The multifaceted…Ronella Woseley

Nineteen-year-old Ronella Woseley could simply be described as an artistic individual who is extremely talented in the different forms of art.

A model in a Ronella Woseley design
A model in a Ronella Woseley design

While she sees herself as “a typical teenager”, it is not every teenager who excels in dancing, designing and sketching. But Ronella, not one to boast, modestly says that she is “just talented”.

Winner of the designer portfolio segment at the recent Guyana Fashion Weekend (GFW) the very petite Ronella recently sat down with The Scene to reveal what she is all about and where she sees herself in another few years.

Surprisingly, even though she cannot decide whether designing or dancing is the love of her life — she prefers to say she loves them both — Ronella does not see herself as a fashion designer in years to come or a professional dancer; her dream is to become a doctor.

“It may sound strange but I have always dreamt of being a doctor and I hope to go overseas next year and study medicine,” she told The Scene.

But until then she will continue creating those tantalising and exotic designs that make her models look like a million dollars and grooving as a dancer with the Classique Dance Company.

She recalls that from a very young age she realised she had a passion for dancing – she started

Ronella Woseley
Ronella Woseley

dancing at age four — and later it was the sketching which eventually saw her moving on to designing.

“It was a hidden talent,” she says about designing but adds that her wish to always look different saw her “titivating” with her clothing and trying to alter the style before leaving the house. And with her love for accessories persons were always commenting on her outfits — her mother was never too keen on the accessories — but people were none of the wiser as they did not know that she was responsible for her outfits.

Her first real outfit was a brown and gold short number she wore to her prom, which was sewn by her grandmother and she will never forget the reactions it generated.

“Now I hate going out and seeing about three other young ladies in the same outfit,” she says adding that it is one of the reasons she is always sketching.

She applied to be part of the GFW and while she waited a while before she received the call that informed her she was part of the event, when it did come she felt “pretty much satisfied.” She immediately got herself together and met head of the GFW Sonia Noel and the rest of her cast and got to work on presenting what later was judged to be the best in the designer portfolio segment. Thirteen of the 17 pieces she created were for the final night, all of which were under the ‘Prestige’ collection which started with “earth tone colours and ended with natural colours such as blue…

“Designing is not easy, but I got a lot of support from my parents [Pastor Andrew Woseley and Rhonda Woseley].”

In her collection for the final night she included swimsuits for men and women, a couture piece – which received a lot of comments – casual wear and evening gowns.

Winners row: From left top Guyana Model Search stylist Dorian D’Olivera, designer Ronella Woseley and top models Yolanda Kerr and Jermaine Victor
Winners row: From left top Guyana Model Search stylist Dorian D’Olivera, designer Ronella Woseley and top models Yolanda Kerr and Jermaine Victor

When she was finally announced the winner it was like all the hard work paid off and while she was confident she could have won “after all everyone wants  to win” some of her competitors were really good and could have easily been adjudged the best.

“When I heard my name announced as the winner I was shocked but I did not do anything really… I did not jump or anything because, not to be boasting, but I am accustomed to winning. I have won dance competitions for Mashramni and others…” she says.

“I was pretty cool about it and I just soaked in the moment and accepted it graciously.”

Since copping the top prize she has done a few charity shows and recently she along with others including Sonia Noel journeyed to China where they were part of a fashion and cloth fair. They had a booth there and while unfortunately nothing was sold the booth generated a lot of attention with people asking numerous questions.

“I learnt a lot from that experience and I know that Guyana’s designers have a very long way to go in designing…”

Ronella Woseley
Ms. Woseley

Ronella wants to make a mark in the designing world and one way she plans to do this is to host a fashion extravaganza in collaboration with two other persons who were part of the GFW– one of whom won the stylist segment.  The show tentatively themed ‘Radar’ will hopefully become a reality shortly and Ronella already has the themes for her collections and is working feverishly to put the pieces together.

There will be a ‘Punk’ collection of unisex black and white pieces and a swimwear collection titled ‘Sugar Mama.’

Turning to her other passion, eyes shining brightly, Ronella speaks about how dancing is her “raw” talent.

“Nobody taught me I could remember just starting to dance and I just knew how to point and flex,” she comments. From the age of four she was always called upon to perform a dance here and there and she spent three years with the National School of Dance from age 11; the last three years she has been with Classique.

“I am always dancing. It is just me. I also do a little singing and acting because with dancing you have to do a little of both; singing and acting are just part of it.”

Her parents are divided on which of her talents they should really support as while her father and grandmother have always been behind her designing her mother seems to prefer her dancing.

“My mother has always been with me in dancing; always there with me and my father and grandmother they push my designing.

“So you see there is a battle going on…” she says with a small laugh.

For her there is no battle “…because I can’t throw away any of them, I love dancing and designing they are both my love.”

And if she can be a doctor and still do a little dancing and designer she would definitely grab the opportunity but she would not be swayed from her dream to one day become a medical doctor.

“It has always been my childhood dream to become a doctor,” she says.

And while some may feel that as a pastor’s daughter she should not be doing any – dancing and designing both of which sometimes involve revealing outfits – she is just happy that her father, who owns his own church, just allows her to be herself. (samantha_alleyne2000@yahoo.com)