CARIBBEAN FASHION Week may be the catalyst that will finally propel Caribbean fashion onto international fashion runways, not just as entertainment but as hard-nosed business ventures. The collaboration of JAMPRO and the Pulse Entertainment Group in this regional effort could very well set the stage for this new direction.
There is no gaingsaying the wealth of design talent that resides in the Caribbean. Indeed, individual designers have achieved some success in selling their products in the United States and other countries. What seems lacking, however, is a well planned and sustained marketing campaign for Caribbean fashion.
Market research, product development, advertising and promotion, capital resources, all the elements of any successful business enterprise, must be applied to the business of fashion.
Over the years there have been sporadic attempts to showcase Caribbean designs in international fashion expositions in Paris and Germany. These international forays had antecedents in a Caribbean Basin fashion and trade show in Puerto Rico and a Caribbean fashion carnival here in the late 1980s. But the momentum of efforts like these is lost when there is no continuity, no permanent presence in these markets.
In Jamaica, despite the recent hiccups in the apparel industry, it still remains the primary employer of women, continues to be a big foreign exchange earner, and should not therefore be sidelined.
The staging of Caribbean Fashion Week will, we hope, harness the multi-cultural talents of our Caribbean people, inspired by our vaunted landscape and colours, into a Caribbean Fashion brand that will command the attention of the world's fashion cognoscenti.
Throughout the Caribbean the appeal of the glamorous face of fashion is well established. It is now time to look at the bottom-line potential as well.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
