New reality-based TV show Hit TVJ "fashionistas

The search is about to be launched for Jamaica's next great fashion designer. Trendsetters, the latest reality-based TV show is to be aired on Television Jamaica soon and the show's creator, Dweight Peters, the CEO of Saint International, is confident it will be a success.


'It has been two years in the making and it is the search for Jamaica's top new designer.'


Calling all fashionistas

New TV series to challenge Ja's best designers

"It has been two years in the making and it is the search for Jamaica's top new designer," Peters told The Gleaner. "It's a nationwide search to discover untapped talent with the international potential that I honestly believe is here."

Never short on confidence when developing his usually grand projects, Peters has reached out to some of the top people in international fashion, to be a part of the show.

Top supermodel

"We have a top supermodel who has agreed to host," he said, adding that it is too soon to reveal her identity. "She has modelled for top designers in Europe and the United States."

Several high-profile international and local fashion gurus have also agreed to be either on a panel of judges or celebrity guest judges, Peters revealed.

Trendsetters is an upgrade of the Avant Garde Designer of the Year competition that Peters developed seven years ago, which paved the way for many Jamaican designers to become a part of the fashion landscape. That competition "was a way to acknowledge, reward and certainly engage the creative attention of Jamaican designers and it worked like magic," he said.

It also created a platform for local designers to showcase their creative talents before a local and international audience, including fashionistas familiar with the industry, in Paris, Milan and New York. The concept of the Avant Garde Designer of the Year competition was for designers to create a piece around a central 'sponsor' theme and according to Peters, their output was remarkable, with well-known designers Dexter Pottinger, Mekhelia Nembhard, Yola Gray/REV and Carlton Brown among past winners. Peters now feels it is time to 'up the ante'.

"We have decided to take it a notch further," he said. "We will be scouring Jamaica for the hottest new talent. There are dressmakers, tailors and other talented professionals who consider themselves part-time designers. They create their own outfits but can they be the next big thing?"

That 'next big thing' will be moving from the unknown straight into retail as he or she will get, among other things, the chance to create a collection that will go on sale locally.

A substantial cash prized, showing at Styleweek Jamaica and participating in international trade shows are all also part of the prize package.

Selection process


Peters - Contributed Photos

But first, the winner will have to survive the selection process.

"After the first phase, semi-finalists will undergo a series of development seminars before the 12 finalists are selected," Peters said.

Every week, the finalists will undergo intense 'fashion challenges' followed by an elimination process.

Peters is passionate about the development of the Jamaican fashion industry and was the first to bring faculty members from the world-famous Parson's School of Design, at his own expense, to speak with Jamaican designers, on two separate occasions.

The general public will have a chance to give feedback via mobile phones as well as an interactive website. A number of Jamaica's leading lifestyle brands have expressed an interest in aligning with this new Saint International innovation, Peters added.