Petra Baptiste was born & bread in Dennery Valley, Saint Lucia, born on 11th June 1981 and left Saint Lucia where she went to Clendon Maison Secondary School in Dennery Village. At age 13 did her very first beauty pageant whilst at school when she was approached by the organisers of the Miss Mabouya Valley to take part and it snowballed to do the Miss Clendon Maison which she won at the age of 15/16 years old.
Around the same age of 15/16 her cousin was asked to do the very first Miss Yultide and referred Petra instead as she felt it was ‘right up her street’. This took place at the National Cultural Centre in Castries and Petra took part two consecutive years and she recalls Mr Gregory Lord, MBE making her very first evening wear which to this day she said that she has that same special feeling of how that dress made her feel. Although she did not place in the first show but the 2nd year she became 2nd runner up around the year 1997 (don’t remember the organiser’s name but remembered that the organiser’s daughter was Johnetta Barnes)…. oophs Gregory Lord, MBE just told me the name Madame Sequin was the organiser.
During her time in Saint Lucia, Petra loved sports and played netball for the Valley and Clendon Maison and basketball.
She migrated to England in 1999 and her desire to be a designer grew from there…
She studied make-up at Academy of Freelance Makeup in London. She promoted herself through social media giving her services for free in order to attract the right people and she did when she was asked to do hair designs for London Fashion week and got other opportunities as a make up artiste for editorial shoots, photo shoots, different pageants & fashion shows.
At the carnival scene for London Nottinghill Carnival in 2001 as a revellers with Bacchanalia Band, she started helping to build costumes while continuing to do her makeup business full time.
Her understanding of costume designs and band organisation business during her time with the bank from 2001 to 2016 when she left England and returned to Saint Lucia for 8 months. During that time she got the opportunity through her mum’s friend to live in Paris which she grabbed with both hands.
She had already made the decision to further her career in being a designer and felt that Paris would be a great place to actually make it happen.
She studied with TEFL on line to teach English as a foreign language in France and qualified 5 years ago.
Because of the way she dresses and makes her own clothes and put different pieces together, it attracted people who would ask her about her styles…
She went to Paris Fashion week in March last year with her friend and was in awe of the whole organisation and the designs and she told her friend jokingly that she can do her designs and put it on Paris Catwalk. Her friend agreed but however she was just joking at the time.
The same year October 2025 she went to another show called the World Fashion Expo and it sealed the deal with her wanting to showcase her designs with the organiser through an introduction of her friend.
End of November she got the opportunity to put her collection on the Paris runway and she is seeking only to validate it for herself and no one else. Her collection for display depicts everything that we love about the Caribbean & Saint Lucia culture. As a cultural promoter, she was insistent on making sure her culture was showcase, including the beautiful Caribbean ocean, our flowers – La Magaret & La Rose, Carnival and Saint Lucian macrame.
The Paris Fashion Week presentation at Les Salons Hoche marks Baptiste’s first appearance on this scale, introducing Kai Baptiste to an international audience while affirming the Caribbean’s place within contemporary fashion discourse.