There are days when we feel completely indifferent about fashion, a blah feeling descends out of nowhere that no amount of sequins, python stilettos or new designer collabos can shift. The kind of fatigue that makes us want to holler at Marc, Miuccia and Co real quick and just say "Hey dudes, it's really not that deep." Jamaica's annual Fashion Block is like the opposite of that, like the mid-season antidote to it all. Just the scale of the thing is dizzying enough to get us slackjawed—thousands upon thousands of people huddled around a huge 7ft high runway in the middle of the street, with fireworks (literally) whizzing past, and dancehall interludes!!! The block event is actually the culmination of Saint International's annual Style Week, a round of fashion presentations that showcases local talent as well as bringing a few international stars too.
As you probably already might have guessed, the word "stylee" has been a part of JA slang forever although we've adapted it for our own purposes here with a London hybrid of the word (stylee, as in trendy) so it's only fair that we shout out the awesome Jamaican talent first of all. Dexter Pottinger is a Kingston-based designer we spyed last year, and his newest line 3-D design by Dexter Pottinger is even bigger and funner with tons of bubble gum frill dresses paired with hyper colored sprinter tights—the kind of thing Cyndi Lauper might have worn back in the day, while vactioning in Montego Bay. It was also the first showing for Yahdie Conscious, a new JA line run by a super cute female design duo (more about them next week), their "TEK IT TO DEM" tee is our favorite piece in the collection. In fact, we wouldn't be surprised if bootleg versions started popping up all over Flatbush. Of the international players, Bas Kosters was undoubtedly one of the night's stars with awesomely loopy aladdin silhouettes (peep the orange jumpsuit) and stunning custom prints that looked like sun-faded paintings. Of course the spectacle just wouldn't as epic if it wasn't for the star cast of models—big names like Sigail (Agent Provocateur), Sosheba(victoria Secrets) and Kibwe who were all pulled in for the week. Most heartwarming was seeing model Georgianna Robertson (French Vogue cover to name a few) take to the runway again for British designer Julia Clancey , a sighting that—in light of current Agyness mania slash overkill—gave us more than passing nostalgia for the old guard of supermodels, real supermodels. More runway action and backstage pics after the jump.