Urban music and movie superstar turned fashion mogul Eve, Soul Food TV and big screen fave, turned celebrity model Vanessa A Williams and new soul recording artiste Mashonda Dean are part of a star-studded line-up of celebrities, movie stars, music icons and fashionist as who are headed to Jamaica for Caribbean Fashionweek, the region’s biggest and most influential fashion extravaganza. The stars will walk the runway at CFW and have promised a slew of surprises during their special guest appearances at the event. A number of other local and international stars will be announced shortly.

Eve, famous for a range of film roles including the Barber Shop series, continues to have a very successful music career after bursting on the scene in the late 1990s with such rap hits as Gotta Man, What Ya’ll Want and Love Is Blind. Her exploration of her singing voice in addition to her hardcore rapping skills guaranteed the rapper international success and tracks like Who’s That Girl, Let Me Blow Me Your Mind with Gwen Stefani of No Doubt and Gangsta Lovin, with Alicia Keys gave rise to a whole new fan base. From her fourth studio album titled Here I Am, the blonde bombshell released Tambourine, an upbeat international dance anthem produced by the legendary Swizz Beats. The follow-up track, Give It To You, a reggae-influenced breezy mid-tempo song featuring our own Sean Paul has also enjoyed great success.

Eve now has her own celebrity fashion line called Fetish and Caribbean fashion fans will get a chance to preview pieces from her new collection now being shipped for fall. Eve will walk the runway with her models and says that she is very excited to participate in this event, which is being covered by the world press, including Elle, Fashion TV Paris, BET, i-D, the BBC, Marie Claire and the New York Times, among others.

From her memorable performance, and often quoted lines in the cult classic film New Jack City “Rock a bye Baby!” to her sexy no-nonsense portrayal of Maxine Chadway in the Showtime and BET television series Soul Food, Vanessa A Williams is magic guaranteed. An empowering African American actress and Broadway star, Williams also hit the media radar as one of the stars in the Fox TV hit Melrose Place, two BET original made for TV movies Incognito and Playing with Fire, and as guest star on Total Recall, The Pretender, NYPD Blue, The Steve Harvey Show, Malcolm and Eddie, Living Single and Cold Case among many others.

Vanessa secured the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for her role in the Soul Food series and has earned a Daytime Emmy Nomination for her extraordinary work in Our America a Showtime original series. A talented writer as well as singer and actress, Vanessa has written a collection of poetry and prose titled Shine. Her poems and essays have also appeared in Essence magazine.

Mashonda Deans, professionally known just as Mashonda, is an R&B singer signed to Full Surface/J Records. Married to whiz rap and R&B producer Swizz Beats, Mashonda has been featured on tracks with Mya, Eve, DMX and The Game. A professional songwriter as well as singer, Mashonda has also recorded with Snoop Dogg producing the hit Blackout as well as with Get No Better with Cassidy.

CFW 2008 will feature the Caribbean’s best designers as well as an elite set of international avant garde designers, including Deola Sagoe from Nigeria, Gavin Douglas from London, Catalin Bothezatu from Romania and Sushma Patel from India. This year’s event will see the return of some Caribbean heavyweights such as Jamaica’s urban maestro, Biggy; Barbados’ couturier to high fashion jet-set, Simon Peter, Trinidad’s grande dame of ultra minimalist sophisticated chic, Meiling and Jamaican Britisher Sandra Kennedy. Other standouts include Bill Edwards, Mutamba, Barry Moncrieffe from Jamaica as well as Claudia Pegus from Trinidad.

The mix of stylists and this galaxy of celebrities and international personalities will make CFW 2008 a strong contender for Jamaica’s event of the year, all categories considered. Since its inception in 2001, CFW has evolved and grown in leaps and bounds whilst remaining true to its Caribbean creative elements. This synergy of Caribbean culture and international pizzazz has earned the show major respect from important fashion press around the world including British Vogue and Fashion TV Paris.

CFW is presented by Pulse in association with Audi, Smirnoff, Fashion TV Paris, Virgin Atlantic, Viva Sparkling Water, Nestle’s Fitness Cereal, the BIDC, Invest Barbados, The Jamaica Tourist Board, The Hilton, Courtleigh and Knutsford Court hotels, The Jamaica Observer, Nestle Supligen, CVM TV, Ocean Style, She Caribbean, Jamrock magazine, Hype TV and several other sponsors to be announced.

Source: Jamaica Observer