I know you all know of Claudia Pegus, the Trinidadian designer and one of the grand dames of Caribbean fashion.
On Friday night, she and her assistants were held up at gunpoint in her atelier in Trinidad (not in Barbados, as the Observer's Tatler column claimed) and robbed as they were preparing for Fashion Week Trinidad and Tobago which starts on Friday.
Over on Mango Media Caribbean's 5 a.m. blog, they have the (pretty harrowing) details.
An employee uses the security peephole and sees two young ladies. He thinks they are models. He cracks open the door, the women push their way in along with a man who ferociously brandishes a gun.
"All yuh better have **###*** money here tonight or ah go kill someone, if ah eh get no money ah taking someone to the ATM an doh mess with me because ah eh playing. One of of de three of alyuh gehing kill tonight. Only two leaving here alive so doh try nothing stupid cause ah go blow everybody head out... ah eh fraid to kill... ah kill plenty man already and ah eh fraid to kill ah woman, I real feeling to ##**## shoot someone here tonight!"
He points the gun to Ms Pegus' head with one hand and pushes and shoves her and the employee into the back room where another worker waits.
Jeez... nah.
How 'sweet, sweet TnT' getting so dread in the last few years? I can't get it understand. All that oil money, free education, dollar for dollar uni education and still so much robbing and kidnapping. It ent like Trinidad poor. I really don't get it.
Fortunately, if you can find anything fortunate out of this, no-one was killed. They took Pegus from room to room at gunpoint and made her point out valuables, which they then stole in a quarter hour robbing spree.
Pegus said:
"I started praying. For sure I felt I would die and in that moment I asked God that if it was to happen then let it be one bullet, let it be quick and let it be me alone."
However, Pegus has said she will still make her showing at FWTT this weekend and use it to make a strong statement about "crime, youth and ethnicity."
"It ent like Trinidad poor. I really don’t get it."
ReplyDeleteTrinidad has the very rich and the "ain't have no money to buy shoes" poor there is very little in between unlike Barbados which has a large middle class, that kind of social disparity breeds discontent and should surprise no one.