‘Shape’ goes green for 2011
WHAT BETTER way to enjoy a Sunday afternoon than to whet your appetite watching a fashion show that’s a cut above the rest. That’s exactly what a select gathering did last Sunday when they convened at the D’Urban Backlands residence of Donna Ramsammy-James for a private viewing of ‘Canopy’, the 2011 Collection of her fashion designs.
With the residence featuring a well-tended garden and a walkway that aptly transforms into a runway for such events, it was an ideal setting for ‘Canopy’, with its focus on the environment and Guyana’s much-touted Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) now  gaining popularity worldwide.
`Canopy’, as the collection is themed, is 12th in the line of SHAPE 2000, a Donna Ramsammy-James brand of fashions that incorporates synergy with the importance of foliage to forest ecosystems worldwide and international activities to mitigate the anticipated effects of Climate Change.
This rich ‘Canopy’ is abundant in Guyana, as well as in northern Amazonia, where small populations and prudent management for well over 50 years have left us with thousands of hectares of pristine forest.
As was evident is previous viewings, Donna’s `Canopy’ collection again comprised of 141 elegantly put-together pieces of ladies and menswear, blending, as usual, the softness of Asia, the depth of Africa and the colour of the Caribbean.
Presented in such favourite hues as red, yellow, green, black , white and grey,  the pieces, in particular the segments of black and black-and-white,  brought to the fore the ingenuity  and perfection of  a  versatile choregrapher, dancer cum artist  who knows just how to incorporate and display ethnic fusion  and art through  fashion.
The show, which was geared to international standards as always, is credited with having a prompt start and being devoid of distractions, and as the sequences unfolded, the ever-present smile or nod of appreciation were evident as the sassy models, including one full-figured and two males, strutted and proudly displayed their stuff with finesse and gracefulness to the appropriate soca, Bob Marley and the ever-popular Waka Waka music.
`Canopy’ 2011 Collections featured  models  firstly in regular make-up, before transforming their faces to reflect the environment, bearing leaves from trees such as croton, breadfruit, Boston fern, ginger lily, flamboyant pod, water lily and banana leaf among others, which were then substituted for the regular names of the models.
And Master of Ceremonies, veteran broadcaster, Mr Carlton James, did a fantastic job of, in addition to divulging information relevant to each sequence as it unfolded, interspersing it with little snippets about the designer.
The Canopy 2011 Collection was dedicated to the Guyana Relief Council which renders assistance to victims of fires and other natural disasters.