Sonia Noel is a bit nervous as Guyana Fashion Weekend turns three today, but the pressure is off as she believes “we are getting better.”
The country’s premier fashion weekend is Sonia’s ‘baby,’ yet she inches away year after year from individual recognition saying earlier this week that the show has evolved into much more.
“Talent here has grown so much I am overwhelmed, and fashion weekend would be irrelevant if I couldn’t find designers who are committed and are so full of ideas that they need this stage,” Sonia said.
She has shifted the focus of fashion weekend this year, stressing tourism as an integral part of the show’s development.
Artistic Director of Fashion Weekend, Richard Younge explains this year’s concept as being more heavily focused on “what Guyana has to offer the rest of the world.” He said that the event is distinctly Guyanese, adding that he does not have to spell it out because the shows will attest to this and much more.”
Richard, a Trinidadian said that Guyana’s fashion is unique because of its varying influences.
“The fashion here has an Amerindian influence, Indo-strains and an African presence that is simply not out there anywhere in the region. This is what fashion weekend is hoping to cultivate and promote and to sell it for what it is, truly unique.”
Richard explained that the thirty designers in the line-up this year understand the responsibility that comes with “being local.” He emphasized the importance of having 
designers here produce work with a different appeal.
Richard gushed that he is in love with the raw materials available in Guyana that are accessible to designers. He noted that there are many young designers that have burst onto the scene who are “using these materials and creating magic.”
Fashion Weekend has been restored to is original two nights after coming off a somewhat lacklustre three nights last year, and it has returned to its original home – the Princess Buddy’s Hotel.
Richard and Sonia both noted that GFW has returned to its home and that it is likely to remain there. They lauded the support of the management at the hotel saying that “it’s not every day a hotel gives this much of itself.”
As for what is in store over the next two days, Richard and Sonia would rather people turn out and witness it as it unfolds. However, they revealed that there are a few must-see collections. Sonia would not include hers in the group though Richard insists that “you must see what Sonia has done this year.”
Andrew Harris who is currently in Barbados is among the most talked about designers, along with the Telford Sisters and Ronella Woseley, the new name on the scene. There are also Olympia Small-Sonaram and Rhonda Dunbar, who are not newcomers to Fashion Weekend.
Richard disclosed that a new designer who incorporates body paint into his work is among those that people are eager to see.
“There is so much happening this year that people are simply going to be blown away, and while we don’t always want to sell that wow factor, it is there and there is no denying it,” Sonia said. (ianaseales@yahoo.com)
