T&T Fashion Week 2010: Target Tobago by Rosemary Stone Close your eyes for one moment, and let your imagination take you to the beach at Pigeon Point Heritage Park at sunset. Envision an ultramodern, metallic dome accented by a centre ramp; hundreds of chairs set among coconut trees draped with yards and yards of fluttering fabric. While cameras flash, the audience applauds long and lustily as Tobagoborn designers display their collections for the first time at the Tobago division of Fashion Week Trinidad and Tobago (FWTT3). FWTT3 took place from May 29 to June 6, 2010; the annual event has hitherto been confined to shows in the nation’s capital city of Port of Spain. But in an unprecedented move for their third annual event, FWTT3 opened their largest T&T production in Tobago at the end of May 2010, revealing the talent and beauty of that island to the world while providing a platform to stimulate a true Tobagonian fashion identity. To this end, the FWTT3 team created a cooperative between the Tobago House of Assembly, the Tourism Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago and several other government ministries in an effort to facilitate development and provide exposure for talented designers, models and all the attendant tradesmen. Organisers also broadened the FWTT3 agenda by utilising Tobago’s attractions to create a fashion showplace as well as a backdrop for other promotional shoots and events which are now featured in worldwide press, magazines, television and on the internet. The slogan “Crusoe Island” was used to woo fashion and culture buffs, art enthusiasts, film scouts and fashion house buyers who seek to find new destinations in their search to develop and to excite the rest of the world. Visiting fashion editors were treated to extensive tours of Tobago and wined and dined at the island’s most interesting restaurants courtesy the Tobago House of Assembly during the day and then chauffeur-driven to the late evening shows at Pigeon Point Heritage Park (PPHP). There, Tobago designers took precedence; some of the most attractive collections were designed by Juliet Bernard of Krystal Fashions; Ashley Christmas of Earth Member4Life; Charmaine Spicer of Spice Rack Designs; Jesse Chapman of Crotchet Fashions by JES; Lydia Arnaud-Lawrence of Nianay; and Amril Douglas with Amril’s Fashions. More established fashion houses like Radical Resort, Mille Wearable Art and Perez Designs also took the runway with resort lines, adding extra touches through their creative presentations to the evening’s events. Sandra Hordatt’s new swimwear line and Simon Duncan’s Caribbean Collection especially made huge waves among attendees. Look out for an equally enchanting FWTT4, which is scheduled to take place from May 26 to 31, 2011. It will definitely include the idyllic backdrop and talented designers of Tobago. Rosemarie Stone is the Founding member of FWTT and former fashion editor.
Sancho Francisco
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