00:00Carnival meets fashion on the Carnival Catwalk runway, a reality TV production of international
00:11standard, showcasing the best of TNT's creative sector.
00:15Tell us about that concept, how it came to be?
00:18Carnival Catwalk, it was a concept, I was thinking how do we get our country, our Caribbean
00:24people on the international stage?
00:26On those streaming platforms that we watch on Netflix and Amazon and we see people from
00:30all over the world, but our Caribbean people are not well represented on that stage and
00:37I felt, how do we do that?
00:38And the idea came to me of fusing fashion with our carnival to give that international
00:43flair while keeping our culture alive.
00:46Ten designers from around the world took part in the competition.
00:50For the creatives, this is a great opportunity.
00:53I can tell you guys, the grand prize is $100,000 and a trip, but not only a trip, but a feature
00:58at Milan Fashion Week, where you'll be featured on Harper's Bazaar and Vogue Italia, two huge
01:04international fashion magazines.
01:06So that not only gives you local flair and local clout and local recognition and regional
01:12recognition, but international recognition that could take a fashion designer, a creative's
01:17career to that next step.
01:19For one of the four local designers, the opportunity was monumental.
01:23What a great time to be alive, right?
01:25As a young designer, a young creative, you know, it gives hope.
01:30It goes to show that Trinidad is not only about music and sports.
01:36We have fashion, we have art that moves, we have art that fits, you know?
01:41With just under 200 local creatives working alongside international experts, Carnival
01:47Cart Walk is being touted as possibly the largest TV production from the Caribbean.
01:53We were literally filming for 30 days.
01:55That's one of the largest productions that you could have with 50 plus people on your
01:59crew.
02:00That was just the crew, and then they had some externals in terms of set design, decor,
02:05musicians, performers.
02:07Everybody in the Carnival space got to be a part of what we did on Carnival Cart Walk.
02:12It is a creative industry, and we're showing that it can be done not just within the time
02:17space of Carnival, but allowing people to appreciate it on a wider scale and allowing
02:22people from that Carnival space to work.
02:24This was filmed in September, October.
02:27You know, people that you wouldn't usually get work around that time.
02:31Miss Universe 1998 and the lead judge on Carnival Cart Walk, Wendy Fitzwilliam, believes the
02:36project is a major tourism boost for Trinidad and Tobago.
02:41I can wax warm about the importance of television in promotion.
02:48Trinidad and Tobago, traditionally, we do many, many things well, but promote ourselves
02:55as ourselves is not one of them.
03:00Carnival Cart Walk flips that entirely, and I hope that we continue to get the support
03:07for this production so that it does become a fixture in terms of content globally.
03:14Carnival Cart Walk is available for viewing on the Pavilion Plus platform.
03:19Renassa Cutting, TV6 News.
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