EDUCATION and development are as much an outcome of The HOT Couture component of Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival, as the exposition of trending style and top class entertainment. HOT Couture will contribute two master classes to the essential capacity building and knowledge transfer element of the Festival, moreso with moves afoot to formalize a fashion commission in Saint Lucia.
Romero Bryan and Saint Lucian born/ UK based MyriamBelasse, two top names in UK fashion, will share of their knowledge and experience on topics related to the business of fashion, through a number of training modules.
Belasse is a designer and owner of Atlanta Sewing & Patternmaking Services, LLC and a graduate of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. She ran her Belasse Collection showroom in the heart of the garment district for over five years. She has worked with high-end private label companies with brands like Donna Karen, Bebe, Saks Fifth Avenue and Calvin Klein. Belasse brings to the table decades of experience as a designer, patternmaker and industry consultant. She is an artist, a business woman, an educator, a philanthropist and a world traveler.
Romero Bryan, a Lecturer at the London College School of Fashion and Saint Martins School of Arts, will expose existing and entry level fashion design aspirants to such modules as Concept & Fabric Research, Market Research and PR & Marketing within his Creative Business Training workshop on Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Blue Coral Conference Room. Mr. Bryan will demonstrate, using case studies and examples from his very own portfolio. The aim is to map out the journey a designer takes when using a non-fashion object, to inform decisions when designing a final fashion garment or collection. As it relates to Market Research, participating designers will get market insights as well as an understanding of the why and how of research, and the methodologies for collating and analyzing information to inform their design decisions.
Romero Bryans PR & Marketing module helps participants to connect the dots between design decisions and catwalk collections. The appreciation of design in the context of demographics will provide participants a close up look at the trainer’s journey from once designing clothes for local girls in his London and Jamaican “ Dance Hall” community, to currently designing collections, such as are seen on the catwalks of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.
MyriamBelasse will present on areas relating to construction technique. Her workshop which takes place on May 6 2016 runs half-day from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. under the theme Design & Patternmaking 101. The workshop covers the basics such as how to bring the idea to life from a sketch to a sample, create a unique pattern with teaching points on design elements such as sizing, fabric and notion selection, grading and transforming the designer’s vision into a usable pattern ready for production e.g. techniques to sew a better sleeve etc. Both training workshops are Free. Interested persons can contact Cinnamon Productions at [email protected]