentality is not only applicable to Guyana’s Jubilee celebrations but for the fashion industry in general.