By Tanya Batson, Staff Reporter 
This simple outfit is taken several notches higher by the dashing black hat, which adds a healthy dose of panache. RIGHT: As simple as a beach! This beach or summer dress from Maxie's Department Store is a splash of colour without being overpowering. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
BLACK, GREEN and gold are the national colours. Add a splash of red, and you have the festival colours for 2002. The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) launched a fashion collection at the Jamaica 40 Village, the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in Kingston under the banner 'Be bold in red, black, green and gold'. The national colours retain their historical meaning and red was added for passion, stated Jacque Tyson, who gave a historical perspective of the JCDC fashion.
The fashion show featured clothing from Barry Moncrieffe, Fetoe by Nicole, Maxie Department Store, Sun Island Squint Wear, Gingiss, Maureen Clark, Angela's, Mushroom, and Elaine Elegance. Across the island there will be short shows at Maxie Department store outlets. As such, persons will be able to see these fashion suggestions in Linstead, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, May Pen and Kingston. The festival fashions will also join the festival trains, which will be making stops in Port Antonio, Savanna-la-Mar, Santa Cruz, Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, May Pen, Kingston, and Spanish Town.
Festival fashions were re-introduced to the Indepen-dence celebrations in 2000 after taking a break. As such, the initial stage of the fashion show, though not well choreographed, was used to take the audience down memory lane. The models were dressed in clothing reminiscent of past fashions.
Clothing for all occasions, from beach wear to formal wear were displayed in various combinations of at least two of the four colours though several of the outfits, especially in the casual segment displayed all four colours.
The clothing displayed ranged from spectacular outfits to cautionary tales and most of what lay in-between. For evening wear, sobre black was often used with a splash of the other colours for vibrancy. Many of the fashions were made for the women of daring who are of the mind that if you have it, flaunt it. However, there were a few other pieces for the full-bodied and for those who do not believe that covering up is a crime.
Actually, some of the fashions for women were quite impressive. For example, a simple summer dress from Maxie's in green and yellow broad stripes which blended as the colours met, spoke of classy simplicity. Additionally, one of the dresses from Angela's showed how to 'flash', and still remained classically simple. The dress featured a lightly sequined bodice etching a floral pattern. The rest of the dress, a simple straight cut which accentuated the figure, used a deep green flowing into red. Unfortunately, it was accompanied by another dress which was an essay in the art of being loud.
The male fashions were in the minority and only three male models were featured. Nonetheless, the male fashions were largely unimpressive with a few exceptions. One such was one of the suits from Gingiss. The suit was a classic black tuxedo with a tropical floral print. While this suit is either for the fashionably dyslexic or the truly bold, the second more traditional black tux, featuring a metallic green vest and matching tie, was quite impressive.
