Santo Domingo – Caribbean designers have been reporting success and great international interest in regional hand-made products, following the four-day 2011 Design Caribbean trade-show staged in the Dominican Republic.
An exciting and appealing range of high quality products were on show for the four-day event which was organised by the Caribbean Export Development Agency and ran from September 1-4.
The trade-show highlighted the creative skills and products of CARIFORUM nationals for the benefit of international buyers, mainly from Europe and North America.
Several designers reported good sales , from the region’’s biggest trade-show and exposition of hand-crafted products, while others said they were seeking to turn contacts into business opportunities and profitable partnerships.
? “I’’m really glad I came. The interest in our products has been unbelievable and I have made some critical contacts?,” said Mark Daniel of the Hastings-based Avark Design studios in Barbados.
Daniel, better known for his fashion trends, used the occasion to unveil a new line of sophisticated handbags that generated great international interest.
Designers from Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Belize, Grenada, host country Dominican Republic, Cuba, Dominica, Barbados , St. Lucia and Suriname were among the territories represented.
More than 100 designers represented such areas as art, film, fashion, music, ceramics, jewelry, home furnishings, specialty foods, leather goods and others.
“Design Caribbean was good for us. We made some sales and the buyers want more,” said Ronald Laratte , a metal designer from Haiti.
Along with individual designers, institutions such as the Barbados Community College and the Design School of Trinidad and Tobago as well as the Jamaica Development Corporation were also present.
Several innovative products also created a stir at the trade-show, including the production of paper from the fibre of Banana trees , which was displayed under the banner of the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC).
Design Caribbean was organised and managed by the Caribbean Export Development Agency and has emerged as a successor to the Caribbean Gift and Craft show , embracing designers and artisans from all CARIFORUM countries.
For North American buyers Liz Allen and Mark Fangu, of Exotic World Gifts, Design Caribbean was the ideal place to shop.
“The products are fantastic and of good quality. We came with a budget of $30 000 and the variety is great,” said Fangu.
Executive Director of Caribbean Export, Pamela Coke-Hamilton said
that apart from offering Caribbean designers greater access to important regional and international buyers, Design Caribbean also featured an educational component which was a good fit with the greater objective of increasing economic benefits to the region from the creative industries.
“This project is a major step forward in helping us in the Caribbean to better integrate ourselves and create a better platform to sell our creative products to the world. We are working with our artisans, designers and other talented people of the region to access the international marketplace,” said Coke-Hamilton.
Some of the topics covered in the educational sessions at Design
Caribbean were “Understanding The Potential of the Caribbean brand”;
Understanding Intellectual Property Rights; and social media strategies for designers.
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