Tashana Hutchinson’s Swimfest – an ode to J’can swimwear
Published:Friday | July 21, 2023 | 12:07 AMShanel Lemmie/Staff Reporter - -
Born out of a love for swimwear, Tashana Hutchinson’s inaugural Swimfest tradeshow was a love letter to tropical fashion.
Recounting her lifelong love affair with the clothing, Hutchinson told Living, “I always had a love for swimwear, I’m always on the beach, I’ve always loved to have swimwear. Other than going out I just love being at the beach, but I had problems with fittings back in that time with my breast size was too big for my small body. So I just decided, you know, if I love this so much, maybe I should start making my own and start offering options where a girl with a small body can have a top that suits them as well if they carry a larger bust.”
Playing around with the concept for about two years, Hutchinson launched her first line, Giirly Gurlz, in 2013.
“The reception was so good,” she reminisced, “I wasn’t expecting such positive feedback and support at the time. I felt accomplished then because I actually started it.”
Exercising her business-oriented brain, Hutchinson began the search for a space to call her brand’s home.
“I had the intention to open a store for Giirly Gurls. And I sat down and I was like, ‘why would I do a store for myself when there are so many other designers that can come together’.”
Calling on various Jamaican swimwear designers, Hutchinson opened her showroom on Maryfield Close in Kingston, Jamaica.
“When I did my own marketplace and I invited [them] and it started growing. Now the showroom is full and I have extended [it] to have more designers. I said to myself, now I have the brands with me, it’s time for me to do a showcase because every year designers come out with a new collection. I said the best way to do this is to attach a trade show to our brand, and that’s how we birthed it. My designers inspire [me]. [Through] their ideas to celebrate the beach, celebrate the beach lifestyle, celebrate swimwear in Jamaica, celebrate their creativity and their new lines, [the] Swimfest trade show was born.”
Hosted at Boscobel Beach in St Mary in June, the first staging of the Swimfest trade show saw the inclusion of five swimwear designers and a host of other resort-wear vendors, which Hutchinson touts as some of the best of the best.
“We are the best because if you look at it,” she said considering the wealth of local talent, “you have quality designers in Jamaica [who] are so talented, there’s no first world anybody that can come close to our creativity here in Jamaica, and yet it has never been displayed and focused on. It has always been attached to something. It’s either it’s attached to clothing or it’s attached to events, but there’s nothing to celebrate the swimwear industry in Jamaica, and it is so wild to me but I am so happy to be the first.”
Even though Hutchinson’s own swimwear line was not able to make their Swimfest tradeshow debut, when recalling the day, she characterised it as “one of the most fulfilling feelings I’ve ever experienced”.
She went on, “When I see some of them just watching their work go down the runway and just seeing them walking down with their lines, there’s just this proudness. They feel like their brand now is definitely growing in the right space and attracting more international viewers and supporters.”
She says through the talent and dedication of both her designers as well as her Swimfest team, the next staging of the show is not only a necessary addition to the Jamaican Zeitgeist but can rival that of international trade shows.
“It was so necessary because Jamaica is an island where swimsuits are never season off. We have beach parties, when you go to the beach and you show off your swimsuit and you don’t know where it came from. I ask myself, how can Jamaica who has everything in line with swimwear and the resort-wear industry [not have a greater focus on swim and resort-wear]. Tourism is one of our biggest attractions — why isn’t there a show showcasing this important aspect of brands in Jamaica?”