A Statement from Sonia Noel

The Caribbean has a unique brand of style resulting from our colourful eclectic cosmopolitan history of influences.

In Guyana we boast of six ethnicities living harmoniously in the land of many waters: so that our sense of style is fashioned by our affinity to the flora, the water and our colonial past. I am a melting pot of influences so my fahsion statements appeal to a wide cross-section of tastes, personalities and body types. I dress the woman who wants to be comfortable, cool and cavalier. I believe in utilizing breathing fabrics – cotton, voiles, linens, and silks, to express my Caribbean fashion sense.

Relevant texture is a paramount to engage a winning personality and to effect a confident/self-assured demeanor. My style has been called chic, avant-garde, ethnic, eclectic, exotic. One thing for sure, it shouts Caribbean.

It is important to note that there is an emerging global brand. Caribbean style — it is part of a wider Caribbean aesthetic which is layered with many island/national trends but which is nevertheless discernibly Caribbean in colour, silhouette, design application, texture and detail preference.

My preoccupation with unique textile design gives me an edge:

– my peculiar tie-dye techniques
– my unique seed, bead, wood and bamboo collage art
– my special applique practices
– my novel shearing and stripping of fabric to layer on fabric rendering another look and feel to the fabric texture
– my fascination with earth tones, sand beige, mustard, taupe, chocolate, olive and natural fibres
– my use of craft adds value and certainly embellished and adorns simple fabric surfaces
– black and white ensembles have also become my staple for I love this basic juxtaposition which I feel creates a most striking and lasting impression

I love feminine flair, I love flowing skirts, I love making grand entrances, I love fashion which creates a stir and tells a dramatic story.

Fashion is about fantasy.
Fashion is about what you can become.
Fashion encourages performance.
Fashion costumes life’s enjoyment.

Hats off to fashion.
Hats add character — they shade unbecoming characteristics and highlight whimsical even charismatic and often times intriguing personality traits.
I love hats, I love the mystery they evoke.

I adore sunglasses — they bring out the voyeur in us all and they bespeak an adventurous sense of cutting edge style.

Oh! The Accessory — the bag, the bangle, the shoe, the scarf, the pashmina. They all reveal telltale signs of a hidden alter ego — the bohemian, the aristocrat, the avant-garde, the intellectual, the trendsetter of the sheer fashionista.

Our fashion compels us to share a little of our secret selves, but moreover, makes us boast of our Caribbean New World selves.