Op­po­si­tion Leader Pen­ne­lope Beck­les made a sur­prise ap­pear­ance on the cat­walk at Fash­ion­ista, a celebri­ty fash­ion brunch held by Rapid­fire Kidz Foun­da­tion at Achie­vor’s Ban­quet Hall, San Fer­nan­do, on May 30.

At the sold out event, at­tend­ed by ap­prox­i­mate­ly 400 pa­trons the spot­light was on some of the biggest names in the lo­cal fash­ion in­dus­try and celebri­ties from var­i­ous fields.

The event was an ex­plo­sion of colour and en­er­gy, as celebri­ties and pro­fes­sion­al mod­els, along with the women of the Foun­da­tion, mod­elled de­signs from Clau­dia Pe­gus, Ne­ha Ka­ri­na, and Zadd and East­man.

Dig­ni­taries in at­ten­dance in­clud­ed Ed­u­ca­tion Min­is­ter Dr Michael Dowlath, whose wife Tisha was one of the mod­els, Health Min­is­ter Dr Lack­ram Bo­doe, San Fer­nan­do East MP Bri­an Man­ning, whose wife Shelly Dass al­so mod­elled, and for­mer Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice Gary Grif­fith, whose wife Nicole Dy­er-Grif­fith was a co-MC.

The four hour long event was al­so marked by high-qual­i­ty en­ter­tain­ment, prizes, and a bar­rage of jokes from Rapid­fire Pres­i­dent Kevin Rati­ram, who co­host­ed with Dy­er-Grif­fith.

It was a fun-filled at­mos­phere, as the au­di­ence, main­ly women, lapped up the high fash­ion, chat­ted, and took pic­tures.

Foun­da­tion Vice-Pres­i­dent Rev Joy Ab­dul-Mo­han said that they were hap­py to bring a slice of the fash­ion in­dus­try to south Trinidad. She said the event was such a re­sound­ing suc­cess they hoped to make it an an­nu­al af­fair.