Claudia Pegus 08: The 'Breeze' collection didn't blow me away...

Sounds a bit harsh, doesn't it? But unfortunately for Claudia Pegus, the esteemed and lauded Caribbean designer from Trinidad & Tobago, it's true.

Upon hearing all the hype and receiving emails from the Islands of the World Fashion Week (IWFW) P.R. team about Pegus designing a line based purely on the light, white West Indian Sea Island Cotton, I said to myself "why is Ms. Pegus doing this?" It just seemed totally gimmicky - like a ploy to simply capitalize on the IWFW's direction on endorsing and promoting the materials of the region. And indeed, it was.

Pegus' strong point lies with the manipulation of rich or structural materials like Taffeta, Organza, Dupioni Silk and such. Whenever she does 'soft and flowy', it looks most believable in watery satins and lace. So why did she whip out an entire line of what seemed to be 17th century underpinnings for ladies in a Victorian court of yore?

There's only one person who does cottons and 'gauzy' well, and that's Meiling. Because of her particular tastes and eye for little details like beading and pin-tucking, Meiling manages to create frothy and delicate delights out of the most simple pieces of voile, eyelet, and tulle.

Claudia's 'woman' is not Meling's easy, breezy island chick who dreamily waltzes around in bare-boned cottons, and as such, this lackluster collection does nothing to build upon Pegus' well-developed reputation as the lone designer who - if ever - could be the haute couturier of the region.

What a shame, especially since the IWFW was heralded by its creators as a prime opportunity for noted and emerging Caribbean designers to garner some attention from the international fashion publications and merchandisers....

L.M.N. Harris