Caribbean fashion designers are missing the opportunity to use technology to add value to their creations and to sell their designs and garments on the international stage, says international fashion management consultant and a founding member of Fashion Industry T&T (FITT), Cherisse Solomon.
Speaking at the opening seminar of the first Caribbean Fashion Plus Week at the Cascadia Hotel, Trinidad, Solomon said the Caribbean has a unique aesthetic and instead of looking to mass produce garments and compete with China, we should focus on selling our creativity and expertise online, to the growing luxury markets across the globe as well as to Caribbean communities abroad.
Fashion Industry T&T (FITT) is a new non-profit organisation with around 300 members who are seeking to raise awareness of opportunities in the fashion industry as well as a lobby group seeking the interest of the sector. (http://www.facebook.com /fitt.org.tt)
She said the creative industries have been the only segments that do not seem to have been affected by the global recession, as emerging high-income consumers across the globe are looking outside of their normal concepts of luxury to more exotic looks and experiences. This provides an opportunity for us in the Caribbean.
She said focusing on the luxury markets provides higher margins for the industry and does not require suppliers to meet the kinds of volumes that producers in China have been using as their competitive advantage. Producing lower volumes, with higher quality garment designs and construction, provides an opportunity for us to show off our creativity and Caribbean aesthetic to a mass customisation market of global consumers.
Solomon said emerging New Money consumers are connected online and they are looking for garments that are exotic, that fit well and are unique, and there is a huge growing market of newly wealthy upper and middle class consumers in south east Asia, China, India and Brazil who are looking for these exotic designs such as what we are seeing coming out of the Caribbean.
She said many designers are also ignoring opportunities in the Gaming Industry as demand for designs for virtual applications such as Second Life is growing.
"We need to adopt proven design applications and Computer Aided Design (CAD) technology to facilitate faster turnaround and reviews of designs. The use of virtual runways and virtual dressing rooms allow customers from around the world to preview, comment and even make suggestions on the garments before placing their online orders," added Solomon.
She acknowledged that resources were limited in the region and securing government support for the industry were major issues for designers and the industry as a whole and these can be addressed by forming industry wide alliances so resources can be pooled and lobbying activities can be co-ordinated towards gaining tangible government support and global recognition for a consistent Caribbean aesthetic.