No, no , no my friends-- Fashion is much more. It is the actual essence which is oozed through the wonderful fabrics, the excitement of a shopping trip, the flooding images of fabulous women swishing down runways and perusing through their casual daily errands. Fashion is in and around us! To limit it to a sale in a mall store-- is an injustice.
I am from the dynamic twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad to be more specific). Within recent years, the local fashion industry has been trying to make a name for itself. We have wonderful local designers such as Meiling and Claudia Pegus-- However the truth is, they might be able to design their butts off, but if the local market is oblivious to what real fashion is, they will never bite.
I attend the Caribbean Academy of Fashion and Design in Trinidad. The students are wildly creative and have amazing technical skills. However, I am often aghast to learn how many of them are unfamiliar with the wonderful international fashion artists and their work! A classmate of mine once asked me if I liked " Oscar de Lorenzo". I said "Do you mean "De la Renta"? To which she brushed off in a "to-may-to, tom-ah-to" way. I am still trying to pry my jaw off of the floor.
The point I'm getting to, is that before we start throwing clothing and design ideas at retailers and the public, we need to create a true sense and appreciation of fashion within our people. We need to get people to be interested in fashion magazines, films and shows. The message about fashion instilling a sensibility and a point of view should be at the forefront of transforming Trinidad and Tobago into this fashion-forward fantasy!
This is my way to begin opening up that part of the brain that interprets style.
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| Photography by Laura Ferreira; a local photographer with amazing skills. I had the absolute pleasure of working with her recently-- She is exactly the kind of talent we need in Trinidad to help boost this fashion train onto the tracks! |
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