Fri | Jan 10, 2025

Femme Creative in their terrific threes

Published:Friday | October 13, 2023 | 12:06 AMShanel Lemmie/Staff Reporter
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Femme Creative co-founders Summer Jarrett (left) and Debra Edwards are all smiles at the third artisan showcase held at Summit Kingston last Sunday.
Kenyon Hemans
Femme Creative co-founders Summer Jarrett (left) and Debra Edwards are all smiles at the third artisan showcase held at Summit Kingston last Sunday.
Resting after a successful sale, Amba Cohen-Hope (right), of Mutamba Designs, catches up with her long-time friend and customer, Una Adams.
Kenyon Hemans
Resting after a successful sale, Amba Cohen-Hope (right), of Mutamba Designs, catches up with her long-time friend and customer, Una Adams.
Debra Edwards (right) shoots the camera a smile as she makes a DAE sale to art lover and JMMB Senior Corporate Manager Shani Duncan Falconer and her eight-year-old daughter, Tsehai.
Kenyon Hemans
Debra Edwards (right) shoots the camera a smile as she makes a DAE sale to art lover and JMMB Senior Corporate Manager Shani Duncan Falconer and her eight-year-old daughter, Tsehai.
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Amid the myriad of calls for equity for women in commerce, two creatives have decided to put their money where there mouth is and form Femme Creative.

Three years after its inception, the woman-led organisation was formed in 2020 while the population felt the fiscal ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Femme Creative is an initiative that supports, celebrates and uplifts female creatives,” explained Summer Jarrett, co-founder, Femme Creative.

She continued, “I would say in the heights of the global pandemic Debra [Edwards] and I both really got an opportunity to assess what the need was at the time and the need was really to give female creatives a safe space to actually sell their products and services.”

Edwards, who has been friends with Jarrett for a literal lifetime, explained that during the pandemic she believes both men and women really felt the effects of not having a safe place to vend.

“Everything was locked down, remember. So, during that time, we [looked at how] we [could] create this safe space for people and have them sell their products,” she shared.

Edwards, who is also the founder of DAE Collection by Debra Edwards, could relate to the particular struggle.

Finding a home in their first year at Toyota Jamaica showroom, the pair remember their launch going “pretty well”.

Now, having given at least 30 vendors a platform, Edwards says she is grateful for the creatives they have bolstered like 2023 Mission Catwalk contestant Ackeilia Caine of Trendzy by Ackeilia.

Amba Cohen-Hope of Mutamba Designs, who has been with Femme Creative since its inception, says she admires the space the two young women have created.

“I always want to get involved with anything that shows young upliftment and upward mobility,” she began. “Summer Jarrett was one of the youngest designers at Pulse Caribbean many years ago. I remember this little girl and watched her grow from strength to strength, so when I heard that she was involved, that was one of the reasons I signed on.”

Now in their terrific threes, Jarrett says she is happy to have seen their initiative grow.

“I would definitely say it’s grown. People are really respecting what we do, loving what we do and appreciating the support that we are giving to other female creatives. So as we continue to grow, we continue to partner with other people such as Summit Kingston, and we will continue to reach out and support other female creatives in the future.”

shanel.lemmie@gleanerjm.com