Islandistas on the front lines at Paris Fashion Week

Islandistas were all over the place for the recently-ended Paris Fashion Week.

From Guyana in the south to Bahamas in the north, from models to musicians, the region was well represented in the front rows at the shows. Check out the pix!

Bahamas' own hometown boy (via mother Roxie Roker) Lenny Kravitz was front row at Lanvin with Dita von Teese.

Bajan songbird Rihanna (above) was at the Miu Miu show, as was Lucian it-girl and Pop editor Shala Monroque (below).

British singer Leona Lewis, whose father is Guyanese, was dazzling in a peach ruffled confection on the red carpet of the Roberto Cavalli show.

 Our favourit-est, baddest, most yaadcore supermodel Naomi Campbell celebrated her 25 years in the industry with Dolce and Gabbana. Go deh Naomi!

 And Caymanian Selita Ebanks showed up looking all smiley with Kanye West again - this time at the Grazia Masquerade Ball.

Our favourite of the season - Duro Olowu

 The SS '11 fashion season has come and gone - filled with island folk on the catwalks, in the front rows and occasionally, making the final turn as the designer.

And we are ready to crown our favourite - because out of the many, many, many designs we saw this season, one small collection reached out to us and spoke to us - Jamaica/Nigerian designer Duro Olowu's eponymous line.

Originally drawn to it because it showcased the talents of Jamaica's newest model find, Orenthia, we were drawn in, nay captivated by Olowu's use of colour and vintage-y prints and the exquisite lines and tailoring - the voluminous sleeves on the 70s style maxi dress and the wide, well-cut lapels on the all-black skirt suit.

It is totally and completely wearable and gorgeous.

Small wonder then that London-based Olowu, who came by his love of colour from his Jamaican mother, Nigerian father and Lagos upbringing, has been making waves in the fashion scene for a while now. In 2005, he won the British Fashion Council's Best New Designer of the Year award and his signature 'Duro dress' was named dress of the year by both British and American Vogue.

The Duro dress is one of those dresses you've seen even if you didn't know you'd seen it - a cheerful multi-patterned kimono type dress with flowing sleeves that was everywhere in 05-06.

Originally a lawyer, he turned to fashion and teamed up with his shoe designer first wife on a label Olowu Golding, he created his own label after their split and struck gold with the Duro dress which was spotted first by British Vogue's Sally Singer. Since then Michelle Obama and Iman have been known to wear his designs.

His Spring/Summer 2011 collection looks set to be another hit, with a mix of his signature 70s-influenced cuts and groovy (yes, groovy) vintage prints. Check out some more of our faves from his collection!

Ri-Ri's Euro tour!

Uber-islandista Rihanna is over in Europe right now, promoting her new album Loud in London and taking in the finale of the fashion season in Paris for its Fashion Week.

And Ri-ri being Ri-ri, all eyes are on her outfits - some were misses (orange and purple with that hair? Too far!) while some were hits (the soft pink lady like look in Paris).

Check out the photos and our thoughts and tell us yours!

Heading from dinner with sweetie Matt Kemp, Ri-ri is such a *#%$ lady (as her infamous handbag proclaimed last year) in this flowered mini skirt suit.

Love the boyfriend blazer she's wearing as she heads back to her hotel from an all day shopping spree (Topshop to the world!) but not much liking it with the baggy pants - too 80s even for this 80s-inspired period in fashion.

No. Not even Rihanna has enough swag to pull of this combo she wore to her interview with Heart FM.

At the Miu Miu show in Paris - we like this one - a lot. The mix of the chunky, costume-y jewellery with the whimsical, fun print is hot.

Islandista on the rise: Haitian-American jewellery designer Monique Pean

Islandista-descended jewellery designer Monique Pean has been getting plenty of buzz in 2010.

From Michelle Obama wearing her designs to being featured in O Magazine as one of ten women on the rise to profiles in Essence, New York Magazine and Businessweek, Monique's star is on the rise.

A former Wall Street banker, Pean, whose Haitian father is a former UN diplomat , turned to jewellery making in 2005 after her little sister Vanessa, was killed in a car accident at just 16.

Out of the tragedy came the Vanessa Pean Foundation, which provides scholarships to students at the Centre D’Etudes Secondaires in Haiti and recently completed a spring-fed well in Cabestor which is now providing clean water for over 6800 people.

The tragedy also led directly to what is now Monique Pean Fine Jewellery as her creative form of therapy eventually became a business when a boutique store manager asked about a one-of-a-kind necklace she was wearing which was made from - get this - fossilised wooly mammoth tusk from the Artic Circle.

When Monique said she'd made it herself, the manager asked to see her line sheet.

"I had no idea what a line sheet was," Pean told Businessweek in a profile on her that is out this week.

However, the interest led her to approach more boutiques and within six months, she had left her position at Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs to start doing jewellery full-time.

And from there, she has progressed by leaps and bounds. She received the CFDA/ VOGUE Fashion Fund prize in 2009, and is the recipient of the 2009 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award for Accessories.

She has also expanded her production staff so they are up to producing 1000 pieces a year - doesn't sound like much unless you consider that their prices go as high as USD$203,840 for a recycled rose gold, 33.4 carat diamond bracelet.

Photo credit: Reuters/Eliana Aponte

Still, between Mrs. Obama's frequent appearances in Pean's designs - at a state dinner and on an April visit to Mexico, business is booming. Business has grown 136% in the past year and high-end retailer Barney's carries her line in eight of its national stores.

A good look indeed!

Islandista triple-whammy in September Vogue!

Photo credit: Steven Meisel for Vogue. (Source: models.com)

This month's September Vogue (the one featuring Halle on the cover) features an islandista triple-whammy - three islandistas across three different editorials.
Behind the scenes is mega makeup star Pat McGrath, who is the makeup artist on two editorials - We Are the World and On the Town.
In front of the camera, our favourite model, the Jamaican-Brit Jourdan Dunn and Puerto Rican Joan Smalls are featured in three editorials - We Are the World, On the Town and the 'Oh What A Night' spread promoting the upcoming Fashion's Night Out event.
Check out more of the pix under the cut.

Jeneil, Jaunel and Sasha-Gaye in Brit mags

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Jamaican supermodels continue to run tings in the fashion world.

This month brings a wave of top yaad talent to two British magazines - the quirky, fashion-favourite, I-d and British Grazia.

Jeneil, along with several others, is featured on the cover and on the inside of I-D in their Summer for Love editorial, which plays up her strong, lithe body with several leaping and nsfw topless shots.

Jaunel and Gaye are in the more mainstream Grazia in their editorial 'The Clash' which highlights the 'tribal' trend in fashion. Take a look at the pics from both shoots under the cut.

Islandista It Girl: Shala Monroque

Islandistas, you know what we love?

We love reading about islandista it girls - chicks who are just killing the scene in New York, London, wherever, with their style, flair and islandistas-ness. We love when something about their name or look gives us that little inkling... is she...an islandista?

And we've found another one - she's St. Lucian Shala Monroque, editor-at-large for Pop magazine, girlfriend of art dealer and gallerist Larry Gagosian  and the fashion set's darling.
Seriously, Monroque, who was born and raised in bel Sent Lisi, is everywhere that matters in style.

She makes regular appearances (like here and here) in Vogue.com's Ten Best Dressed of the Week and was profiled as an 'It Girl' in the Flash section of Vogue last month (April 2010). Essence.com also praised her style in a piece recently, noting how she sent the fashion blogosphere in a tizzy during the SS10 season last year.

Her style is distinctive - a variety of turbans and beanies so she doesn't have to fuss too much with her short, natural do, the sickest shoe game this side of the Atlantic and a love of bright colours and prints.
That same month she was also in Harper's Bazaar, in their 7-day Wardrobe feature, showing the range of fabulous style. In the feature, she attributes her love of big, bold colour to her Caribbean heritage.

She also attributes that heritage, specifically her looshan-ess to her fearless attitude. In her blog for Pop, she drops the stat that every St. Lucian must remind you of - their Nobel Laureate ratio,  while musing:

"Anyway these two events coming from an island with a population of 160.000 people has left me and many other St. Lucians with the idea that we can achieve anything..."

Yep, pretty much!

Islandistas @ Met Costume Institute Ball

We're baaa-aack! ... With more pics of our picks from the Met Costume Institute Ball last night in New York City.

The winner of the night in the islandistas style stakes - and possibly overall - was Jennifer Lopez.

She looked gorgeous in her irridescent, glimmering gown by Zuhair Murad. The sweetheart neckline, the leaf detail in the skirt... perfection.

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Do 'um Jenny!

JLo was right on target fashion wise as nude tones of greige (grey and beige) dominated the night - with Kate Hudson, Katy Perry, Jessica Alba, Sarah Jessica Parker, Gwen Stefani and Anne Hathaway all sporting variations of beige, cream, coral etc.

Eva Mendes,  went very differently style-wise with colours and patterns as opposed to neutrals and texture  in a rose-patterned Dolce & Gabbana gown with a fish-tail skirt - perfect for the curvy Cubana.

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Check out more islandista style and some of our favourite non-islandista fashionistas (and some misses!) under the cut.

First look @ Met Costume Institute Gala!

Islandistas and fashionistas all! [picapp align="right" wrap="false" link="term=Met+Costume+institute+gala&iid=8691891" src="1/c/2/7/_American_Woman_ab15.jpg?adImageId=12736635&imageId=8691891" width="234" height="352" /]

Pay attention because coming hard on the heels of the White House Correspondents' Dinner in D.C., it is one of the biggest nights on the social calendars of those in NYC and in fashion - the Met Costume Institute Gala.

Co-hosted by Oprah, the event is kicking off at the Met all now ... and we have the first look at the islandistas making their entrance on the red carpet.

We start of course with Zoe Saldana, who is one of the early arrivals, in a cold-shouldered navy column dress. While the dress itself is right on-trend, we're actually a bit disappointed at this from Zoe. She's usually so fly and fearless on the red carpet that a simple navy column dress seems so tame for her for a fashion night as big as this.

Gorgeous but could be better - we know she could!

Keep checking islandista for all the fashion notes from tonight!

Amber Rose: Islandista swagger jacker?

Hip-hop's enfant terrible (which is saying a lot when you think about it) Kanye West launched a new, very minimalist photo blog yesterday.

And of course he had to give his arm-candy Amber Rose some shine. With this photo.



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Look familiar? Of course it does to you islandistas. It is a (weak) re-creation of islandista Grace Jones' iconic photo on the cover of her Island Life album, shot by her lover/collaborator Jean-Paul Goude.



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Of course, as we have mentioned, this is not the first time Amber and her handlers have tried to re-create (I would have to say re-create rather than pay homage because there is no reference to Grace in any of the editorial for either of her attempts) iconic Grace Jones images.

And of course, there is a long-established tradition of obscuring the accomplishments and reputations of black women and black people in general by putting a white or light face on or above them.

And we have seen plenty comments thus far in the blogosphere about how hot the pic is and even some saying it is better than the original - that Amber Rose's pose is more "feminine"and "sexy" than Grace Jones.


We're just saying...

But what do you say? When does imitation cross the line from being the sincerest form of flattery to being a rip-off?


Our take on it?

Grace was the best to ever do it. *Kanye shrug*

JOURDAN'S BAAA-AACK!

Can you tell we're excited?!

One of our favourite islandistas walking the fashion runways, Jourdan Dunn is set to be back in action for London Fashion Week, after being out for a good part of last year when she was pregnant.

Jourdan delivered her first child, a baby boy in December and now she is set to make her return in her home city.

The showcard above surfaced a few days ago on models.com, sending the fashion pack into a frenzy of anticipation for the return of the islandista who was Britain's model of the year in 2008.

And then the story broke in the mainstream press with New York Magazine and British Vogue reporting her imminent return.

According to the gossip on fashion forum The Fashion Spot, she was sighted at a Russell Marsh casting and folks have been speculating about which of the shows he casts will she appear in - guesses right now are on Richard Nicoll, Chris Kane, Jaeger and Jonny Saunders and Prada.

Yay! Welcome back Jourdan! We sure missed you!

Naomi brings out the stars for Fashion Relief for Haiti

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London Fashion Week just started yesterday and supermodel islandista Naomi Campbell started it off with her Fashion Relief for Haiti show.

Just like she did at the start of NYFW last week, she brought out all the stars for the show, including her fellow super and good mate Kate Moss, British Prime Minister's wife Sarah Brown and a ton of musical stars, including islandistas Alexandra Burke, Jamelia and soul queen Beverley Knight.

[caption id="attachment_2039" align="aligncenter" width="315" caption="Alexandra Burke danced and mugged with diminutive British comedian Ronnie Corbitt on the catwalk. (Photo credit: Daily Mail)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2031" align="aligncenter" width="214" caption="Jamelia walked with her two daughters."][/caption]

She even brought out her mum Valerie on the catwalk and we can see now where Naomi gets her genes! I could not believe that was the mother of a 30-something year old woman - she looked a-maaaz-ing! Naomi wasn't lying when she said her black don't crack! Check the photos of mum and more stars after the jump.

New islandistas @ New York Fashion Week

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 New York Fashion Week (Fall/Winter '10) started on Thursday and so far it's been pretty good, islandista-wise. 

For the last NYFW (SS '10) we counted 10 islandista models (and one islandisto in the form of yaadie Tyson Beckford) walking the runways for 22 different designers. 

Thus far, the count is at the same 11 (including those new faces we're going to tell you about) for 19 designers so far.  

The expected names have been out there - Jamaica Jeneil Williams walked for Costello Tagliapietra, Dominican Arlenis Sosa walked for Nicole Miller and fellow Dominican Rose Cordero walked for ... everyone - we've counted six shows so far, including Doo.Ri, Jason Wu and Ruffian. 

Alongside new Sudanese-Australian wunderkid Ajak Deng, Rose has been the busiest black or brown model out there. 

However, one islandista newcomer is matching Rose so far, show for show. Read on for more.

Model behaviour: Naomi for Haiti, Jeneil's nude cover & more

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Islandista born and descended models have started 2010 as busy as they were in 2009.



The queen of them all, Brit-yaadie Naomi Campbell has been working hard at putting together her annual Fashion for Relief show, which will benefit Haiti this year.

She is teaming up with Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the show which will take place during London Fashion Week.

Thus far, Naomi has brought on fashion friends Dolce & Gabbana, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood for the event which takes place on February 18th.

She was out and about this week doing interviews and photo calls for the event.

Say what you want about Naomi (and yes, there is nuff to say) but her heart is as big as her temper. She has always worked hard for charity causes.

In more islandista model news, fellow Jamaican models Jeneil Williams and Jaunel McKenzie are going hard for 2010 - already. More on their blazing start to 2010 when you read on.

Fashion notes - Anya's comeback & Rihanna's Caribbean designer

You know what they say ... 'don't call it a comeback' but ...

Scandal-hit former Miss Trinidad Universe, Anya Ayoung-Chee seems determined to do just that, with the launch of the second collection of her Pilar line last night.

She teamed up with one of T&T's 'grand dames' of fashion, Meiling for a dual Carnival collection line which was showcased at the Meiling boutique in Kapok Hotel.

We haven't seen any pics as yet but we're interested in seeing what the reaction will be. Anya's first Pilar collection was actually pretty well received and her star was on the rise until the sex tape controversy that shifted the attention to her bedroom abilities rather than her design chops.

Remember also that it was alleged by Wyatt Gallery (her boyfriend and partner in the sex tape) that the tape was leaked by someone trying to sabotage Anya's rise in fashion.

So let's hope it is a comeback.

In more Caribbean fashion notes - Rihanna has tapped a designer of Caribbean heritage - Vincy-descended Celeste Johnny of Johnny Vincent, for her swimwear. More on that after the cut.

Islandistas at the Golden Globes

While film award ceremonies are not usually as big islandista spotting grounds as music awards, Sunday's Golden Globes did turn up a few islandistas at the ceremony and at the after-parties.

Chief among them of course, was Zoe Saldana. You would well know from checking islandista that Zoe can do no wrong on the red carpet - honestly we have not seen a bad outfit from her since 19-how long. She always bring it and she did again for the Globes, where the mega block-buster she starred in, Avatar, took the top awards of the night - best director for James Cameron and best motion picture drama. We're going to give you two looks at her raw-edged, ruffled, scarlet Louis Vuitton dress.

[caption id="attachment_1927" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Zoe poses with the two Golden Globe awards won by Avatar."][/caption]

Do 'um girl!

Guyanese-descended Leona Lewis, also part of the Avatar crew as she sang its theme song 'I See You', was also in fine form in a deep purple satin Roberto Cavalli with a lovely fold detail at the bodice.

And Haitian-American actress Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon was out at the InStyle Golden Globe after party in a form-fitting black and flesh toned dress. Good thing Garcelle have form to fit because this dress could be dicey on anyone a bit skinny or a bit plump.

Alexandra Burke in fabulous new spread

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One of our favourite British islandistas, singer Alexandra Burke is looking absolutely fabulous in Britain’s News of the World.

The glamourous shoot is surprisingly classy for NOTW, which is your typical brash British celeb tabloid magazine – and we love the look – very Russian princess with dramatic white dresses, diamonds and even wolves!

An extensive interview accompanied the spread, where Alex spoke at length about growing up as the little woman of the house when her mother, Soul II Soul lead singer Melissa Bell was on tour.

Jourdan Dunn in i-D spread

She might be getting ready to give birth any day now (her son is due in December) but our girl, islandista supermodel Jourdan Dunn is still staying in the spotlight, thanks to several pre and early-photo shoots she did this year.

The latest one to be unveiled is a spread in the winter issue of i-D magazine, titled Prince Charming.

In it, Jourdan is showcasing the work of Roland Mouret (he of the ubiquitous Galaxy dress) in a black and white feature photographed by Kerry Haillihan and styled by Edward Enninful.

And she looks spectacular. Check some of the pics below.

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Islandistas turn out for Rihanna's Rated R album launch party

The launch party for Rihanna's Rated R album was held last night at the Juliette Superclub in the Big Apple and pure hotness ensued from the islandistas in attendance.

They were led of course by Ri-ri herself in a spiky gold dress and gold Louboutins that aren't even being sold to the public yet - ye, a so de girl hot.

Check it.

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She was accompanid by BFF Melissa and changed into a red look later that night which we're not quite as enamoured of... though she is working the sheer black stockings trend that is making some waves right now.

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Cayman's own Selita Ebanks was also working this look at the event in sheer tights, a big, luxurious fur and long leather gloves.

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Trini-descended 'socialite' islandista aka the chick people love to hate, Ms Genevieve Jones in a dress that looks like something a slutty pixie would wear - with the sheer bodice and kerchief-hemmed skirt. Only Genevieve could get away with it.

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Islandistas at the AMAs

So the American Music Awards hit the air last night and everyone is still buzzing about it.

Adam Lambert's performance? Just... wow.

But would people have been so shocked if a raunchy female performer - say a Janet or even a Rihanna, did the same thing? Food for thought, eh?


Speaking of Rihanna, her performance outfit was... pretty risque. We're getting to expect that from Ri-ri, so really the question should be - where does this rank among her more out-there outfits?

Her red carpet outfit - a black and white Marchesa from their spring 2010 line and her red-eyed makeup was pushing the fashion envelope too, which is to be expected.