THE SECRET to the successful staging of any show is proper organisation. Obviously the promoters of Sunday night's 'Eye on Fashion 2003', which was staged at the Hilton Kingston Hotel, did not know that. What was presented was the disorganised staging of what had the makings of a fabulous event.
All the ingredients were there; The Caribbean's top beauty queens in the personages of Misses Jamaica, Honduras, Belize, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Curacao, Cayman, Antigua and Barbuda, alongside some hot male bodies from the Champs Agency and a few of Jamaica's former beauty queens. Imagine them all strutting on- stage in hot clothing from leading Caribbean designers.
Well, all those elements were added to a poorly laid-out room, in which improperly instructed foreign ushers were forced to tend to frustrated patrons, who in turn had to deal with some rude workers at the event.
The organisers erred from the word go. This as on entry to the Hilton Ballroom there were tables and chairs which took up the best seats in the house and to which a special letter was required for seating.
The seating for the rest of the audience was ridiculously skewed at the Eastern and Western wings of the room, while those seats in the centre were practically useless after the third row.
As if that was not bad enough two Gleaner reporters covering the event were told to: "...sit anywhere except around the tables." It immediately became clear that there were no seating arrangements made for members of the media.
Not a very good move. Firstly The Gleaner was unable to properly see the fashion on display, however The Gleaner was able to hear the grouses of those in the audience as well as watch the shenanigans of the ushers, some of whom were clearly out of their realm. In many instances patrons were hassled to their seats instead of being ushered to them.
Another problem was the fact that despite paying between $800 to $1,000 for tickets to the show, programmes to follow what was happening were not available. Not complimentary as part of the ticket prices nor were they on sale. In fact, only members at the 'special' tables were so blessed with getting the same.
Needless to say, the lack of proper organising just continued to mar the show from then on. The scheduled start time was 7:30 p.m., yet at that time the lights were just being tacked on to the stage.
Whilst that was taking place, some industrious patrons decided to seat themselves. This because the ushers who apparently were in charge of the seating arrangements were busy huddling together by the eastern end of the room. By the time the ushers realised what was taking place, they were forced to go after these persons, many of whom were told the areas they had gone to were reserved.
By about 7:50 p.m. patrons, tired of waiting, began to clap in an effort to force the show to begin. Some five minutes later the night's compere Heather Grant took to the microphone, stating that the show would begin at 8:00 p.m. At 8:05 she came back, asking the audience for five minutes more grace and then the show would begin.
At 8:10 p.m. the show finally began, much to the relief of many. The first section, dubbed 'Colourful Casuals', showcased work from Les Campbell and unfortunately showed nothing new from the designer.
Next up was 'Tropical Splendor', which promised the beauty queens in their National Costumes. Miss Trinidad and Tobago, Faye Alibocus; Miss Cayman Universe, Melanie McField; Miss Antigua, Kai Davis; Miss Belize Universe, Becky Bernard; Miss Jamaica Universe, Sanya Hughes and Miss Jamaica World, Danielle Ohayon paraded in their various versions of their countries' national dress.
The next segment, 'Zip It Up', which featured designs from Patricia Pinnock, brought the loudest audience grumblings. "This thing is not properly organised," said one voice. "This is foolishness" another said. The reason for their ire was the ushers who thought it was appropriate to be searching for seats for latecomers while the show was in full flight.
Then there were the occasions of the hitches in the programme and the long and unnecessary intermissions. This was coupled with the people constantly refreshing the champagne glasses of those seating at the tables - often obscuring the vision of those in the 'paid for seats'. There was also the incident of a champagne cork flying half-way across the room after a bottle was uncorked by a waiter; had it hit someone, the Hilton could have had a lawsuit on their hands.
However, there were a few highlights to the show. These were the female designs from the 'Zip it Up' collection and the formal wear from Calvin Southwell's Calvin S line.
The very popular Uzuri line was also on display. Meanwhile alongside the queens were Andre Watson, Stephen Ming, Mark Smith, Mark McDonald, Horace Walker, Neal Wright, former Miss Jamaica World Christine Straw and former Miss Jamaica International Michelle Williams; Carlyn Kirlew and former Miss Jamaica U.K Dr. Kurdel Espanosa.
WINSTON SILL/Freelance Photographer
Some of the models pose at the badly-organised 'Eye On Fashion 2003' show last Sunday night at the Hilton Kingston Hotel.
