The House of Jacqui re­cent­ly held a grad­u­a­tion cer­e­mo­ny for par­tic­i­pants in its To­tal Per­son Course at the San Fer­nan­do North Com­mu­ni­ty Cen­tre, St Vin­cent Street, San Fer­nan­do.

Beau­ty, skin­care, cos­me­tol­ogy, health and well­ness, ta­ble eti­quette, and pageantry were some of the dis­ci­plines taught in the House of Jacqui pro­gramme, which has been op­er­at­ing for the past 57 years.

In 2019, Jacqui Koon How passed the man­tle to her grand­daugh­ter, Faith Ar­mour, to con­tin­ue the brand, which has, over the years, spawned sev­er­al pro­fes­sion­als, in­clud­ing pub­lic speak­ers, styl­ists and de­sign­ers.

The pro­gramme, which caters to peo­ple of all heights, sizes, pro­fes­sions, per­son­al per­sua­sions and phys­i­cal abil­i­ties, took a three-year hia­tus dur­ing the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic but is now gain­ing new ground through restora­tion and re­brand­ing.

Koon How ex­plained: “For 2020, 2021 and 2023 fash­ion was flat, but we are try­ing to come alive. All Tri­nis want­ed to do af­ter COVID-19 was to par­ty. And in 2023, even then, fash­ion seems to need some kind of stim­u­la­tion.

“We had meet­ings and came up with new ideas and in 2024 af­ter Car­ni­val, it will all be re­leased but we need your co­op­er­a­tion and ded­i­ca­tion. We can re­new fash­ion again in Trinidad and To­ba­go.”

The House of Jacqui has three ma­jor fash­ion shows lined up for 2024, in­clud­ing one for women aged 30 to 70 years old.

The agency lost a stal­wart run­way mod­el, Don­na De Gale-Kalloo, to can­cer ear­li­er this year and a run­way turn has been named in her mem­o­ry.