When most people in the Caribbean think about fashion as a potential career, the only job titles they tend to associate it with are seamstress, fashion designer or model. This is a clear sign that there is very poor career guidance and mentorship available to help young people make the best choices and to fit their skills appropriately to the industry. This is probably why the industry is extremely 
stagnated; it is supported by a weak inappropriate skill mix. To put the skills gap into perspective, let me use my place within the industry as an example. Last year I visited Trinidad to review the designer thesis show for students at the Caribbean Academy of Fashion and Design (CAFD). It is now a year later and guess what? For this year’s show—I was unavoidably absent—not a single analytical review has managed to surface.
This revelation is not my plea for praise but more a wakeup call about the sad reality of the place where we want to create an industry.
