Krista Henry, Staff Reporter
Left: Designer Yolande Bennett. - JUNIOR DOWIE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER.
Right: A model wears a design from Yolande Bennett's collection at Saint International's Digicel Fashion Block held in Montego Bay on the Hip Strip, recently. - CLAUDINE HOUSEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
THE JAMAICAN runway is a stage full of flair and colour. While most persons are familiar with the faces of the models, behind the scenes, it is the designers who are the creative engines.
Yolande Bennett, who will showcase her line at Saint International's Style week Jamaica this weekend, is one of the names to look for this season. Bennett, describes her line as something "for that person who loves to look sexy the sophisticated woman." "I am known for sexy cuts, in terms of splits, that are a little extra, but never too outrageous where it looks cheap," she says.
EDUCATION
Yolande attended the University of Technology where she did clothing and textile; after her stint there, she started her own business. She began working with Saint two years ago and since then has done all their major shows.
According to Bennett, Saint CEO Deiwight Peters "fell in love with my work, in terms of finishing. In this business you need to appeal internationally and not just locally. How the clothes are presented, the final finish is thus very important. After that he decided to put me on their 2005 Avant Garde show'."
She credits Saint with giving her exposure through which she hopes to launch herself centre-stage on the international market.
FASHION JOURNEY
This rising fashionista is taking it one day at a time. "I haven't really started exporting yet. I've done work overseas though. Locally, there is a lot of support. I cater to females from every walk of life, the churchgoer, party type, office person, people who just want to be casual and many more."Currently, she is working from home, in the process of getting a location for a store, and depending on the word of the quality of her work to get around to prospective buyers.
She describes her fashion journey as having its "ups and downs, a lot more can be done. One of the main concerns with Jamaican designers is to get the capital to move forward. People are looking for designers who are willing to do work in bulk, most do things to order, that are custom made. What is needed is the setting up of factory-like outlets." Despite this, she still describes the business as a lot of work but profitable nonetheless.
Yolande is enthusiastic about the future. She wants the Jamaican public to "expect more work from me, as I keep on trying to do my best, letting the public know who I am. Jamaica is getting there, at first there wasn't much focus on designers as now, with more support we can get the word out there".
