2024 Collection 'Style Out Loud' by Fashion Designer Cicely Harewood Unveiled at Daphne Joseph Hackett Theatre

Fashion designer Cicely Harewood has unveiled her 2024 collection, Style Out Loud, a statement of recovery from a four-year hiatus.

The line, launched at Daphne Joseph Hackett Theatre on Sunday evening, was “très avant-garde”, said Harewood of her fashion-forward approach to design and commitment to creating trendy pieces.

Encouraged by a loyal clientele, Harewood staged her first fashion show in 2020, only to be upstaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. The C H Needlework owner, who occupied one of the artisan spaces at the Jewish Synagogue in Bridgetown, geared up to showcase her designs in this second edition.

Before the models hit the catwalk, lawyer and customer Ona Harewood, wearing one of her custom-made Afrocentric pieces, said: “The designs are a nod to modern Barbados, yet reflect the designer’s own lifelong influences. Her use of fabrics, integration of colours and painstaking attention to detail are the tricks of the trade honed from childhood.

“The collection that you will see tonight is a statement, it speaks to the designer’s continued contribution to the fashion industry and wider cultural stylings of Barbados.”

The collection was divided into five sections. Strictly Business highlighted tailored designs ideal for professional settings, while Fun and Flirty showcased elegantly casual pieces. Trendsetters featured ensembles perfect for the party scene, and the swimwear line, Sand Washed, offered a range of styles appealing to both the daring and the more conservative. The final segment showcased her formal wear designs. Throughout the evening, emcee Lisa Brome hinted at a surprise, revealed as a bride and groom ensemble taking to the catwalk aisle.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for Culture, Senator Dr Shantal Munro-Knight applauded the show that “takes passion, and it takes boldness to be able to put yourself out there for all of Barbados to be able to see”.

Acknowledging the importance of the creative industry she added: “In that post-COVID new reality, the orange economy is in a complex place . . . in which it was one of the sectors most impacted but also as well as one of the sectors that demonstrated the greatest resilience. Resilience to be able to adapt to the circumstance.

“The orange economy can become a competitive force because it can provide a space for innovation that other sectors perhaps cannot.”

The minister highlighted the collaboration between the Division of Culture and the National Cultural Foundation to provide support. Referring to the provision for a million-dollar grant in the Budget to be utilised by the National Cultural Foundation and Export Barbados, she said: “We are seeking to not only to empower local designers to design for Barbados but to design to export and we have already done that. We took a group of young designers to Accra Ghana.”

Entertainment was provided by the Friendship Community Dance Group, under the artistic direction of Sharon Grant, with both the junior and senior troupes making appearances. Singers Sonjina Kirton and Mr J capped a night of style with their evocative selections. (STT)