Fabulous fashion fiesta

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Saint International crowned a new male and female Fashion Face of the Caribbean, as well as its Avant Garde designer, last Saturday night at the Courtleigh Auditorium with much fanfare and high fashion.

Taking home the coveted Avant Garde designer award among a slew of futuristic outfits was Gregory Williams of H.O.D, while Shavan Fraser and Ornelia Edwards copped the Fashion Face awards. With models between the ages of 14 and 21 coming from Jamaica, Martinique and Guadeloupe, the Fashion Face of the Caribbean competition was stiff with tall, long-legged beauties (male and female) vying for the chance of a lifetime.

The contestants modelled designs from Balla Shaw, Yola Grey, House of Gillespie, Andrew Rowe, Pablo Palair, H.O.D, Mark Anthony and Dexter Pottinger in front of a panel of judges. Saint CEO Deiwght Peters, alongside Alison Watson, acted as emcees for the show, which kicked off almost an hour late. Walking down a white runway set up onstage, the models were obviously well-groomed and trained, and the designs fascinating with Pottinger being the biggest crowd-pleaser, followed by H.O.D and Pablo Palair.

DARING DESIGNS

The Avant Garde contenders were daring with Gillespie doing a colourful knit ensemble and André Shirley bringing a lovely, long, black dress to the stage. Felicity got a 'wow' response from the crowd with a black and silver number. Mark Anthony's men's design was in bright pink, while Balla Shaw was more daring with a men's outfit in bright green. André Rowe was classy, yet 'spacey', with a yellow dress and a long grey coat and Pablo Palair stunned with a leather gladiator look. The winner, Gregory Williams of H.O.D, went all out with a long dress with light bulbs installed and the model's face completely covered in black fabric.

Dancehall deejays Ce'Cile and D'Angel provided a break from the fashion and modelling. Ce'Cile kept the crowd with her songs, including the hits Fi You, Waiting, and the crowd loved the lyrics for Home Tonight. D'Angel took her role as a former model seriously onstage, strutting her stuff to full effect on the runway. The deejay did songs from her catalogue, including Hot Gal A Road, Blaze, Fantasy and First Lady.

In the male fashion face, coming in fifth was Carl Agabit, fourth place went to Decardo Morris, third, Dwaine Johnson, and the runner-up was Bard Allen. In the women's category, coming in fifth was Kimberlyn Martin, fourth, Tashi Banton, third, Ameita Moore, and second, Laura Toto.