The Africans are coming. That is the sentiment expressed by chairman of Pulse, Kingsley Cooper, as he looks to this year’s Caribbean Fashionweek (CFW), set for June 13-16 in Kingston.

In keeping with the recently announced global initiative by Pulse to merge fashion industries of the Caribbean and Africa into a product for major markets in Europe and North America, designers from Africa will be special guests at CFW.

“The philosophy is very simple. We are bringing together all these entities from both regions to create this super product. CFW is the fulcrum on which all of this will turn. Therefore, this year’s staging is critical to the future of the partnership. Some of the top names in African fashion, primarily out of Nigeria, will be coming for CFW and will showcase their collections alongside the best of our Caribbean designers,” Cooper explained.

Among the African designers confirmed are Agatha Moreno, Mai Taifo, Ilare and Lanre da Silva. In November, Africa will return the favour, hosting a group of Caribbean Fashionweek designers in Lagos, Nigeria, for another fashion collaboration at the annual Style by Zenith event.

“It is really a best of and so this year we will be limiting it to some of the region’s top work. So we will have regional standard-bearers such as Claudia Pegus, Robert Young of The Cloth, Meiling, Heather Jones is back with, so is Jamaican Bill Edwards, he also returns to CFW. This is very important. No longer will you have the long list of designers showcasing their work. We have narrowed it down to a very specific group. And it’s the same thing for the Africans. There will be no more than about 10 designers showing collections each night,” Cooper added.

This new venture somewhat distorts original plans by Pulse to stage Resort Fashionweek, a reworked concept for CFW which was not held last year.

“We have had to shift focus in some respects. Last year, we announced the CFW would look at resort wear for 2019. The global initiative has shifted that somewhat. However, a number of our Caribbean designers will still showcase their resort line. We have to look beyond our beaches and find the ways to support the tourism product here in the region. This is part of that broader principle,” Cooper noted.

Caribbean Fashionweek will be the first event to incorporate Pulse’s partners from Africa. They include Fashion One, the Pan-African TV and Zenith, Nigeria’s largest bank.

The Nigerian High Commission in Jamaica is also supporting CFW’s African initiative.

Pulse’s new and established faces will showcase their collections. They include Alicia Burke, Jeneil Williams, Miqueal Symone Williams, Oraine Barrett, Zoe Griffith, Shalisha Stewart, Kamaria Powell and Daniella Davis.