Rome l Paris l New York
These are among the fashion meccas that attract movie stars, moguls and the mega-rich. Now, there is a new destination that’s commanding attention on the world style stage: the Caribbean. In the wake of Jamaica launching its Caribbean Fashion Week in 2001, a host of islands have moved fashion to the forefront of its attractions along with sun, sea and sand. One of the most recent additions is the US Virgin Islands. VI Fashion Week, the brainchild of model, entrepreneur and co-producer Vern St Aimie-Tonge and Chief Executive Henry Marsham Jr, attracted a distinguished cadre of designers last October and previewed the region’s fashion forecast for the coming year. “Caribbean fashion,” defines Tonge, “is a fusion of culture and creativity. Similar to music it tells a story. The tale is of each individual island and its people and that of the Caribbean as a whole. Caribbean fashion is colourful and free, free to be expressive of one’s self.”

To find out how that translates to the clothes we’ll seek out this year, LiME met 6 of the Caribbean’s notable designers…

Roger Gary
Classical elegance
“For 2009, it is all about comfort and elegance,” says Roger Gary. “Choosing the right fabric is key and the right silhouette that complements your personality and body type. In terms of color, mahogany/chocolate is the new black. It’s flattering on any skin tone. Well-tailored pants in luxury fabrics with a smashing top and accessories and a woman can be elegant for a night out.”

Born in Guyana, educated in Jamaica and currently residing in New York, Gary’s current designs embody this trend, but with an added twist. “My latest collection is inspired by an ‘imaginary visit to a tropical forest at midnight’, as I like to describe it, as well as many visits to my birthplace, Guyana,” he explains. “I am also known for the use of colours – definitely my Caribbean connection.”

Gary’s newest styles come to life in two colour palletes: mahogany and ivory as well as vibrant floral prints, and these are blazoned onto dresses, skirts and pants. Recommended accents include feather headpieces and neck chokers created out of twigs. “Accessories that look as if they were made out of materials found on the forest floor,” he explains.

Gary’s designs are found in select stores in New York and Miami. He also custom-designs for his clients.

Donette Brotherson
Modern and edgy
Caribbean fashion trends compare with the runways of the US, Europe and around the world, says Guyanese-designer Donette Brotherson, “with a notable inversion. That is, neon colors, huge floral prints and ruffles”.

An up-and-coming designer who created the ‘DonJ’ clothing line for both ladies and men in 2007, Brotherson adds: “The turquoise waters that are a distinct Caribbean trademark and also the unspoiled splendours of the Amazon rainforest influence the bright colours and exotic floral prints I chose for my latest collection, which I’d call sophisticated and modern with edgy cuts indicative of the latest global trends.”

Brotherson’s most stunning designs are created out of linen, cotton and satin and enhanced with macramé. For example, there is the floor-length red evening dress trimmed with gold tassels around the bottom and a matching woven gold bodice that offers a peek-a-boo glimpse of the tummy. Equally smart for men is an outfit of solid black pants accented by a mountain-green shirt cut to chisel a man’s shoulders in a stylish way.

“I consider myself young in the designing arena,” says Brotherson, who gravitated to the arts and things creative early in life. “But I’m confident I can bring a ‘breath of freshness’ to the fashion platform in Guyana and the Caribbean.” 

Frantz Coulanges
Simplicity
“Simplicity is best”, says Frantz Coulanges, a native of Haiti and pastel artist who got his start as a fashion designer in 1995 when he created his wife’s wedding gown. The couple moved to St Thomas from Massachusetts seven years ago.

“For example, I designed a dress aptly named ‘X’. It’s a very simple white dress with a black crossover in the front intersecting at the buckle. It’s very light evening wear, ideal for a formal event.”

Temperature is a factor taken into consideration by Caribbean designers. “You may look great in a suit but if you are sweating like you are stuck in a sauna, you lose all the ‘Wow’ factor,” says Coulanges. “My male suits are simply made, without the felt, because these tend to bubble up after only a few months of wear and tear in our climate. Linen and light fabrics are used like gold by a Caribbean designer.”

This year, Coulanges’ Simply Originals collection focuses on casual wear for men and formal wear for women. “The tops and pants for men may be worn together or separately,” he says. “For women, I use silky whites with mostly off-white, grey and black accents. The goal is to capture every natural curve and accentuate them in a flattering light.”

Teasea Bennet
One of a kind jewellery
Colours. Chunky. Organic. These are the adjectives Jamaican jewellery designer Teasea Bennett uses to describe what’s in fashion in Caribbean accessories. “Nature now sets the pace as designers opt to use natural raw materials, due to the negative shifts in economies and high costs of precious metals such as gold and silver,” says Bennett, who started the Reve jewellery brand in partnership with her brother, Duane, in 2006.

Bennett says: “Bold colours and chunky dramatic pieces are recognised worldwide and are quite a trend. International designers take their inspiration from the Caribbean cultures. For example, Christian Dior used the Jamaican rasta colours (red, green and gold) in previous fashion collections.”

Unlike international counterparts who manufacture and mass produce designs, she adds: “Necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings and brooch designs, to name a few, that use material sourced from the islands and wider Caribbean and that are all handmade and unique, are what we are all about. Our spring collection is bright, bold and beautiful.”

Sonia Noel
Timeless
Guyana-born Sonia Noel, who now lives in Barbados, is one of the Caribbean’s best-known designers. Her fashions – marketed under the label Mariska’s Designs, and consisting mostly of casualwear such as swimsuits, cocktail dresses and formal attire – have been featured on catwalks in St Maarten, St Lucia, St Vincent, Jamaica, St Kitts and St Thomas, to name but a few.

“Last year, my collection featured black and white. It’s timeless. This year, it’s animal prints. Tiger and leopard, in dresses, shoes and bags,” says Noel, who owns and operates two boutiques, Mariska’s and Mariska’s on the West, in Barbados.

Like many other designers in the region, Noel’s surroundings serve as her inspiration. “Flora, fauna, the eco-tourism theme, this is what inspired this year’s collection, which led to the design ideas that came to my mind as I took various fabrics in hand,” she adds.

Natasha Chasseau
Smart swimwear
“In the Caribbean we all want to be the best dressed individual at whatever function we grace with our presence,” says Natasha Chasseau, a swimwear designer born in Dominica who now calls Anguilla home. “Not necessarily in the straight-off-the-runway kind of way, but quietly so. We want to look stylish, sexy and classy yet understated, feminine and a little flirty but polished.”

Chasseau puts this perspective into practice with her one-piece swimsuits for women with off-centre or no-centre designs and matching wraps. She launched her line in 2007.

“The trick to looking good and standing out is not simply wearing the best outfit, although it’s a start,” she says. “Real style is how you wear those pieces, the way you make that look your own. It’s the little twists on the trends that makes the difference, that create individuality and separate you from the fashion pack.”