– Fashion designer to launch new wines, breads and other items

FASHION designer Carol Fraser has chosen to make the best of the new circumstances that came with the coronavirus pandemic and has dabbled with new business ideas that resulted in two that she had actually decided to pursue.
“I came up with a few COVID initiatives. Due to the pandemic, I had to take my work back on the table and see what’s relevant and what can work in this season,” she told the Pepperpot Magazine.

What she plans to launch soon are two new wines called the Alpha Roar Wine and the Omega Roar Wine. The Alpha wine is a medium-dry wine that has ingredients catering to people with diabetes.
“Every day, more and more, you hear people dying from chronic diseases and a lot of people in the food business are not catering for people with a diet and who are diabetes cases,” Fraser expressed.

Some of the ingredients for the Alpha wine include gooseberries which are high in fibre and low in calories, rich in antioxidants and good for the heart. It also contains peanuts which Fraser said may help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, control blood sugar, and prevent the onset of diabetes.
This wine, according to her, will also contain bitter and cinnamon sticks which may lower the blood sugar and which have good medicinal values.
The Omega wine, mainly catering for women, is made with Jamoon, which Fraser said can improve haemoglobin count. It is loaded with Vitamin C and iron and has stringent properties which keep the skin acne-free, and improve the health of skin and eyes.

Fraser noted that this wine keeps the heart healthy, strengthens gums and teeth, and prevents infections.
“I am trying to move away from too much of sweet; Guyanese love their sweets. But I am trying to think healthy right now,” she expressed.

Fraser is also coming out with her new line of flavoured bread. “One of them will be high in spices. No sugar, no shortening, no butter. The shelf life for that is very high. The cornbread has different things with it. I’ll also be making the honey spread to go with them and the ginger spread with garlic for the other bread,” she informed.

For the holiday season, Fraser will also be doing cushions and masks. “I will be designing little canisters to store your masks in, in case you want to give someone a gift. They can put it on their desks and we can even personalise it.”

She has been working hard over the years on her ‘Roar’ brand which she says she has a passion for. “I really feel it can be a big brand coming out of Guyana. I am not only branding food and clothes, but home furnishing, bottles, items for athletes, etc.”

Fraser feels that the pandemic creates a good opportunity for persons to work on their own brands. “With all that is happening right now, Guyana has the ability to bring out its own brands. It’s time we celebrate our own,” she said.

Fraser, who is one of the featured designers for the Caribbean Style and and Culture Awards (a Guyanese-owned event hosted out of Washington, DC), said when it comes to her designing, she focuses most of her attention on creating items for males as she feels that emphasis is mostly being placed on clothing for women.
An honours student of the Burrowes School of Art, she has continued to blaze the trails of advocacy, cooperative movement, and education and designs within the Fashion and Arts Industry.
Fraser also aims to mentor and motivate young designers to use their talents in productive ways.