Belize fashion designer Rebecca Stirm (right) with Trinidad’s Shanon Kwong at Mission Catwalk competition in Jamaica. Image courtesy JAE Magazine.
Fashion designer Rebecca Stirm was eliminated from the Mission Catwalk Jamaican reality TV show Competition in episode 11 on 5 June 2012. The designer had won four challenges, and was in the lead in the show. Winning this episode was Ryan Chan of Trinidad.
After a taste of victory with his first win last week, Ryan Chan of Trinidad has won yet another challenge on Caribbean fashion reality series Mission Catwalk; a win which qualifies him for some enviable prizes including the chance to show at London Fashion week. His scores also put him in the top three ranking which means he will be showing at Caribbean Fashion Week this Friday.
Mission Catwalk is a fashion reality series created by Jamaican fashion designer Keneea Linton-George aimed at discovering and developing new talent. The Kingston-based show tests the creativity and skill of each contestant through various challenges The task for the series’ final challenge was to create a mini collection for SOHO boutique dubbed “London 2012” for a fashionista travelling to London for the Olympics.
Rebecca, 18, used Latino and Mayan culture as inspiration for her design worn by model Abenah Gonzalez. In an interview with Caribbean Magazine she spoke of her design inspirations.
“We are nestled in between two Hispanic-speaking countries so unlike the rest of the English–speaking Caribbean we have a lot of Hispanic influence. So I chose the cut of my dress from kind of that quince años (Sweet 15 celebration in Latino culture) bigger skirt (full skirt) small bodice and then chose to do the embroidery based on more of the Maya culture. I really wanted my piece to have a lot of oomph out on the runway so I wanted a lot of material, so I actually looked in the curtain section for material. I was able to get a lot of this very, very light; airy fabric for a little bit of money since we were on a tight budget. I added embroidery to give it some detail and intricacy.”