By Kaili McDonnough, Staff Reporter
Karl Williams, left, and Mark McDermoth outfit Pulse model Cindy Bruff in one of their designs.
MARK MCDERMOTH and Karl Williams are two men who have a couple of reasons to be smiling. Having been in the fashion business for over ten years, operating out of Ocho Rios, St. Ann, these two gifted fashion mavericks have expanded their business to Kingston.
The two are now in the final stages of designing their latest collection, which will be unveiled in June at Caribbean Fashion Week. Uzuri International's Kingston branch is located on the property of the Pulse Fashion Village at Trafalgar Road. With its washed yellow walls and lime green trim, African inspired wall hangings and a salesperson that knows everything down to the seams about clothes, there is no doubt that this showroom will add to the continuing success of this duo design team.
The doors of the showroom opened last November, during the buzz of Caribbean Fashion Week. At their new showroom, McDermoth and Williams are offering couture garments, which will be custom made. Following the trend of fashion showrooms worldwide, viewing the garment samples will be by appointment only. During an appointment, the client will be able to browse through the samples on hand and if one of the samples is to his/her liking, then measurements will be taken and a one-of-a-kind dress will be created just for the client.
COMMON CONCERN
A common concern for most women is whether or not they will fit into the samples. Ladies, McDermoth wants you to know one thing "We do not discriminate and we work with every body type. The great thing about purchasing one of our gowns is that each gown is made individually to suit your own personal measurements. This is how we ensure that each Uzuri gown looks amazing on every woman".
In addition to gowns, the Uzuri International showroom will also be showcasing cocktail dresses, separates and party dresses. The Uzuri team enjoys dabbling in wedding dress design and their future plans include tapping into the bridal market. Aside from the showroom and the Caribbean Fashion Week collection another focus for the duo right now is the Uzuri International shoe line, which is being created with a renowned shoe expert.
Having dressed the likes of big wigs such as Chaka Khan, Januel Robinson, Aloun Assamba, former Miss Universe Nicole Haughton and Sean Paul's lady friend, RE TV on-air host Jodi "Jinx" Stewart for this year's Grammy Awards, the Uzuri team have now cast their sights on dressing the who's who of Hollywood. Karl Williams chuckles "Seeing Halle Berry floating down the red carpet in one of our designs would be our ultimate dream".
Following rave reviews with their 2003 Caribbean Fashion Week collection it is very probable that if these two keep up the good work, they may very well have a chance at seeing their dreams unfold into a couture reality.
