Silvera Castro, 'Babsy' Grange (centre) and Yolande Rattray Wright are in good spirits. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor

And so it, is my dears, that the innovative Kingsley Cooper of Pulse, in his quest to find and promote Jamaican and Caribbean fashion and talent to the fore of the international scene, has silenced his detractors yet again by managing to stage another fabulous Caribbean Fashionweek (CFW).

And just so you know, in the natural order of things, an entrepreneur of the ilk of Kingsley Cooper's mettle, who fashioned an industry that has not only gained the attention of the world, but has consistently provided gainful employment, as well as international recognition to Jamaica through the success of the many models who have broken on to the international stage by dint of his commitment and diligence, should have not only been lauded by our guardians of culture and/or private sector entities, but held up as an example of what success there is to be achieved when hard work and dedication are applied to one's chosen endeavour.

Caribbean talent pool

And so it was that with the success Jamaican models and fashion have been experiencing on the international scene, it was only natural that the pioneering Cooper set his sights on harnessing of the Caribbean talent pool, with a view to providing it with the same access to the international market that Jamaica has been enjoying under his guidance. And so it was - CFW was born.

My daahlings, the inaugural staging of Caribbean Fashionweek was in 2001. Since then, the annual line-up of the Caribbean's foremost designers and modelling talent has not only attracted the attention of the international fashion media, critics and fashionistas, it has also expanded its reach to include designers and models from the diaspora.

This year, the shows and attendant parties, cocktails and receptions were literally conducted between the raindrops. My daahlings, while it rained cats and dogs outside the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) in the National Stadium complex, it was reigning fabulous fashion!

Dovecakes, the weekend belonged to fabulous models and some eye-catching, breathtaking creations! Oh my word, talk about coming of age! Well if ever there was an event that has come of age, it is unquestionably the Cable & Wireless-sponsored, Pulse-produced and led event.

Sweet-things, we are talking some fabulous lassies and buff lads strutting their stuff and working the runway and audience to cat-calling and shrieking frenzy! The designs they were showcasing were the stuff of fabulous fantasy brought to fantastic life and made that much more accessible by the fact the models were stars with whom the audience identified, and with whose careers they were intimately familiar.

Party atmosphere

And with famed dub poet, musicologist and radio personality Mutabaruka providing the music to accompany the fab creations on stage proving so snappy and hip, the party atmosphere in the NISC, was complete and so it was, and then some!

And then, to cap it all, Paula and Jonathan Surtees, of the Strawberry Hill Boutique Hotel and Spa, hosted a season-ending, smasheroni on Monday night, that, precious angels, was exactly what the doctor ordered, and pumpkins how!

Doves, we are talking one fashionable fiesta here, the kind of a fab-fest of which any South Beach hot spot would simply die to host, and was soooo hot, darling-dears, it made the normally chilly climes associated with the mountainous range of the Blue Mountains on which the fab resort sits, warm to the heat of the partying notables!Luvs, this one here was a party in name and nature! The guests dropping it like it was hot (and it was), the music the kind of sounds to which people dance out of their egos and right into their bodies, and honeychiles, did they! Oh my word, they did and then some! Talk about a boogie-wonderland! Well precious angels, this was all that and more than just a tups in fabdom, and so said all!

Notables

Among the notables spotted at the National Indoor Sports Centre the ultimate CFW after-party shindig were: Pulse principals Kingsley Cooper and companion Romae Gordon; Hilary Phillips; Minister Phillip Paulwell; Opposition MP Mike Henry and wife Dawn Campbell Henry; MP 'Babsy' Grange; Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley; American Ambassador HE Brenda LaGrange Johnson; HE Jesús Silva, the Spanish Ambassador to Jamaica; Deputy British High Commissioner Nick Nicolopulo and wife Kareen Nicolopulo; C&W President Rodney Davis and his fashionable wide Nadja Davis; Stephane Lecuyer; Dr. Carolyn Cooper and her sibling the charming Donnette Cooper, in from Washington; Richard Vassell; Sophia MaxBrown; Betty Delfosse-Ingleton; Janet Farrow and Brent Ciurlino.

Seen too were: Angela Thame; Les Campbell; the lovely Shana Sibblies; Brian Sang; Jackie Tyson; Kerry from Salon Inovation; the fabulous Jade Lee and her fabulous daughter; head of development for the E.U. Felice Zaccheo; Lois Sherwood; Frank and Ann Ventura; Clelia Barretto de Hunter; DCP Mark Shields and his lovely companion Keneea Linton; former head of NCB Jeff Cobbham; Rupert Bent and his fabulous wife Cindy Breakspeare; Peter and Susan Couch, and their fabulous daughter Sarah Couch; Gordon and Janet Robinson and their fabulous daughter, modeling sensation Nell Robinson; Lloyd and Sonia Tomlinson; Tanya Hoshue; Carlyle and Diane Hudson; Clifton 'Specialist' Dillon; Winston Barrett; Sydoney Massop; Howard McIntosh; Barbara Blake-Hanna and son Makonnen Hanna; Dr. and Mrs. David McBean; Pat and Suzette Tomlinson; the charming Beverly East; Kenneth Shaw; the lovely Marsha Wilson; William Lampert and wife Anna Kaiser; Adrian St. Louis; reigning Miss Jamaica Universe, Zahra Redwood.

The former Miss Jamaica Universe, the lovely Sanya Hughes; Jaunel McKenzie; Carla Campbell; Sunna Gottshalk; Nadine Willis; Nicole Grey; Jeneil Williams; Adrianna Bryan; Serchen Morris and companion; John Hunte, in from New York via Barbados; I-D Magazine personalities Alice Hawkins, Fung Chung Lai, and Samantha Willoughby; Smirnoff brand manager Safia Cooper; Reginald Maynor, director of International Luster Products.

Also seen were: International special markets manager Clifton Bolds and international marketing manager Elvis Ramclam; Michael Williams of McCluskey International; Kawinzi Muiu, Child Hunger analyst, World Food Programme; Matthew Mensah, CEO, Catwalk the World; Babafemi Amure, coordinator for Africa, Catwalk the World Programme; Oliver McIntosh of Sportsmax; Odessa Chambers; designers Gavin Douglas out of the U.K.; Robert Young of Trinidad; Catherine Balbogin of Barbados; Queen Esther of St. Lucia; Calvin Southwell of Antigua; Lubica of Jamaica and Minka, also of Jamaica; as well as fashion stylists: Joan Van Hees and Karen Younge out of New York.