Courts Antigua crowns fashionista

They stepped up to the plate, stepped out of the box and presented innovative designs much to our amazement, said the organisers of the 2017 Courts Fashionista Competition.
Out of nine local designers who participated in the company’s fourth annual event, Nicoya Henry was crowned the winner for what she called an ‘onyx three-door wardrobe inspiration.’
She won ECD $2,500, a Courts voucher and the title “2017 Courts Fashionista.”
Shem Henry and Shirrine Gillon were crowned second and third place winners receiving ECD $1,000 and ECD $500, respectively, and Courts vouchers.
At last Friday’s competition at the Courts St. John’s branch, the entrants showcased designs that were inspired by the company’s products, including a vase, a Samsung 8 phone, a speaker box, a bedroom set and a three-door wardrobe, among other designs.
After an hour, the contestants model their designs across the red carpet, the judges deliberated for 30 minutes before naming Henry the winner.
“Honestly, I am still trembling,” said an overjoyed Nicoya immediately following the announcement. “I feel very, very great that I won. I put in a lot of hard work, and it wasn’t easy breaking those mirrors. Right now, I still have splinters in my fingers, but it has paid off.”
She hopes to continue designing fashions and will participate in future competitions.
“Hopefully, Courts can have a regional fashion show where they take all the winners from the different countries, and we can all compete together,” Nicoya said.
She also indicated that a regional fashion show would be a vehicle for her to show her work to an international audience. “Modelling wise, I will take it one day at time,” she concluded.
Rachel Samuels, commercial officer for Courts, said that this was her first year conducting the fashion show in Antigua. She marveled at the creativity among the designers. It “was a cut above the rest this year,” she said with an eye toward the future.
“Well, everybody is asking about a regional competition,” said Samuels. “Next year is to be our fifth year. I don’t know if that’s something we can look into because we do really want to focus individually on the islands and developing the islands themselves. But we try to see how we encourage more persons to participate in the event.”
At the outset, it appeared that the turnout for the event would be small. But by the time the winners were announced, the room was packed with enthusiastic supporters applauding wildly.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)