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The Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC) has secured over $100,000 from the Caribbean Development Bank, under the Caribbean Technological Consultancy Services Network, to provide training for persons within the Textile and Apparel sub-sector of Barbados.
Sixteen persons, drawn from the Barbados Community College, the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology, the Barbados Vocational Training Board, and a cadre of competent fashion designers/entrepreneurs, have been selected to participate in an intense train-the-trainers programme.
The 10-day workshop, being delivered by international consultant, AVIS Charles Associates of the UK, is aimed at equipping designers and entrepreneurs within the industry with the technical know-how and skills necessary to create products that meet international standards.
This is in keeping with BIDC’s continued efforts to revamp the Textile and Apparel sub-sector, which currently employs just over 290 persons in Barbados.
The global apparel market, valued at over US$3 trillion, accounts for 2% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product. As such, local entrepreneurs have the opportunity to capitalise on a fraction of this wealth.
AVIS Charles Associates is a full service design consulting company specialising in fashion and lifestyle, incorporating design, styling, brand image, merchandising, trend analysis, product development, editing collections, training and development of fashion and brand identity.
With over 39 years of international industry experience, AVIS Charles Associates has assisted several companies to become industry leaders, working with such prominent names as Mulberry, Vivienne Westwood, Jonathan Saunders, British Airways, BBC, Halle Berry and Terry McMillan, and a number of government agencies.
The 10-day development workshop which started on Monday, September 10 and ends on Friday, September 21, covers international trends, brand building, computer-aided design, collection costing and pricing, business models, financing, marketing and more.
The course will be extended for half day on Monday, September 17, to other students from the Competency-Based Training Fund (CBTF) fashion classes, industry stakeholders and fashion entrepreneurs.