( L - R ) Betty Delfosse-Ingleton, Valerie Juggan-Brown, Kingsley Cooper, Kathy Owen - Photo by Janet Silvera

Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor

Oh my sweet Lord, what a week to be fabulous! Precious angels, it most certainly does not get any better than this!

Well luvs, such was the case on Sunday of this week, when fashion arbiter and style king, Kingsley Cooper, notched up another birthday, but instead of popping the Champagne and partying up a storm, opted to spend the day in office with his staff putting the final touches to Caribbean Fashionweek (CFW). You know we are talking some serious commitment here!

And so it was my daahlings, that instead of the expected celebratory bash, the attorney-at-law, who opted to forego the practice of law to harness and market the natural talent of our young, demonstrated exactly why he is the Caribbean's leading fashion and style arbiter! Not to mention the most successful talent spotter and model manager, this side of the hemisphere!You know you have the winning formula when your initiative spawns a number of copycat businesses! And so it is with Kingsley Cooper and Pulse, and my word how!

Nothing compares

For all those attempting to copy and even upstage the real deal in some instances, there is nothing like and or comparable to CFW! Dears, this is more than a fashionable idea, whose time has come, it is the ultimate in showcasing and marketing of the region's designing and modelling talent - providing as it does, a gateway to the world.

And so it is sweet-things, that over this weekend and into the next, Kingston is the fashion capital of the world.

CFW got under way last night with a fashionable to-do at Pulse's Trafalgar Road headquarters, and will get even more fashionable in the days ahead.

And my daahlings, how!

Dovecakes, we are talking hot, models prepping some fabulously buff bods; head-turningly fab creations; fashion scribes and fashionistas from all over - all piling into Kingston for the Caribbean's premier fashion event. And bless my soul dear chiles, it's a profiler's dearest dream, as truly, what better place to hob-knob than with leggy supermodels, and Nubian Princes with the chiselled bodies that make them the hot numbers that they are.

And honeychiles, it all takes place at the National Indoor Sports Centre at the National Stadium complex.

The final night

One of the Caribbean's finest restaurants - Velisa's, previously housed on Devon Road and operated by the fashionable Betty Delfosse-Ingleton - closed its doors last Thursday, literally to tears, as patrons and friends of the establishment came out in droves to make a party of the final night!

Luvs, the word is, the fabulous place with its awesome menu, prepared by the talented haute gourmet Betty Delfosse-Ingleton, and described by Eddie Seaga as the finest fusion of Caribbean and Continental cuisine he has ever tasted, is to be relocated and to a far more fashionable and hospitable location. To facilitate this, as well as to fine-tune its cutting-edge offerings, Delfosse-Ingleton will be off on an Asiatic sabbatical for the next few months or so, catching up with the latest food trends and discoveries in the region!

My daahlings, you have never seen a more happy-sad occasion, as guests piled in for the evening to indulge their taste buds with a sampling of some of the fabulous dishes for which Velisa's gained international fame and recognition.

With the libations flowing and guests wiling the time away, there really was a sense of sadness that a restaurant as fabulous as this would be closing its doors, (albeit temporarily, we were assured). But my daahlings, that sadness was tempered by the memories of some of the finest dishes ever to have been created that graced the palates of those in attendance! And while most struggled to put on a brave face to the sadness, at least two guests greeted the news with streaming tears.

As we speak, the mere thought of no longer dropping in at Velisa's for the incredibly fabulous yam soufflé, is enough to cause one to choke up, as my dears, on the life of this here notebook, a finer dish has never been created!

Magical

Anyway my dears, there was something fabulously magical about the curtains coming down on Velisa's opening chapter on Devon Road, ripe as itwas with camaraderie, romance and the beautiful people.

Mutabaruka and his empress Amber, were out; also spotted was the lovely Janet Davidson, in from Florida for the occasion; Janet Silvera; Ben and Heather Frampton and their daughter Nardia Frampton; Dollis Campbell; Lloyd and Angella Greenwald; and the birthday girl, the lovely Dr. Nyamekye Richards and her party, out celebrating her birthday with Dr. Nathan Richards, Marlene Tomlinson, her beau Dr. Osei Clarke; friends Dr. Belinda Barrett; Dr. Anilka Rodney; Christopher Robinson; Anyika Vassell; Kai Morgan; Marcus Richards; Chalik Campbell and her sibling, Kaoija Richards - all having a fab time.

And speaking of birthdays - Champagne toasts and Beluga treats to Kathy Owen, who will be celebrating her birthday in Spain on the 13th; international financial consultant and philanthropist Mark Jones did his special thing on the 5th; designing grand dame Ivy Ralph was on Thursday; and today being June 8, the charmingly lovely Valerie Juggan-Brown, GM of the Guardsman Group of Companies, will be celebrating with clients, staff and executives, in an informal shindig.

Many happy returns, y'all.