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| KAJ
Designs Features At Caribbean Fashion Week With Lavish Sophomore Collection
June 22, 2007 – Scarborough, Tobago... Tobagonian fashion designer Kevin Ayoung-Julien indulged the senses of audiences with his latest creation, Eccensual: Shake Well & Stir, a luscious cocktail blending the eccentricities of earthy couture with the sensual flavours of the islands, at this year’s Caribbean Fashion Week (CFW).
KAJ’s avant garde pieces last graced the 2005 CFW runway when he made waves with his first collection and signature line, Chachalaca, another name for Tobago’s native bird, the Cococrico. With its combination of feathers, coconut shell and burlap reflecting the Cococrico’s majestic appearance and muted natural colours, the collection garnered Kevin the attention of international fashion critics and designers as well as notable mention in fashion publications including SHE Caribbean Magazine.
Eccensual featured lavish textural infusions of ethnic-motif silk chiffons with a dash of cotton, raw silk, taffeta and patterned stretch mesh and a pinch of snake-printed peach skin accentuated with leather and pony skin, luxurious guipure lace, wooden beaded fringe and exotic coque plume. With only the daring and fashion forward in mind, embellishments included chunky bangles and biker gloves. Sensuality was felt in KAJ’s art through the intimate interaction of runway model’s bodies with light fabrics suggesting the flow and rhythm of motion. According to the young designer, “Sensuality is about movement and how the body flows with the fabric. It is a feel. When I have completed a piece, I must see it move!”
Oraine Barrett, best known for his Abercrombie & Fitch campaigns, followed in a subtly revealing mesh, linen, silk and hemp tapestry-like sleeveless white shirt. Following the colour wheel, these pure whites flowed into vivid blues, calming yellows, warm olive greens, vibrant burnt oranges and reds closing with rich browns, bronze and black. Jade Cole, a finalist in America’s Next Top Model, added drama to the runway in a seductive black gown featuring a bodice of intricate sheer lace that exploded into a composition of varying textural chiffons. The closing piece featured Tenille in Kevin’s signature feathered bustier of Amherst pheasant plumes paired with a skirt of raw silk, silk chiffons and taffeta that floated on the hips.
Once again KAJ impressed audiences with its sophomore CFW collection Eccensual: Shake Well & Stir. Kevin is now looking ahead to the future and preparing to meet the demand for his must-have designs some of which sold straight off of the runway. |
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Eccensual:
Shake Well & Stir Displays Mix Of Sensuality And Movement
Kevin
was excited to be a part of the Caribbean’s seventh Fashion Week, which took
place from June 6 to June 11, 2007 in Kingston, Jamaica. “I feel my evolution
as a designer, as I continue to challenge myself to bring my concepts to life
with my cuts and use of fabrics and colours," the 27-year-old said. The Caribbean’s
lush landscape and diverse cultures serve as inspiration for Kevin’s latest
offering where the rich tones, hypnotic rhythms and the deep sensuality and exoticism
of the islands meet the peculiarities of high fashion. 
Kevin
opened his showing with Barbadian supermodel, Tenille Stoute in a white silk and
stretch mesh bodice featuring a plunging neckline and appliqué detailing
coupled with white shorts. Jamaican