A night in ‘Medina’
London-residents but true diehard fans of Jamaican culture, Andrew and Theresa Roberts welcomed a select gathering to ‘Medina’, a fashion showcase held recently at Sandals Royal Caribbean Private Island. The event featured British womenswear designer Natalie Christine and fellow Brit menswear designer designer Christopher Childs and our home-grown jewellers Duane and Teasea Bennett, the siblings behind Reve Jewellery. AW brings you these highlights.
(PHOTOS: ACEION CUNNINGHAM)
Natalie Christine
Natalie Christine, a knitwear and textiles graduate at Nottingham Trent University, in the United Kingdom debuted her first-ever collection titled Missionary Kid — which drew inspiration from her multi-cultural youth being the child of a constantly-in-transit missionary mum. Leggy models sauntered down the catwalk in streamlined and shaggy body-con knit dresses and separates, swathed in cool blues and neutrals, muddy earth tones and pops of technicolour. “I specialize in knitwear but I enjoy mixing media and experimenting with different textiles to create beautiful, quirky fabrics in an elegant way. All the fabrics that are in the show are made by myself and a small team of mine in London,” Christine shared with AW.
Christopher Childs
For 2014, The Christopher Childs man played dual surrogate for Charlie Chaplin and the iconic film Roots, as he swaggered out in charoal, navy and black, super 120s and 140s Italian wool thread suits — with notch and shawl-lapelled, high armholed, single breasted jackets and slim tapered, 2-inch cuffed trousers, complete with side adjuestered waistband and frog-mouth pockets. “He embodies class, individualism and power, the kind of man that takes the upmost pride in how he dresses. He dares to be different and possess an appreciation of quality and luxury,” the eponymous label’s namesake designer shared with AW, backstage.
Reve Jewellery
The established Devon House-based jewellery label — run by the brother and sister team of Duane and Teasea Bennett — chose this arena to debut their foray into headwear. These blue and green flushed African batik print pieces were a natural complement to the brand’s delicate silk print caftans, for its 2014 collection titled Gatilda. Then was Reve’s bread-and-butter core — the jewellery, which were rendered in in gorgeous Bronze Age type metallic pieces embellished with multi-coloured turquoise, sourced from around the globe.
