Guyanese designer Roger Gary reigned supreme at Caribbean Fashionweek (CFW) Friday night with a collection inspired by some of pop music’s current female singers who many misguidedly label divas.

Sexy form-fitting glitter denim and vinyl, as well as pink denim and vinyl outfits lit up the catwalk which featured a ‘rock diva’ who rocked the audience with guitar in hand.

Pink gave way to green and turquoise uber minis and blue and orange yellow jersey mini dress. The ‘divas’ wore green minis and white t-shirts, yellow crepe skirts and green tube tops to pulsating music and flashing disco lights.

Earlier, at the official opening inside the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel’s Brasserie, Development Minister Paul Robertson congratulated Pulse on its vision and “the tremendous growth of this event”.

Robertson, in his guest address to the large contingent of regional designers, spoke to “the importance of the Caribbean being as competitive as possible, utilising all the facilities available to ensure competitiveness and to continue looking at non-traditional areas of focus”.

The Barbados Investment and Development Corporation’s (BIDC’s) Henderson Clarke, who heads a delegation of 10 designers and five models, up from last year’s six, said the event was excellent for the BIDC’s image and described it as the premier show of this sort in the Caribbean.

“.in Barbados, we see it as a way of revitalising the quality of the design industry,” Clarke said. “The increase in designers is part of our strategic planning. We, in fact, allotted some US$36,000 for this event.”

Although the first fashion show got off to a late start, exciting designs by The Cloth, Cargo, Squintwear, Loren Tulloch, Mushroom, Francoise Jenaer and Sas Urban Couture had the audience easily forgetting the delay.

The Cloth, like the dawn, rose slowly, allowing the audience to stretch to a dramatic chant. Designer Robert Young draped his muses in white cottons and they flowed effortlessly down the runway allowing a peek at the intricate details: the patchwork, the slow infusion of colour, the gentle bow holding it all together. The men were strong and elegant in caftans or detailed shirts. Colour was added, sometimes subtly, other times with much more fervour. The show climaxed in a blaze of brilliant sunlight.

Cargo presented its take on the Metrosexual male, daring him to wear his trunks as form-fitting as possible. Not much was left to the imagination. There were, however, the most elegant looking white shirts barely skimming the top of the shorts.

Suriname taunted daybreak with exquisite jewellery, while Loren Tulloch dragged into the heat of the midday sun with a tribute to Jamaica’s music using lots of sheer, minis, 60s flared trousers, polka dots and shine.

Mushroom took the audience to the beach, ostensibly to profile in a range of mostly hot pink sexy hipster swimwear. The beach scene embraced Australia which added leather to its take on Hollywood 50s and 60s glamour, all the while extending a welcoming arm to the MTV set dressed for every occasion by Sas Urban Couture. The designer slapped onlookers like a gush of cool breeze from the Atlantic side of the region with fun, sassy windbreakers, playful pantaloons, cool t-shirts, mesh vests and halters.

On the second show, Zadd & Eastman from Trinidad and Tobago, presenting for the second time at CFW, opened strong with exquisite hand-painted dresses and skirts. A sensuous interpretation of the female form gave her bustiers, flared tiered skirts and sexy shorts. There were green and white jewelled appliqued gowns, as well as the perfect magenta. Each piece sat perfectly on the female bodies and yet left lots of room for fluidity.

Dawn Bachus, also from Trinidad, and presenting for the first time, gave the audience clothes “for the woman who is spiritual as well as beautiful”.

The two seemed compatible as she presented both tie-dye and hand-painted garments. Cotton short sets, dresses with gold embroidered details or hand-sprayed flowers.

There was a feast of colour presented for those perfect summer afternoon cheese-cloth dresses with parasols washed in the same colour with satin borders: blue, yellow, black, white, red and Bailey’s cream.

Wayne Smith presented his Island Spice collection to a very appreciative audience. His signature macrame was extremely visible, as was burlap, but he gave more possibilities by packaging his models nicely in dusty gold evening wear, creating smaller macrame halters or adding as details to dresses.