By Alicia Roache, Staff ReporterTHE GOLF View Hotel, Mandeville was the venue of an International Fashion Invasion and Supermodel of Jamaica Competition on Sunday.
The balcony was decorated with potted ferns, white plastic chairs and yellow, black and grey pieces of cloth that draped the stage.
Chairs were placed facing each other on opposite sides of the floor and with a long walkway in the centre reserved for the models to strut their stuff.
The absence of the ramp did not deter the audience from waiting anxiously for the show to begin, neither did it prevent the models from strutting boldly down the floor when the show eventually begun.
The show scheduled for a 8:00 p.m. start did not begin until some minutes to nine, but guests continued arriving long after that time.
LATE START
When the show began, Marlon Bolton, the 18-year-old CEO of Zahni International Model Management, apologised for the late start and the show opened with a dance number by a barefooted, bandanna wearing dancer in army fatigue. He contributed a Micheal Jackson inspired break dance routine to the entertainment. However, after initial shouts of appreciation from the women in the audience, the dancer's routine became just that - a routine. Too much break dancing and not enough variety resulted in a luke warm farewell to the long-outdated dance.
Thereafter, Charmaine Duhaney, make-up artist for the contestants and new designer, unveiled her Spring/Summer Collection to the audience who also got to see the 23 contestants in the 'Supermodel of Jamaica' competition.
Many of the models were unimpressive and did not do justice to the outfits they were wearing. The first model emerged in a earth coloured hand painted dress. She wore a nicely cut summer dress but the bored look on her face suggested she did not enjoy wearing it.
'BREEZED'
The second model 'breezed' from backstage with arms flailing, in a blue and white ensemble that looked good on her, but the arms created a very annoying distraction.
One by one the models came out in skirts, minis, hot shorts, halter, one-strap, and off-the shoulder tops, dresses, pants and bathing suits.
While the quality of the clothing was good, the models' presentation, with the exception of a few, left a lot to be desired. They raced down the walkway at such speeds it seemed they would have a hard time coming to a halt. As a matter of fact some did as they literally braked at the end of the walkway, gave overdramatised thrusts of the hips and then turned abruptly to race to the backstage area.
The confidence and self assurance that models typically display was missing from many of their presentations.
However, not all the models gave mediocre performances. 25-years-old Shellian Richards came the closest to appearing as if she knew what she was doing, though she lacked the height. She placed in the top five of the competition, but did not win, presumably because of that deficiency.
However, It was obvious that whoever would do the judging would not have a hard time deciding on the winner. The eventual winner was 14-years-old Cassandra Taylor who stood out at 6'1'.
POTENTIAL
Her lack of experience as a model showed but her potential was evident. Though she did not do too well on the floor, she fulfilled the criteria set out by Karin Model Agency, very tall, very young, good skin tone. Cassandra who has only been modelling since December 2003, walked away with a Ja$50,000 prize and a trip to New York to meet representatives from Karin.
The male models were fewer than the females - there were only five - but they appeared better trained.
They failed to make an impact however as most of the clothing designed were for the women. At one point the five men appeared one by one with white towels wrapped around their waist and a necktie as their only other piece of clothing.
The winner for the male section was also not hard to find. Fitzroy Johnson 19-year-old and 6'2' emerged the winner. He will also receive a trip to New York and Ja$50,000.
