Fashion and Clothing in Haiti Men

Fashion in Haiti

This Haitian asked united states of america to have his photo – he was proud of his manner.

By Amanda MacFarland

When thinking virtually fashion, places similar Paris, London, and New York and fancy buzzwords like "couture" or "glamour" come to mind. And so it was interesting for me to find that a growing manner industry exists in Haiti, despite being labeled equally the poorest state in the globe. Later on researching the subject, I realize it shouldn't have come as such a surprise to me, since I have been entranced by the beautiful artwork, colorful surroundings, and creativity I saw when I visited Milot in 2012. It merely makes sense that instinctive artistic talent would exist included in Haitian fashion also.

In Republic of haiti, you lot can see a diverseness of unlike fashions depending on the time of twenty-four hours or even the day of the week. Children wearable tidy uniforms to school, complete with accessories in their hair and polished shoes on their anxiety. On Sundays, Haitian women put on their best dresses and men article of clothing their finest suits to attend church services.

Merely for everyday wearable, most Haitians wear second-hand habiliment and shoes, known as "pepe," sold by street vendors. These apparel items are sent to Haiti and usually consist of unwanted or unusable items from donation centers in the United states of america. The practice of sending pepe to Haiti began in the 1960'due south and since then, people have claimed this practice has ruined the Haitian material manufacture. However, pepe can also be seen every bit a expert affair, because information technology is so readily bachelor and affordable for Haitians, allowing them to express their creativity through wearing designer clothing that would otherwise exist inaccessible to them.

Three girls wearing pepe dress.

In improver to wearing pepe, Haitians are also known to make their own clothing, either by sewing up pieces of lightweight cotton, linen, or denim or constructing shoes out of old tires and other institute materials. Embroidered wearing apparel is also very popular for women, and men oft article of clothing loose-fitting shirts called guayabera.¹

The most interesting thing I learned when I was conducting enquiry for this article, was discovering Haitian Way Week. Information technology's but 3 days long, and only ii years quondam, but has acquired quite a buzz in the fashion manufacture all around the world. At that place are no official way education programs in Haiti, and so the concepts coming from these self-taught Haitian fashion designers are inspired purely by Haitian culture and imagination.

A model presents a cosmos by Haitian designer Verona during a runway testify at Haiti'southward first Fashion Week

Haiti's first Manner Week was held November 8-11, 2012 at the Karibe Convention Center in Port-au-Prince. The showcase was free to the public and featured collections past thirty upwards-and-coming Haitian designers worn past 20 male and female Haitian models and ten international models who strutted down a busy runway.

From swimsuits, coincidental wear, formal gowns, and polished suits, to handbags and accessories – Haitian Way week contains all the same features you lot would expect in other countries, but with a Haitian flare. The celebration of Haitian culture was very evident during the first Haitian Fashion Week, which included opening and endmost ceremony performances of Haitian folklore dance.

Haitian civilization was also very apparent in the designs presented during the show, which some industry leaders criticized for existence "as well rubber," wanting the Haitian designers to accept a few more than steps out of the box with their designs. However, it is obvious that the wearable represented the Haitian designers' enthusiasm for this fashion opportunity that was happening in their own country.

Haiti's second Manner Week was held September 19-21 2013, at the Karibe Convention Center in Port-au-Prince, but this time patrons were charged $25.00 for entry per night. The 2013 Fashion Week differed from the last year'southward spectacle in that the designers took a different arroyo to
their creations. Haitian culture was still evident in the wear that came downward the runway, only in improver viewers were treated to many eco-friendly designs showcasing clothing fabricated from recycled textiles and unconventional materials, such as food, flowers, and animal skins.

Traditional meets avant garde at the 2013 Manner Week Show in Republic of haiti. Photo by Cleve Mesidor

One of the notable designers to showcase at both Haitian Manner Weeks is a Haitian designer named Giovanna Menard.

Giovanna loved fashion since a very immature age, though she grew up to become a lawyer in Port-au-Prince. Afterward traveling to New York to take some jewelry making classes, she fell in beloved with the craft and upon returning home to Haiti, began creating jewelry in her spare fourth dimension. Recently, Giovanna opened her own boutique featuring her original jewelry and handbags, made of stones, bone, gold, silver, and fabrics like burlap, cotton, silk and straw. You tin run into her collections on her website: http://www.artisansdusoleilhaiti.com/.

As mentioned earlier, in that location are no real institutions for style and design pedagogy in Haiti, but in 2009, a non-profit organization called Haitian Network of Designers (Paw) was started to help aspiring Haitian designers gain more knowledge of their arts and crafts, and to help rebuild the mode manufacture in Haiti.² This program, along with Haiti's recent investment in programs to support small-scale and medium-sized Haitian business enterprises³, gives hope that maybe i day when someone talks well-nigh manner, Haiti will be one of the countries that comes to heed, giving recognition to all the talented designers and models Republic of haiti has been silently cultivating all these years.

SOURCES
^ane http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Germany-to-Jamaica/Haitians.html#b#ixzz2pk6m42qJ
ⁱⁱ http://www.haitiannetworkofdesigners.com/
³ http://www.iadb.org/en/news/news-releases/2012-12-twenty/small-business-development-and-leasing-in-republic of haiti,10278.html

Amanda MacFarland works at Andrew Associates (www.andrewdm.com) and is a critical member of the CRUDEM Creative Squad. Amanda and her husband Nate live in Connecticut with their troupe of exceptional cats.