Jamaican models poised to sizzle at New York Fashion Week
It’s that time of year again – when international designers unveil their fall 2006 womenswear collections at New York Fashion Week. New York Fashion Week is the first of an international series of events held in the most fashionable cities in the world, and Jamaica will be well-represented by models from our two major agencies, Saint International and Pulse.
The week-long event, put on courtesy of &th on Sixth, the fashion week production leg of IMG fashion, an apparel industry division of international sports and lifestyle event and management conglomerate IMG Worldwide, Inc begins on February 3.
The New York leg is the first of the four major stops in the international womenswear collection calendar, as editors, buyers and journalists leave the end of the New York show season for collections in London, Paris and then Milan, eagerly assessing what women will want to wear and buy later on this year.
In New York designers from internationally recognized mega-brands such as Lacoste, Kenneth Cole and Calvin Klein show alongside smaller but powerful brands such as up and coming luxury knitwear firm Iisli and funky teen and young socialite favourite Heatherette.
CEO of Pulse Investments Ltd Kingsley Cooper told all woman that while its still early to say which of their girls are already booked, top model Jaunel McKenzie is still in demand being a runway veteran, and while she may be more selective this year as to which runways she appears on she will most likely be a forerunner in the Kenneth Cole show as she is currently the face of their current campaign.
“As the girls get bigger in the industry, they tend to whittle down the number of shows they appear on as they work on exclusive contracts,” said Cooper.
In the Saint International camp, CEO Dewight Peters confidently asserted that preparations are underway in that agency’s camp as five of their top models – Margo Morrison and Sigail Currie, represented in New York by the Major Model agency; Arianne Collman, Noella Arnold and Sherene Lawrence – are now in New York getting ready for the collections there.
“This season is said to be a season of fresh faces and while I am aware that the fall collections are especially challenging for black girls, I am optimistic that these girls personalities, bodies and runway energy will win over the clients,” said Peters.
Morrison, based in London, will make her New York debut this season, having already walked the runways in past years in London and Paris, and done campaigns for Diesel Jeans and Aveda.
Currie is being marked as one of the top new faces in the business, as since her arrival in the Big Apple, the sassy 5ft 11″ eighteen-year-old has already done high-profile appearances for Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent, among other top houses.
The venerable Wilhelmina agency has put its energy behind Arianne Collman who will be featured as a part of their VH-1 special presentation to be aired later this year. Peters reports that although having been in New York in less than two weeks, clients such as Seventeen Magazine, Teen Vogue, TRACE magazine and others have already expressed interest in booking her.
Sherene Lawrence, who is currently featured in the British version of the popular television show Project Runway, and Noella Arnold are currently in the city with a packed schedule of ‘go-sees’, a series of assessments made by designers to choose the girls for thier shows.
Arnold, it is said, has already caught the eye of fashion big-wig David Sims (photographer for Lacoste, American and French Vogues and Balenciaga) who fell in love with her smooth chocolate complexion and size 2 frame and booked her for the prestigious Benetton campaign to be unveiled later this year.
This fashion season, in addition to coverage on websites such as Style.com, all woman and the Fashion Observer will also be on assignment in New York and Europe, watching our girls and putting a local perspective on the events as they go down.
