Christmas in July kick-starts holiday shopping

The festive season came early once again with the highly anticipated tenth staging of the annual Christmas in July Trade Show. The exhibition, curated by the Tourism Linkages Network, a division of the Tourism Enhancement Fund, every year sees local artisans travelling from across the island to display their creations to individuals and companies seeking anything from the perfect corporate gift to a sweet present for a special someone. Attending the two-day extravaganza held at the National Arena in Kingston and witnessing the sheer amount of unique products available for purchase can be overwhelming. Here is a list of some of our favourites.

Street Level Jamaica

Geared toward creating unique items with a Jamaican flair, Street Level Jamaica is a family-owned company specialising in personalised greeting cards and hand-made collectable statuettes. Their newly launched Pinocon Collection features original male and female characters made from pine cones. Each comes with its own story and name and will make the perfect conversation piece for the avid collector of locally made knick-knacks. Creative director and co-owner of Street Level Jamaica, Tamika Osbourne, has not left out corporate entities, sharing that the figurines are completely customisable and company orders are accepted.

Golden Designs

Golden Designs is an initiative created by Shelly-Ann Thompson that seeks to train ageing members of society in various art skills, including crochet and leather product making. The founder and managing director doesn’t stop at facilitating skills classes but also engages student-teachers from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts to guide the elders in creating market-ready products. The results are exquisite, trendy and locally made sandals, bags, hats and more, that consumers can’t get enough of. Thompson’s company is just two years old but she chalks Golden Design’s success up to the enthusiasm of the seniors participating in her skills training programmes. A company built with love and the spirit of giving back, Golden Design’s products, made by eager members of the elderly community, will make for fashionable gifts that would make anyone happy.

Madifie Jamaica

Keenan Clarke, owner of and the designer behind Madifie Jamaica, seeks to create out-of-the-box, laser engraved and cut products that you won’t find anywhere else. His innovative wooden bags and accessories are designed with the forward-thinking consumer in mind and are guaranteed to turn heads or spark conversations. The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts graduate’s design process is built on reimagining existing market-favourite products and constantly challenging himself to create contemporary pieces to keep up with the ever-changing taste of the modern consumer.

Aviola Accessories

Creating sustainable and fashionable fine jewellery is Melissa Preedie of Aviola Accessories. Preedie designs with the statement accessory lover in mind, handcrafting the one-of-a-kind pieces from sustainably sourced and recycled metals that will last a lifetime. It was a passion for recycling that began the jewellery designer’s journey of creating and she hopes to share that with her consumers. According to Preedie, Aviola Accessories’ best-selling items are her statement earrings which make the perfect stocking stuffers.

Kabreco Designs

Married couple Eric and Kayla Cole make up Kabreco Designs. The family-owned brand features handcrafted wooden knick-knacks by the artistic Eric, with the administrative duties managed by the business-savvy Kayla. Their signature product, the multi-use desktop planter box, has paved the way for other innovative designs such as their new desktop block calendar. Kabreco Designs focuses on functional elegance and caters primarily to the corporate market but makes the perfect present for those who value beauty in usefulness and attention to detail.

lifestyle@gleanerjm.com