Fashionistas, local and regional designers and international models are set to turn Cayman into fashion central during the annual Cayman Islands Fashion Week.
The event, from April 19 to 27, will bring together international talent and designers, including Cesar Galindo, Shaun Griffith Perez, Roger Gary, Edwing D’Angelo and Poetic Rhythm, alongside local designers Melissa Dilbert and Norma Ebanks.
“Cayman Islands Fashion Week is a fabulous destination getaway for a blast of fashion, sun and fun,” said Cindy Jones of Guavaberry Marketing. She added that the event is a platform for showcasing trend-setting international and Caribbean designers and models from some of the world’s top agencies, including Ford, Major, DNA, RED, Muse, Next, IMG and Elite. “Sessilee Lopez, Georgie Badiel, Kacie Schaffer, Grace Bol and Bobby Roache are amongst the diverse selection of top models that have strutted our runways,” she said.
The event started out as Cayman Fashion Solstice in November 2010 with the purpose of promoting the Cayman Islands as a fashion and lifestyle destination. In 2011, the name was changed and Cayman Islands Fashion Week has since grown into a week-long event.
Jones said the event is “commanding regional attention in its quest for dominating trend-setting fashion and positioning the Cayman Islands as the top cosmopolitan destination in the Caribbean.
“We enjoy an impressive number of visiting media, both regional and international covering the event each year. This year’s coverage will come from Ebony Magazine, Nirvana, Fashion Bomb Daily, Caribbean Life Newspaper to mention a few.”
Highlights
- Launch Party at the Dream Night Club, April 19.
- Children’s Runway Show, April 20, featuring international children’s designer lines from the New York Duo Show Room.
- Bridal Couture Show, April 23, at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands, followed by the Culture & Style Welcome Party at Cayman Cabana.
- MyStyle Soiree, April 25, at the George Town Yacht Club.
- The Runway Show, April 26.
- Details on times and locales for all events will be announced at a later date.
Hosts
Hosting this year’s event are Anya Ayoung Chee and Richard Barton. Ayoung-Chee is a Caribbean designer from Trinidad and Tobago. Her fashion design career began when she represented Trinidad and Tobago in the Miss Universe Pageant in 2008. Her love affair with flowing silhouettes and bold prints catapulted her into the world of design and she launched her women’s label, Pilar, in 2009. She also has a lingerie line, Anya de Rogue.
In 2011, Ayoung-Chee was cast as the underdog in Season 9 of Lifetime Television’s “Project Runway,” but she emerged the victor after showing a stunning Spring/Summer 2012 collection named Tobago Love at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York. She won the competition, the Fan Favorite prize and prizes from HP/Intel and L’Oreal. Since then, she has launched the destination travel line, Anya, and has shown her collections in New York, London, South Africa and throughout the Caribbean.
Barton is an entrepreneur, attorney and ambassador of entertainment and fashion in Cayman. He owns his own law firm and is a part of the Crescendo Group, organizers of some of elite soirees on the island. Barton is also the host of Radio Cayman’s Business Buzz.
Local designers
Melissa Dilbert was inspired by her experiences growing up in Cayman. She recalls her grandmother taking her and her sister to Kay’s Fabric in George Town to select material that would then be taken to the dressmakers to make their Sunday dresses. From then on, it was Dilbert’s dream to make her own dresses.
She later enrolled in the Cayman National Cultural Foundation’s fashion design workshops. At the 2012 Fresh Fashion Show, she was awarded Emerging Fashion Designer of the Year, and the People’s Choice Award. Now at age 22, Dilbert says she likes her designs to reflect her exploration of how colorful everyday life is, and she aims to target the child- like spirit all women have.
Norma Ebanks attended the Howell School of Fashion in Kingston, Jamaica, and Parsons The New School For Design in New York. Upon returning to Cayma, she opened her own business, Creative Fashion & Design, which has been in operation for 12 years. She now offers sewing classes fat her newly formed sewing school, Sewing for Success.
General seating is $55 per ticket. VIP tickets available too. Buy tickets at NKY Collections, Sand Angels, Arabus Boutique or by contacting [email protected].
Related Videos
