Features
Andrew Gioannetti
While TT and Caribbean fashion are brimming with imagination, exploring the digital space has become increasingly necessary for the region’s talent to get a piece of the US’s trillion-dollar and growing sector.
Metaverse – a virtual world for shopping, gaming, work, socializing and other everyday activities – will feature prominently at this year’s Port of Spain Fashion Week (POSFW), organizers say, because of the commercial opportunities it offers stylists.
The fourth annual installment – POSFW with 2022 at URL – was launched on Wednesday, at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, one of its main sponsors and the main venue for its events.
Crystal Cunningham, managing director of POSFW, said designers and other interested parties have the opportunity to not only showcase their creations, but also benefit from workshops and other activities designed to help them market their brands. They will be guided through the metaverse experience with the help of experts.
“It’s all about creating new market access for our Caribbean fashion designers and artisans, so what the metaverse experience will do is allow our designers to tap into previously unexplored markets, so to speak. internationally and regionally.
One of the first items on the POSFW agenda was a metaverse workshop on Thursday, organized in partnership with the Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund (CIIF) of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and Caribbean Technology Consultancy Services ( CTCS).
About 20 medium, small and micro enterprises in the industry were guided in the creation and marketing of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and to transition their fashion brand to a digital platform.
“The growing number of major international fashion brands entering the ‘fashionverse’ platform, the growing popularity of virtual tokens and NFTs in games like Roblux, and the growing importance of AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality ) are some of the key factors driving market growth,” Cunningham said.
“Of course, covid19 (presented) a huge challenge, not only for fashion, but for every sector and the transition to the internet in the digital landscape is where the new business opportunities are… We felt the need to take fashion in that direction .”
Cunningham referred to the ever-growing US fashion market, which rallied through the Covid19 pandemic in far better shape than most other industries.
“We hope to be able to capitalize on that because, as you know, it’s been a challenge for our Caribbean brands and designers to really make an international mark.
“The entire industry, from mid-tier brands to established fashion houses across the globe, have been and are still reassessing the way clothing is marketed, displayed and sold given the impact of the Covid19 pandemic.
Using blockchain technology, POSFW fashion will feature 20 designers from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Haiti and members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, she said, in a metaverse fashion experience scheduled for December 27.
In addition, POSFW 2022 will feature the POSFW Model Search Face and a fashion party on November 18 and two fashion shows: Next in Fashion and a Resort Showcase, both on November 19.
Featured designers include Naballah Chi, Stephen Bassano, Yelena Jan, Vivre from Chelsea, Aaron Moneer, Photosynthesis Designs and Cornelius Hector, the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s (UTT) top fashion student this year.
Popular brands at the show include, Bikini Cove, Okera Designs, Mark Eastman and Richard Noel.
Besides CDB and CIIF, POSFW sponsors include Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, Peardrax, Shine Distributors, Carefree, Stayfree, Playtex Sport, Schick, Revlon, Aperol Spritz, Courts Optical, KFC, Media 21, 10 Perimri and Caribbean Art Gallery .
