NEW TV SERIES FOR CARIBBEAN

FASHIONWEEK

The Caribbean’s major fashion event, “CARIBBEAN FASHIONWEEK” will start its 2006 renewal with a new television series titled, “Ready for CFW 2006.”  The programme will be anchored by known fashion model and former Miss Jamaica Universe, Kimberly Mais and Romae Gordon, while Novia McDonald-Whyte will be the guest host.

The series will attempt to highlight talented Caribbean designers, and their collections; plus celebrities and supermodels who are in attendance at the “Fashionweek” functions.  The television series will take a comprehensive look at CFW 2006.   Pulse, the organizers of the event has declared that this years event will be of landmark significance and as such special celebrity guests will be a part of the line-up of personalities who will be appearing on the show.

Several special new features are earmarked to be highlighted about the event on the show.  Some of these includes, CFW Gold, Your CFW and Runway Replay.  During the run of the event members of the public will be given the opportunity to win tickets to the Fashionweek events plus gift packages and such the likes from the event’s many sponsors including CFW’s  major sponsor, Cable&Wireless’ bMobile.

The television series is set to be aired in most Caricom market countries including Suriname.  Some of the Caribbean territories in which the series will be aired include, St Lucia, Antigua, Trinidad, Belize, Barbados, Guyana, St. Kitts, the Bahamas, St. Vincent; the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. It also will be aired in the United States and the United Kingdom.

In Jamaica the series will air on CVM-TV.

The influential fashion publication, British Vogue has hailed the CFW, as an important new trend in world fashion.  The CFW takes place from June 7-11, and will feature and highlight the best in the region’s fashion industry.  It will compliments the region’s design talents as well as celebrate the international names from Europe and North America.

A very interesting new development for this year’s Fashionweek is the new co-operation agreement recently arrived at between Pulse and Strategies Caribes of Guadeloupe, which will see a team of designers from the French Islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe coming to participate in Fasionweek.  Also, through a recent consultancy by Pulse, on behalf  of the Government of Guyana, there will also be Guyanese designers participating in this years

event.  There was also similar talks held with the relevant ministry in St. Lucia which will likely lead to St. Lucian designers increasing their participation.  It is also expected that the usual strong support will also be coming from the Barbados Industrial Development Company for the involvment of the designers from that island.  Also expected to participate are designers from the twin island state of Trinidad and Tobago.  The authorities there supports their indigenous designers through an EU-funded initiative.

The Caribbean Fashionweek which eas first held in 2001, has attracted such talents as world rated designer, Jessica Ogden, Claudia Pegus, Barry Moncrieffe, Meiling, Pauline Bellamy, Simon Foster, Biggy, Uzuri, Nefatari, Mutamba, Bill Edwards, Cedella Marley, Pat Wright and many others.  There were more than over 50 designers from 20 odd plus countries who participated in last year’s event and attendance then peaked at more than 2,500 on the final night of the shows.  Those numbers are expected to be doubled this year.

Supermodels already confirmed to show the 2006 collections include Jaunel McKenzie, CariaCampbell, Nadine Willis and Kimanee Wilson.  This will bring into being a combination of world famous models from the region along with the awesome Caribbean design talents.