The Press: THE TODAY NEWSPAPER - Canadians use St Maarten as launching pad and locals are chipping in

By Alex Holder (The Today Newspaper)

GREAT BAY—For some of the members of the Embellish Tour out of Toronto Canada, the trip to sunny St Maarten has great significances, because that was when they used the opportunity to showcase line of fashion.

Danielle Webley, a designer from Danu is just 22 years old and already she is designing clothes for women and men. Her collection of reversible dresses and vintage hats from the 1920’s and 30’s made a statement last Saturday during the second edition of the Caribbean World Beauty and Barber Trade Show.

“These are dresses that can be worn at high fashion events and what you have to realize is that every thing is coming back and this is my interpretation of the past and I am spicing it up with colors and feathers,” Webley said.

Webley said that its time for people in the present embrace what has happened in the past. “With regards to fashion, looking great and feeling great is a best thing you can do for yourself and by putting on a hat, one can feel great about themselves.”

According to Webley, while on photo shoots in Toronto, when the models wore hats, the beauty within came right out. She said that she gets her inspirations from the things that she likes and the things she would like to have and cant have because its not available in stores, so has no other choice than to be creative. This is her very first runway outing and she used the opportunity to thank her sister Tamika for all that she has done.

St Maarten’s Alida Brown of Ayshiba Designs made a bold fashion statement with her outfits made entirely with bananas on the opening night of the CWBBTS last Saturday.“

I found out that most of the stores on the island catered for the red and blue bandana then I found out that the colors were gang related with the bloods and the cribs. So I change the concept and put something together,” Brown said.

According to Brown, the first outfit she made was worn during the Miss Venus which was held in Anguilla. Her next opportunity to show what she can do came when the Cancer Awareness organization held its pink carpet reception.“ Its just a little bit of thread, several bandanas and a little bit of time. It was a great hit in Anguilla and I now have several customers. At first it was very challenging but now I am encouraged to do more.” For this evening’s all white affair, Brown plans to have some of her pieces on display and she is so busy with orders for the all white affair that she will not be able to get something for herself.

NEVER FORGET SXM

Another Canadian that is not likely to forget St Maarten is GQ Henderson and he will be bring his experience as a MC to the stage this evening when the highly anticipated ‘all white party’ explodes on the board walk this evening.“

We do all types of parties in Toronto and my hope is to bring that lifestyle to St Maarten for the al white affair or as some would say, ‘ En Blanc’ ” Henderson said.Apart from being an MC for events of this nature Henderson is also an events planner, host and organizer.“

My task will be to hype the crowd so that every body gets excited while I am on the mike and what is more important s that we bring our style from Canada to St Maarten for this event,” Henderson said.

According to Henderson, he is overwhelmed by the beauty of the island and its people, but he is fortunate to have on the tour, Olu Onile, an experienced photographer who will be able to capture the scenes on camera.

Nike Onile, the President of Peacock Affairs in Canada is also flabbergasted by what she has had the opportunity to see and experienced so far. “ I think that St Maarten is beautiful, the palm trees, the beach and the people are amazing and friendly,” she said.

She continued, “what we do are events management and events planning at Peacock Affairs and the reason why its called Peacock Affairs is because the events we plan are very bold and vibrant and they stand out just like the feathers of the peacock,” said Onile.

Peacock Affairs played an important roll in the planning and production for this year’s Stile Diva and for Miss Onile, its an honor because its her first international event.Models display designs by Danu out of Toronto Canada and Ayshiba from St Maarten. Photo by Milton Pieters.