Turning the fashion industry into a lucrative source of revenue for T&T is an idea that has been tossed around by various stakeholders in the industry. The San Fernando Fashion Week Trinidad committee believes that talking about it is not enough and have decided to take meaningful steps towards making this a reality. This June, the southland will become a sea of fashion with this year’s production
, entitled Cultures in Fashion, Many cultures One People. The theme, the committee says, encourages the coming together of designers and other creative talents to use fashion as a language. For too long fashion has been viewed from the front end, with fashion shows and the glitter side of the event receiving the brunt of the attention. The more critical side such as the cutter, the stitcher, garment constructor, pattern maker, make-up artiste, craftsman and woman—the backbone of the industry—have been sidelined. According to The San Fernando Fashion Week Trinidad committee, the fashion industry needs to develop a system based on the International Model, with some of the basic requirements being:
Designers have to be able to mass produce their designs, by connecting with manufacturers overseas, eg India, China, Caribbean and other countries. Major retailer/buyers have to be invited to the fashion shows to place orders. Financial institutions must be able to facilitate loans for the designers who get orders from the stores. Customs duty for designers’ goods to be cleared should be at a reasonable shipping cost. Designers have to be computer savvy and in touch with the Internet age to work with factories overseas. Designers must have their own Web sites and showrooms, where buyers can visit and place orders. As part of the 2012 project The San Fernando Fashion Week Trinidad committee will have its first sneak-peek showing on May 13 at the Creative Arts Center in San Fernando. On the pre-show, log on to fashionweeksanfernando.webs.com or on
Facebook, Twitter, Skype, or call 722-6059
or 335-4155.
