Mission Catwalk season 2 launches tomorrow

Monday, January 30, 2012

COURTLEIGH Auditorium in New Kingston will play host to the launch of season two of the television reality series, Mission Catwalk tomorrow.

The series is aimed at discovering and developing talented fashion designers at home and in the Caribbean.

Host/executive producer Keneea Linton-George said there are major changes for this year's edition.

"There will be 20 designers compared with that of 15 that we showcased last year. And, the prizes will be different," Linton-George said.

She explained that the main prize was increased by $300,000 to $500,000. This year's winner will also be flown away to attend fashion-designing courses in London and Paris.

"Exposure is what we are really focusing on for the winner. The type that isn't available in Jamaica at The Edna Manley College, where season one winner attended," said Linton-George, who is also a designer.

In addition, the winning designs will be available at several boutiques islandwide. The host/executive producer said the organisers decided to make this decision in order to give the winner maximum exposure and have their garments in high-end locations.

Other prizes include a six-page fashion editiorial in Ocean Style magazine and an opportunity to show a collection at London Fashion Week 2012.

This season will see competitors from the Caribbean -- Barbados, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Jamaica.

"We had a lot of applicants from the region this year. However, we had to only select 20 as funding was a problem," Linton added.

The TV series will be filmed on locations in Kingston and each hourlong segment will consist of four segments and will last for 13 weeks.

Among the numerous guest judges, season two's chief judges will be Jamaican fashion designer Carlton Brown and the Jamaica Observer Lifestyle Editor Novia McDonald-Whyte.

— Simone Morgan