Some of the region’s leading designers headlined at a charity benefit fashion showcase, Style Mission 2019, in Georgetown, Guyana. Trinidadian-born master designer, Robert Young for The Cloth and Guyanese style maven Sonia Noel featured their stunning 2019/2020 collections at the fabulous event last weekend.

The experience was executed under the creative direction of Richard Young – touted as the Caribbean’s fashion guru – and produced by the Sonia Noel Foundation for Creative Arts and the Pegasus Hotel Guyana. Proceeds of the fashion-forward affair will go towards the victims of Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas.

The altruistic fashion event featured eight fashion houses, including four Guyanese designers, two Guyanese boutiques, an exclusive Ghanaian textile retailer and Caribbean fashion house The Cloth.

The trendy runway occasion brought out a packed house of Guyanese fashionistas, socialites and philanthropic-minded patrons, all wishing to contribute to the cause and be part of the talk-of-the-town affair happening at the Grand Savannah Suite at the Pegasus Hotel Guyana.

One feature of the Style Mission Guyana experience was a hallmark auction set at the midpoint of all of the collections. The auction – a Sonia Noel creation; a Vanda Alicock shirt from its men’s collection and an avant-garde pair of sunglasses by Rare Finz generated a buzz of excitement in the audience during the evening’s proceedings.

In addition, local guest performers Jo-Ann Forde and Kenny Hercules were also well-received among the parade of fashions, with their beautiful vocal renditions of a medley of classic tunes.

In an interview with BUZZ, Sonia Noel reiterated the significance of Caribbean integration of the Arts and the urgent need to contribute to fellow Caribbean “brothers and sisters in dire straits”, as a result of the recent spate of natural disasters.

“We must also recognize the consistent work of professionals like Richard Young, whose steadfast attention to celebrating and promoting Caribbean fashion must not go unnoticed,” she explained. Young, a proclaimed Caribbean fashion evangelist, received a lusty round of applause from the Style Mission Guyana audience for his tireless work in the fashion industry over the last 30 years.

He will also work on “Hot Couture” fashion charity benefit in St. Lucia alongside producer Mae Wayne in December, as part of the Make it Happen Foundation’s Officers’ Ball on that island.

After the Style Mission Guyana runway showcase, patrons were able to buy garments at the mixer and pop-up shop, styled and hosted in the foyer at the Pegasus Guyana.

. Tenille Clarke is an avid wanderlust, Carnivalist and cultural enthusiast who pens about her ongoing love affair with travel, culture and entertainment through a Caribbean lens. She is the Principal Publicist of Chambers Media Solutions and Managing Director of Industry 360@tenilleclarke1 on Instagram/Twitter.