Cayman Islands Fashion Week (CIFW), a fashion and lifestyle destination event presented by Guavaberry Marketing. Is coming to Grand Cayman.

The fashion extravaganza spans 19-26 April. The show combines local, regional and international guest designers, models and hosts.

The lineup of designers include self-taught and impressive New York fashion designer Cesar Galindo; Poetic Rhythm by regional designer Shannen Azuredee from the island of St Kitts, who is now based in New York; Guyanese designer Roger Gary whose creations have been featured on TV shows including the Miss World and Miss Universe Pageants, BET’s Spring Bling, BET’s Rip The Runway and VH1/Vogue First Fashion Awards; Shawn Griffith Perez, a designer from Trinidad and Tobago who has been credited for creating one of the top five Miss World 2013 evening gowns; and Columbian-born New York fashion designer Edwing D’Angelo who has been featured numerous times on television, including the Hollywood hit movie The Devil Wears Prada featuring Meryl Streep.

Cayman’s very own designers Norma Ebanks and Melisa Dilbert will have their designs featured at the event. Norma Ebanks is the owner and fashion designer at Creative Fashion and Design and Melissa Dilbert was the recipient of CNCF’s FRESH Emerging Designer Award and People’s Choice Award back in 2012. The event is scheduled to highlight international supermodels and a cast of models from top New York agencies, the Caribbean including Cayman.

The week is scheduled with a number of parties all leading up to the main event on Saturday, 26 April, which will be the CIFW Runway Show. On Saturday a show will be held followed by a VIP After-Party.

Prior to the Runway Show the scheduled events are; Launch Party at Dream Nightclub on 19 April; Children’s Runway Show on 20 April; Fashion industry appreciation days on 22 and 23 April; Bridal Couture Show at the National Gallery on 23 April; Culture and Style Welcome Party on 24 April; and “MyStyle” Soiree and Launch of Club Caribe at the George Town Yacht Club on 24 April.

The co-hosts of the event are Anya Ayoung Chee, Trinidad and Tobago’s top designer, and local entrepreneur and GQ, Richard Barton.

Anya Ayoung-Chee is a Caribbean designer hailing from Trinidad and Tobago. She studied design at both Central Saint Martins and Parsons The New School for Design. Anya’s fashion design career truly began while she represented Trinidad and Tobago in the Miss Universe Pageant in 2008. Her love affair with flowing silhouettes and bold prints would catapult her into a world of design formerly unexplored. Anya made her first statement in the fashion industry by launching her women’s label, PILAR, in 2009. After much success, Anya cast her sights further and launched a lingerie line named ANYA DE ROGUE, the first of its kind in the Caribbean in 2010.

In 2011, Anya Ayoung-Chee was cast as the underdog in Season 9 of Lifetime Television’s “Project Runway,” she emerged the victor after showing a stunning Spring/Summer 2012 Collection named TOBAGO LOVE at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York. She won the competition, the Fan Favorite prize as well as prizes from HP/Intel and L’Oreal. Since then, Anya has launched the destination travel line, ANYA, and shown her collections in New York, London, South Africa and throughout the Caribbean. She has also spoken at universities throughout the US and the Caribbean including Harvard, Cornell and SVA to share her inspiring story.

In 2012 Anya was appointed Tourism Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago and visited many parts of the world as a spokesperson for this jewel of the Caribbean. She has positioned herself as a major player in Trinidad’s Carnival industry and 2014 will be her third year designing, hosting events, producing fashion shows and launching products curated for this cultural phenomenon. Currently Anya is a mentor on a new Lifetime show, Tim Gunn’s reality series ‘Under the Gunn’. As Anya makes her second bout on a design based reality series she demonstrates admirable leadership material as she guides a group of hopeful designers through the rigorous competition based reality show.

Anya is also the spokesperson for The Tallman Foundation, an organization that facilitates the transformation of youth through the arts. She holds ambassador roles for E.P.I.C. and Soleil Global, both NY based NGO’s.

For more information go to: https://www.facebook.com/caymanislandsfashionweek