Award winning African American film star Nia Long, returns to Caribbean Fashionweek, scheduled for June 10-15, after a highly successful first visit last year. An ‘A List’ celebrity, the Hollywood superstar actress is known for several film and television roles including the ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’, ‘Big Momma's House ‘and ‘Are We There Yet?’, Nia Long is one of America’s most revered actresses. She will host CFW and will also shoot segments of her latest movie project at the event.
Long’s first notable role was on the hit comedy Fresh Prince of Belair as Will Smith's girlfriend and fiancée Beulah "Lisa" Wilkes. From there she moved to co-star and play supporting roles in urban classic flicks including ‘Boyz N the Hood’, ‘Friday’, ‘The Best Man’ and ‘Made in America’. She is also an occasional music video director and has done work for Ashanti, Kanye West and gospel star Yolanda Adams. A true beauty, Long was voted one of the 50 most beautiful people in the World by People magazine and took 3rd place in a poll by the readers of Black Men's Magazine for "The 10 Sexiest Women of the Year".
Pulse chief, Kingsley Cooper is pleased that Ms. Long will be returning. Says Cooper, “Nia’s return is testament to the stature of CFW and the place it has now cemented in the firmament of international fashion”. Long will shoot segments of CFW, highlighting Cooper’s role in the development of Caribbean and international fashion and modeling industries, as part of her project. Earlier this year she shot segments of her film at Seventh on Sixth’s New York Fashion Week.
In addition to Miss Long, CFW also welcomes the presence of Grammy winning songbird Kelly Rowland who will be taking to the stage to perform on Saturday June 13th. Rowland who is a founding member of Destiny's Child, one the world's iconic all female super groups, is also a successful solo artiste selling more than four million albums worldwide. Her seductive collaboration with St. Louis rapper Nelly on the global hit “Dilemma” from her debut album ‘Simply Deep’ earned her, her first solo Grammy and the distinction of becoming the first member of the girl group to have achieved a US number-one single.
Ms Kelly’s sultry voice, natural charm, charisma and smooth melodies will undoubtedly appeal to the CFW crowd who will also appreciate her good style sensibility. She is excited to perform at the region’s biggest fashion event and promises an intense musical set, to include older, as well as new material from her upcoming yet to be titled third solo album. Jamaican stars Tami Chynn, Cherine Anderson and D’Angel will also be taking the stage.
The original, largest, most far reaching and strategically important fashion event in the region, CFW is an event that is not only of high international standard, but one that has become a catalyst for fashion industry development in the Caribbean region. Each year it showcases the best of the Caribbean’s designers, as well as other world regarded stylists from various parts of the globe. Highly revered international designers who are confirmed to present at CFW 09 include Deola Sagoe (Nigeria), Catalin Botezatu (Romania), and Gavin Douglas, all of whom have shown at the major collections of New York, London, Paris or Milan. Approximately 50 designers from 20 countries participate each year.
Now in its ninth year, CFW has been raved and attended by the leading fashion media houses of the world. Reviews have been published and shows and information disseminated in over 300 million people in more than 150 countries by several media houses including such industry leaders as Vogue, Fashion TV Paris, i-D, The New York Times, Time Magazine, The BBC, The Independent and The New York Daily News.
Caribbean Fashionweek 2009 will be staged June 10-15 at the National Indoor Sports Centre and is presented by Pulse in association with Nestle Breakfast Cereal, Viva Sparkling water, Air Jamaica, Fashion TV Paris, Mercedes Benz, The Jamaica Tourist Board, Haagen Daz, Invest Barbados and Virgin Atlantic. Strawberry Hill, the Courtleigh, Spanish Court, the Knutsford Court and the Hilton hotels are major partners. Media sponsors include The Jamaica Observer, CVM TV, Hype TV, SHE Caribbean, Jamrock magazine and Ocean Style, with radio partners being Zip FM and Kool FM.
