Seychelles to mark inaugural Fashion Week in August |21 March 2013

This has come about after high-level talks with ministers and other stakeholders, according to organisers of the event.

The announcement was made on Tuesday at a press conference represented by modelling agencies, designers and the World Fashion Week organisation.
The managing director of Telly’s Modelling Agency, Terry Carola, said that he expected Seychelles Fashion Week to bring a plethora of benefits for local models, designers, retailers and for the country as a whole.

“Seychelles Fashion Week will mark a milestone in the fashion industry in Seychelles,” said Mr Carola.
“We are here on behalf of World Fashion Week to assist the government of Seychelles in launching its inaugural Seychelles Fashion Week,” said Arwin Sharma, founder and chief executive of World Fashion Week.

“We are honoured to be here with the support of the local government and we have had meetings with the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and the Seychelles Tourism Board as well.”

Mr Sharma reported that all the government officials he had met had given their unanimous support to the project, as it is expected to bolster tourism and put Seychelles under the global fashion spotlight.

Mr Sharma said that the people of Seychelles have great potential for the modelling industry and called on anyone interested in modelling as a career to consider it as an opportunity and come forward for auditions which are scheduled to begin at a later date.

“I’d like to encourage the growth of models in the country,” said Mr Sharma. “Be proud of who you are and showcase yourself, because if we see talent on the runway, we will be looking into developing model exchange networks with the rest of the fashion weeks that we are currently going to do in other parts of the world.”
Mr Sharma acknowledged that Seychelles Fashion Week had taken place before, but on a much smaller scale.

“We are not only exploring the models and the looks that are going to be exhibited on the runway,” he said. “We are going to look into developing the trade of the textile industry that exists in Seychelles. We want to make this an annual event for all of you to be proud of.”

Mr Sharma stressed that World Fashion Week’s role is to provide expertise and become facilitators of the event.

“We are honoured and privileged to have all the designers and modelling agencies working together for the first time, and we expect them to cooperate and put on a spectacular show.”
World Fashion Week will be bringing in some international designers to the event, but Mr Sharma said that the focal point of interest will always be on the local designers.

“We want to develop the local fashion industry and develop standards within the fashion industry so that Seychelles Fashion Week can maintain its momentum on a yearly basis.”
Each designer will be given a variety of themes chosen by World Fashion Week and will have to design 20 different “looks” per theme for the August event.