Bridgetown,
BARBADOS, October 17, 2019.
Earlier this year twenty (20) designers participated in the
Caribbean
Fashion Accelerator jointly funded by the Caribbean Export
Development Agency (Caribbean Export) in cooperation with the
European Union and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). Caribbean
Export provides support for the development of the regions cultural
and creative industries as part of the implementation of the Regional
Private Sector Development Programme funded by the 11th
EDF. The Bank’s funding is through its Cultural and Creative
Industries Innovation Fund (CIIF).

Led
by Sandra Carr, one of the pioneers of the Caribbean Academy of
Fashion and Design at the University of Trinidad and Tobago the
bootcamp workshop focused on refining the designer’s products for
the export market; identifying where best to place their products and
how to develop their brands. It also looked at leveraging social
media platforms and developing the right market strategy.

One
of the key take-aways from this workshop was the collaboration
between the designers to develop new pieces. The Caribbean Fashion
Accelerator pt2 has been developed in partnership with the National
Cultural Foundation (NCF) of Barbados, Invest SVG and Caribbean
Market Center and is focused on building upon these skills and
developing the designer’s product packaging. Over the period
October 14 – 24, 2019 sixteen (16) participating designers from
Barbados, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and
Trinidad and Tobago, including a number of whom would have
participated in the first edition, will get to learn first-hand from
Carr.

At
the opening of the workshop Ms Carr encouraged the designers to work
together and to be open to what they were about to learn.

“We
had the Caribbean Fashion Showroom at CARIFESTA XIV and the response
was remarkable. Within the booth, we had a collection of clothes
designed by the participants of the 1st
Accelerator and many people were interested in purchasing the
collections. This is a clear indication of what is possible when
designers collaborate and produce high quality work” shared Ms.
Carr.

The
Caribbean Market Center based in Newton, Barbados is the region’s
only fashion training centre designed to train globally recognised
CVQs and NVQs.

“The
fashion accelerator is an important initiative for Caribbean Export.
Ensuring that designers are skilled to develop collections that can
be exported is central to this initiative and under the guidance of
Ms. Carr and the support of the Caribbean Market Center” expressed
Allyson Francis, Services Specialist at Caribbean Export.

Caribbean
Export launched the Caribbean
Fashion Showroom, an online shop that promotes Caribbean
designers internationally and was the brain child of Rodney Powers –
fashion consultant for Caribbean Export and Director at the Caribbean
Market Center, “Caribbean Market Center is pleased to collaborate
with Caribbean Export and support the development of the region’s
fashion industry. The Caribbean Fashion Showroom provides a platform
for the new creations that are developed by the participants of the
accelerator programme and give an additional outlet for the export of
fashion,” informed Mr. Powers.

About
Caribbean Export

Caribbean
Export is a regional export development and trade and investment
promotion organisation of the Forum of Caribbean States (CARIFORUM)
currently executing the Regional Private Sector Programme (RPSDP)
funded by the European Union under the 11th
European Development Fund (EDF) Caribbean Export’s mission is to
increase the competitiveness of Caribbean countries by providing
quality export development and trade and investment promotion
services through effective programme execution and strategic
alliances.

More
information about Caribbean Export can be found at
www.carib-export.com.
Contact: JoEllen Laryea, PR and Communications, Caribbean Export
Development Agency, Tel: +1(246) 436-0578, Fax: +1(246) 436-9999,
Email: jlaryea@carib-export.com