Fashion, music and a charitable cause came together in an eclectic blend last Saturday night when the inaugural Miss Fashion Intellectual pageant was staged at the Anne Johnson Auditorium of the St Gabriel’s School.
 During the event held to raise funds for Miss Barbados World Danielle Bishop’s Reach Up, Reach Out campaign in aid affected by abuse and HIV/AIDS, nine young prospective models shared the stage with some of Barbados’ most popular musical acts.
 And if that was not enough to ensure that patrons left with a favourable first impression, young fashion and jewellery designers also had their time to shine.
 At the end of the night Allison Harewood emerged the winner, while second place went to Jaleesia Hall, third to Geneva Weatherhead and fourth to Karifer Hurdle.
 The girls competed in nine segments which included swimwear by Kudos Designs, formal wear by Kesia Estwick and Shanika Burnett and the Trident T-shirt line by Omar Kennedy.
 While the contestants showed varying levels of comfort and poise during the modelling segments, the majority of them failed to impress in the question and answer category. The organisers may want to work on contestants’ preparation for this segment in future competitions.
 Meanwhile, the entertainment which followed each segment was nothing but top notch. The first band to hit the stage was reggae group High Grade whose vocalists Peaches, Jahdon and Supa Star performed with a synergy which belies the group’s relative youth.
 In addition to their original Pressure Point, which is currently being rotated on local radio stations, the group performed several popular reggae and dancehall hits.
 The conscious Bobo engaged the audience with Lion Pon De Road and Mekkin It while John King was in his usual fine form with Don’t Stop.
 But it took the Soca Kartel of Blood and Mikey to bring to audience to their feet with 2010 Crop-Over hits I In Dat, Boom Bam, Foot On Fire and Whole Place Mash Up.
 Also performing were saxophonist Dre Delano, alternative group Vacant Head Space, soca artiste Hypasounds and the Motivational Youth Group.
 Hosts for the night were emerging hip hop and R&B artiste Karma Nai and rapper Teff while DJ SagaBoy kept the audience entertained.
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