DRAGON FLY MASS BAND is more than just about revelling for Grand Kadooment.
Bandleader Rodney Powers wants to raise the level of costumes through the input of fashion designers and he has found a way to marry both through the Caribbean Market Centre.
“We run the Caribbean Market Centre, which is a development programme, and every year through the band we raise funds to help with internships for the young designers to go to Singapore to incubation projects, [United States] internships, as well as the Dominican Republic,” Powers said.
“International designer Viktor Luna has offered two internships to the nine students who are studying fashion design level 2 at our institute for summer, for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week along with two other designers out of the Dominican Republic and Los Angeles, California.”
He added: “Every year we, the students and principals, work together to create different concepts, ideas, things that are different so we can generate funds through people jumping with the band so we can do projects. And students are able to raise funds towards their programmes and portfolios which will be shown at BB Fashion Week slated for November 6 to 8 this year at Hilton Barbados.”
The band’s theme this year is Take Me Away, which focuses on things that fly, move and float around in the air. There are four sections. Powers said they printed their own fabric this year and “everything is original fabric and original design”.
“We are pleased that we are able to bring something new to Crop Over. . . . We want to bring something different. We want the band to speak to what we do. We run a fashion institute and we want the band to have a bit of flare and style in it,” he said.
“The fabrics were at WOW here in Barbados. Andrew Sargeant, the owner of Illusion Graphics, we have been collaborating for years. He has a printing press now that prints some fabrics and through our programme our students will actually be featuring some of his prints in their collection for Fashion Week.”
Stating proudly that “we’re about promoting Barbadians and Barbadian things”, Powers said: “We opened our 8 000 square feet factory. We’re producing everything locally and we’re also working with some Foreday bands, some regional bands for Labour Day as well as for Antigua Carnival, Grenada Carnival, and St Vincent Carnival to do some of their swimwear.
“Our focus is doing business and being able to produce costuming in Barbados because we primarily do a lot of import for Crop Over and I think this is something we need to control. There are a lot of Barbadians who are unemployed at this time and people’s skills need to be upgraded.
“Throughout fashion design programmes and our machine operating courses, offered at the Caribbean Market Centre, a level of training is provided so persons can be employed after to help develop their skills and make extra money. All around we’re more developmental, working towards taking the Barbadian product to the next level and also help provide employment for others,” said the leader of the four year old band.
In the first year four people went to Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore to an incubation programme.
“Singapore has the biggest incubation programme. They make over US$12 million in profit from their fashion incubation programme. We would have to template our Caribbean Market Centre here as an institute similar to what was done in Singapore,” he explained.
There are nine students in the programme – geared towards the Bachelor’s Degree – which is different to what is offered at the Barbados Community College and the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic.
“We develop the designers and train them to be business people and to be able to design their own patterns, pattern concepts, prototypes et cetera, and showcase their ready-to-wear lines which would be available for export and placed in the international market,” Powers said.
The students have to apply for the six to 12 month programmes. They have to write a 2 000 word essay, which is vetted by consultants from the LA School of Fashion in London and the Fashion Institute in the United States before acceptance. They also have to be passionate about fashion.
The programme is supported by the Ministry of Sports, Youth and Culture and the Barbados Public Workers’ Co-operative Credit Union through which students are given a partial scholarship. Last month, the students were inducted into the fashion design level 2 programme by the Technical and Vocational Education Training Council. (Green Bananas Media)