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Michelle Cole winner of the 2008
Caribbean Fashion Awards “BEST COUNTRY DESIGNER AWARD-GUYANA.
Michelle is a nature and fun-loving gal, this can be evident in her designs, with natural fibers, earth tones, stones, wooden beads, shells, paintings and raffia; for her goal as a fashion designer is to ‘Recreate nature through celebration, as nature itself is a celebration of life’. Indeed this is true for her clothes expresses nothing short of comfort, vibrancy and beauty. Her first stage performance was at Michelle’s high school fashion show. Thereafter came her ‘big break’ in 1999 when she won the best gown award at the Miss Guyana Universe, which gave way to her being the designer of the queen’s wardrobe. She then also designed for the queens of the Miss Guyana Talented Teen, Miss Guyana World, Miss Guyana Mashramani, Miss Queen of the Caribbean, Miss Carnival and Miss Model International Pageants. Her designs were also presented at the Folk Festival celebration in Brooklyn, New York, the Fashion Caribbean Showcase in St. Vincent, the Barbados Fashion Week, Caribbean Gift and Craft Show in Barbados, the Fashion Showcase in St. Lucia, MODA in New York, Caribbean Fashion Week and the Fashion Week of the Americas in Miami among others. Michelle Cole last year launched ColeFacts’ ‘Student Designer of the
Year Award’ dubbed FACTS-Fashion Arts and Creativity by talented students,
through which talented students are given a chance to express their sense
of artistry with their own designer pieces.
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A
true representation of success, since the day, in her eleventh year, when
she had gotten her first sewing machine, Michelle’s innovation grew;
making uniforms for school friends by the age of twelve, then onwards to
making a living from her creations by fifteen. Many years after, Michelle
Cole still strikes the iron as hot as she had then, for now her clothes
are carried in some of the best boutiques in the Caribbean and in the
United States.