Fashion Festival will consist of two major components, namely St Maarten Fashion Week which will be held from July 5 to July 9 (at a venue to be announced), and The Miss Model International Contest which will be held at Festival Village on Saturday, July 10, starting at 8:00pm.
The "Miss Model International"™ pageant was introduced in 1990 on St Maarten in order to foster and facilitate valuable interaction among world youths to promote a better understanding of the different cultures and way of life in different parts of the world.
Over the years, this contest has been held between St Martin and Martinique. It is not a beauty contest, but a modelling contest involving some of the upcoming and most outstanding models who will be able to use it as a platform or passport to new and exciting opportunities.
Some of our past participants include Lara Dutta of India, who won Miss Universe 2000 in Cyprus and Miss Katarina Stocesova, of the Czech Republic who won Queens of the World 1998 in Bonn (Germany).The contest has been featured on many television programmes in the Caribbean, North and South America, Europe (France 3, Outremer) and Asia.
We are expecting more than fifty models to participate in "Miss Model International"™ each representing their country of origin.
We also expect the fashion component to cater to more than thirty (30) local, regional and international designers and models (Including from Asia, Africa, Europe, The Americas and the Caribbean). The Designers will exhibit their clothing through fashion shows, over a number of days. This will culminate in a final event, which has been dubbed the 'Fashion Extravaganza'.
This event will feature the creations of top designers participating at the Fashion Week. Awards – including "THE SOULIGA FASHION AWARD" - will be presented to the most outstanding designer(s), and the best model(s).
At the Fashion Festival, other players from the fashion sector – including stores, boutiques, and clothing distributors and agents - will have prominent roles. The rational underpinning this idea is to create a major marketplace, where buyers and sellers can meet, and interact and conclude business deals.
Celebrities and media houses from The United States, South America, Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and Asia have shown interest in the Fashion Festival. Moreover, a two-hour television programme will be produced and broadcast on CaribVision and RFO Satellite. This programme will include all of the activities of the Fashion Festival during the six-day period.
This event will be produced, directed and choreographed by world renowned fashion guru, Travis Winkey, who is an icon in the fashion industry. He has choreographed a number of events over the years, including a luncheon for Donald Trumps' Miss USA Pageant and the Congressional Black Caucus. He has also worked throughout the world directing and producing Fashion events.
The St. Martin Fashion festival is an eye opening event. It is expected that this event will serve as an engine for the development of the creative sector, which will ultimately contribute to the further diversification of the local economy.
It is also expected that as a result of the festival, St. Maarten/St. Martin, will be able to better leverage itself, not only as a destination where sea, sun and sand reign supreme, but also as a fashion capital and the centre of commerce for the entire Caribbean region.
In summary, these are some of the benefits that will result from Fashion Week:
• Niche event for the island, which can be used as a marketing tool;
• This will help to create parallel commercial activity;
• This will help to provide greater impetus to the creative sector;
• This will help establish St Maarten as a major Fashion Capital;
• This is not only a fashion showcase event, but rather, this is in the mode of a trade event, which culminates with a fashion showcase. In the medium term, this event will bring together both buyers and sellers, who are involved in the fashion industry.
• Through this event, it is expected that synergies will be created with other sectors, such as tourism; apparel; commerce etc; etc.
One of the by-products of this event is the creation of an "International Market Place" where designers, buyers, stores, and boutique owners can meet and interact, with hopes of establishing and nurturing business contacts throughout this global village. We've invited buyers and sellers from across the globe, in an attempt to create a much more amicable and reciprocal atmosphere for those patrons of the fashion industry.
The Miss Model International will be broadcast via CMC Television Network, RFO Tv
France Antilles News Papers, Amina Magazine, Creola Magazine, and host of international, and regional Press will be covering this event.
