By Kaili McDonnough, Staff ReporterWHEN CONSIDERING 'Fashionweek' globally, four things come to mind: luxe collections, waif-like models, beat breaking music and hoards of celebrities. One of the A-listers whom Flair was able to catch up with during the chaos of Fashionweek was Trinidadian beauty Wendy Fitz-William, Miss Universe 1998. Wendy was present at Caribbean Fashionweek after recently being appointed as the spokesperson for Coca-Cola Light throughout the Caribbean. Coca-Cola Light was one of the sponsors of Caribbean Fashionweek.
Naturally, being a Miss Universe Wendy has always had to maintain some sort of dietary regime, although her one main vice was that she was a heavy Coke drinker. On turning 31 this year, Wendy experienced her first major nightmare in the age department she noticed that her metabolism was slowing down.
A NEW LEASE ON LIGHT
Managing to remain upbeat despite the laws of nature, Wendy set out on a task to improve her health by becoming more conscious of the fact that she was indeed ageing. Ironically, one of the things that Wendy had to eliminate from her lifestyle was her copious Coca-Cola intake. When Coca-Cola Light approached her with the idea of being their sole spokesperson throughout the region, Wendy jumped at the opportunity and thus began the fitting marriage of Wendy and Coca-Cola Light.
Trinidadians are accustomed to seeing Wendy in more serious roles. Being Miss Trinidad and then Miss Universe put Wendy in the social spotlight, thus having to maintain an image that was relatively conservative. Following her reign as Miss Universe, Wendy was appointed a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, as well as a United Nations AIDS ambassador. Wendy is also a lawyer, so with all of these factors combined she claims that "It was hard for Trinis to see my lighter side." Doing the Coca-Cola campaign was "a great way to present a more fun side of my personality as there are several layers of Wendy that the public needs to get to know."
ALL THAT JAZZ
Prior to relocating home to Trinidad a month ago, Wendy was living in New York as she was working with the United Nations and at the same time trying to break into the music industry. Yes, the girl can sing and in fact she has performed in numerous places ranging from Trinidad, to Mexico to Angola. Wendy is a pop jazz singer and was fortunate enough to work with a few hot-shot producers in New York. Salaam Remi was one of the personalities that Wendy recorded with. Remi is of West Indian parentage and was one of the producers that worked with the Fugees on their groundbreaking album The Score.
Other bigwigs that Wendy shared studio time with in New York are Mark Batson, producer for India Arie and Karen Wheeler of Soul 2 Soul fame. Although she has tons of recorded music packed away in storage, for the moment Wendy has postponed the idea of becoming a full-time musician. She is currently working for PIDCOTT Property and Industrial Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago, which is in the process of establishing a high tech Industrial Park, as well as the University of Trinidad and Tobago, which Wendy dubs will be 'The M.I.T. of the Caribbean'.
As the vice-president of business development with the company, Wendy's position involves attracting investments to the park and she is loving every minute of it, as she has a heartfelt dedication to getting these two projects off the ground and running smoothly. This former beauty queen is adamantly in support of the future of technology in the Caribbean, and she says "Technology is our future and the Caribbean cannot be left behind."
FIVE QUESTIONS WITH WENDY
Kaili McDonnough (KM): Which artistes are in your CD player right now?
Wendy Fitz-William (WF): Ella Fitzgerald, Sade and Justin Timberlake.
KM: What is your favourite place to hang out in Trinidad?
WF: Definitely The Pelican Inn on a Friday night. This is the place to go if you want to feel the real pulse of Trinidad.
KM: And in Jamaica?
WF: I have two favourite places: Strawberry Hill and Lime Cay.
KM: What is the beauty product that you cannot live without?
WF: Water.
KM: Every woman has an item of clothing that she wears repeatedly. What is yours?
WF: My Salvatore Ferragamo tan wedge sandals. I wore my first pair so much that when I visited Italy earlier on this year I had to replace them. They are so sexy!
